"The main function of religion in society is the control of weaker social groups by the more powerful."

Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal god or gods. There are many sociological arguments and evidence both for and against the statement that "The main function of religion in society is the control of weaker social groups by the more powerful." These sociological arguments come from many of the main sociological perspectives and include evidence from the likes of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, De Beauvoir, Engels and …

…being one of domination and oppression others see its main function as maintaining order and stability or as a means of social change. Therefore it can be argued that religion has many functions within society and although one of these functions may well be the domination of one group over another this is not the sole function that religion has as can be seen by the arguments and evidence put forward by Durkheim and Weber.