Final answer:
Religion serves multiple functions including offering emotional comfort, social interaction, group cohesion, and promoting social norms. Sociological perspectives like functionalism view it as vital for community and societal needs, while conflict theory sees it as a tool for maintaining social inequality.
Step-by-step explanation:
The functions of religion are numerous and vary according to different sociological perspectives. From a functionalist viewpoint, religion's roles include providing emotional comfort, creating opportunities for social interaction, supporting group cohesion, and promoting social control. It offers answers to spiritual mysteries, helps in times of crisis, and reinforces social norms.
Religion acts as a social institution by providing group cohesion and companionship. Figures like Émile Durkheim highlighted that religion is a unified system of beliefs towards sacred things, while Max Weber saw it as a potential force for social change. Karl Marx, however, viewed it as a means for capitalist societies to maintain inequality. Regardless, religion is found universally in all societies and serves various needs.
Religion also impacts identity, sometimes creating in-group versus out-group dynamics, which can be seen in historical examples such as the Inquisition and the Salem witch trials. Conflict theory highlights these and other ways in which religion can perpetuate social inequality, while symbolic interactionism looks at the day-to-day interactions and symbols within religious practice.