Religion In The Military

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Jessica Merritt Social Theory Answer to #1: The components of spiritual religion are practicing rituals, use totems, have a hero and a villain, have a meeting place, provide meaning and a purpose for their members, promote loyal devotion, and promote collective ideas. There are other religions out there that are not spiritual religions. Military is its own religion. They have their own ritual or chant that they do. They have their own language. They have their own symbol, which would be their uniform and even the American flag. They have a villain, which would be whoever they are fighting a war against. They all look out for one another. Each branch of the military has their own meeting place and they all have their own way of doing things.…show more content…
They come together and communicate in the same thought and they all participate in the same action. They all feel connected and feel together as a whole and it is in this moment and because of these moments that it is a religion. They then create a symbol that is sacred to them. Just like for the military and for law enforcement officers. The military has their uniform and the American flag and the law enforcement officers have their badge. It is a reminder for why they are doing what they are doing. The flag and the badge are just cloth and metal. They are essentially worthless and they derive value from the reality of collective forces that they represent and embody. The importance that society puts upon the object, the more valuable that symbol becomes. A religious ritual that the military has is patriotic national holidays and with these rituals it helps to reaffirm the collective unity of society. If they did not have these patriotic national holidays then they would be forgotten then the individuals that are a part of the military would not feel the bond that exists between them and there would not be a concept to the society in which they belong. Religion cannot exist on its own. It needs the force and drive behind it so that the religion can be regenerated. This forces all of its members to act and think

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