GUEVARA, Christine Mae D.

2JRN2
Necessity of Religion

Religion is defined as a system of beliefs and practices and ways of life in relation to sacred
things, according to Emile Durkheim1. It is a system wherein it makes people civilized and
organized because of the teachings and commandments it contains. It is undoubtedly a fact that
the Philippines is a Christian nation wherein 86% of the population is Roman Catholic, 4% are
Muslims and the other remaining rates belong to Protestants and other nationalized Christian cults2
so religion has been a crucial part of everyone’s lives. It is from what they eat, wear, and the
superstitions that they believe, religion has anything to do with almost everything.

Journalism is a profession wherein it communicates through people and spread true

information all around the world. There is this branch in journalism called “Religious Journalism”
wherein it aims to cover news about religion in order to inform people on what is happening in a
certain religion that they have no access to or to update them about their own religion. Since this
line of profession cannot be flawless as they want it to be due to inaccuracy, lack of willingness,
self-interest and bias3, there are these ethical practices that must be done in this profession so that
there can be order, harmony and justice while doing the job and also to avoid violation and conflict
against other people. These ethical practices are influenced by the moral practices done by the
religions that aim to limit the freedom that people have in order to have peace among them.

However, it does not only can be applied in this certain field of study because religion has
a big role in the society. According to Emile Durkheim’s structural functionalism theory, there are

1
Durkheim É mile, and Joseph Ward Swain. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Mansfield Centre, CT:
Martino Publishing, 2012.
2 Miller, Jack. “Religion in the Philippines.” Center for Global Society, n.d.

https://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines.
3 Zwartz, Barney. “Religion in the Media: How Has It Changed, Where Is It Going, Why Does It Matter?”

ABC Religion & Ethics. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, August 24, 2016.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/religion-in-the-media-how-has-it-changed-where-is-it-going-why-d/10096622.
three functions of religion: first is that, religion helps social solidarity through rituals and beliefs,
it also maintains control and conformity in the society and lastly, it provides meaning and purpose
for everyone 4. In the Philippines, a proclaimed Christian country, there are indeed many who were
baptized as a Roman Catholic but a lot of them were ended up being only a baptized Christian
only. And, there are Catholics that do not take their beliefs outside the Church. The Philippines
belonged in the rank of most corrupt countries in the world 5, it is somehow ironic because of the
Christian population in the country. It is kind of evident that there are people who remained only
as a baptized Christian and not practicing it. But aside from the negative reputation that the
Philippines has in the government, the Church is there to bring balance to the country and to make
people realize and understand the things that must be done and must not, especially because there
are many issues in the country that are quite controversial and chaotic that the Church must
intervene. In this way, religion helps in the progress of the society.

There are people who believed that religion is a mere illusion that acts as an adhesive in
order to make people stick together to avoid chaos in the world. However, having religion is
beyond the rituals and beliefs that it has or the rules that it demands to be followed, people should
also do their parts in the religions that they have. Religion exists because people need it and it
needs people for it able to exist.

4 “The Functionalist Perspective on Religion.” Lumen. Accessed September 20, 2019.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/the-functionalist-perspective-on-religion/.
5 Modesto, Catherine A. “Transparency Report: PH among Most Corrupt Countries.” The Manila Times,

February 23, 2018. https://www.manilatimes.net/2018/02/23/news/top-stories/transparency-report-ph-among-

corrupt-countries/381988/381988/.