Symbols in Conflict: Official versus Folk Religion

Abstract

Every society involves many systems of beliefs, symbols, and practices, some of which differentiate subpopulations and some of which integrate these subgroups into one society. The society, if it is to remain a society, must express its unity of subpopulations through a commonly held symbol system. The integration of a society is, however, never complete; tension and conflict are constant possibilities and actualities between different subpopulations as well as between different areas of activities. Such tension and conflict between symbol systems have a greater probability of occurring in a relatively differentiated society than in a relatively homogenous society. One area of conflict is that between religious and nonreligious systems. Such conflict is often grounded in the differences of appeal, the one appealing to an absolute, transcendental authority which tends to be sacred (unchanging) and the other appealing to tradition, social relations, expediency, etc. The tension and conflict involving religious systems occur not only between religious and nonreligious systems but also between one religious system and another.