Religious norms: their 8 types, and examples

A summary of the types of religious norms, with examples of how they apply to society.

All religions have rules that define how their believers should behave appropriately. These are religious norms, which vary greatly depending on the creed and can involve various and may entail various consequences at the social level.

Although there are many religions, almost as many as there are cultures, all their rules have a number of characteristics in common. If you wish to discover what these characteristics are, we invite you to continue reading this article.

What are religious norms?

Religious norms are sets of rules that delimit a series of behaviors and habits that the believers of a religion must carry out.. Normally, these rules are stipulated in some sacred text or are dictated by people who consider themselves the representatives of God's will or deities.

Not following these rules can be interpreted as an offense by the rest of the believers, a disobedience to God's will or a sin. That is why, through the use of these rules, it is intended to prevent believers from carrying out acts that involve a violation of the designs of the religion. It may also be the case that not following these norms is not seen as such a bad thing by society, but for the individual, who acquires a deep sense of guilt.

Traditionally, religious norms have been intended to regulate people's behaviorand have acquired a key importance in the proper functioning of the society of yesteryear.

Characteristics

Religious norms have a series of characteristics, which are as follows are present in most of the organized religions.. Let's see the most outstanding ones.

1. Origin

Traditionally, the appearance of the religious norms precedes the juridical ones, and they have laid the foundation for the configuration of the legal system.

That is why in many cultures, even if there is a more or less secular legal system that legislates the correct behavior of citizens, their laws are often based on ancient norms formulated in a religious perspective.

2. Timeless

Religious norms are difficult to change over time. Unlike social and legislative norms, which admit a greater degree of change, religious norms can remain unchanged for hundreds of years. can remain unchanged for hundreds of years.

This is because, within the context of obedience to a specific divinity, changing that norm or admitting a certain freedom could be interpreted as not respecting God's designs and acting on one's own.

3. Internal

Compliance with these norms is not expressed in an open and external way, but has more to do with agreeing to follow them or not, and, consequently, behaving according to how these norms mark.

Each norm must be internalized and accepted by the believer himself.The believer must do so out of devotion to God or to the gods in which he believes.

4. Incoercibles

Religious norms do not admit, in most cases, to be imposed on people by force. Each believer is free to follow or not the established norm.

Nobody forces the believer to follow the religious norm. Although each rule, according to the religion that marks them, implies a series of consequences in case of non-compliance, they cannot be followed outside the will of the person..

5. Unilateral

Unilateral refers to the fact that in religious norms there is no third person who has the capacity to decide whether or not to respect that particular norm.

That is to say, each person who believes in a religion has the obligation to follow the norms set by his creed, but this obligation is not determined by other people. this obligation is not determined by other persons, but it is a decision of the believer himself for his or her belief.

6. Permitted conduct

The religious norms are, in essence, those behaviors that God or the deities of a religion allow to be done and those that are not tolerated. and those that are not tolerated.

7. Heteronomous

Heteronomous refers to the fact that a third party, such as a prophet, priest or other religious figure, has dictated these norms, assuring that they were indicated by the deity he claimed to represent.

The person who dictates the religious norms, but does not impose them nor obliges to their fulfillment, usually says that it has been by means of a divine revelation. The believer does not have the power to change the norms or add new ones, but must simply limit himself to comply with them. must simply limit himself to comply with them..

8. Religious promise

In most of the religions, in case of respecting all the norms that have been dictated from that belief, some kind of benefit or privilege is promised in life or in the afterlife..

But not only promises of good things are made in case of obeying the celestial designs. In many cases, hell, eternal suffering and unhappiness are also promised in case of sinning or acting against the divine will.

Some examples and social implications

All religious norms have, as an objective, to modify the behavior of the population in such a way that it is appropriate and in accordance with the designs of what is interpreted as the will of God.

Of examples there are many, many more than existing religions. The following are examples of religious norms. we will see a series of examples of real religious normsWe will now look at a series of examples of actual religious rules followed by believers in such influential religions as Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and explain their social implications.

1. Dress

One of the most famous religious norms of Islam is the one concerning the wearing of a certain type of clothing if one is a woman. Whether in the form of a veil that covers the hair or a burqa, a garment that covers the entire body, women in Islamic society must wear some type of garment that hides their attributes and, thus, does not provoke lust in men, according to their religion.

Although among Islamic countries there is a great variety in the degree to which this religious rule is followed, in those where Sharia or Islamic law is still in force, this rule has legal consequences, such as imprisonment, flogging or stoning.

In Christianity, both nuns and priests must wear special garments according to their position in the religious hierarchy, and these must be modest and not cause them to sin in pride. and do not cause them to sin of pride..

Another example of this is the case of Christian women when getting married, who must wear white as a symbol of their purity and virginity.

2. Food

Returning to Islam, during the month of Ramadan, food consumption is prohibited during the hours when the sun is in the sky.. At night, the consumption of food is allowed. This religious rule admits exceptions: children, pregnant and menstruating women and sick people can eat and drink according to their needs at the time they require.

Another Islamic rule related to food, shared with Judaism, is the prohibition of consuming pork, considered an impure animal.It is considered an impure animal. The consumption of alcohol is also frowned upon.

In Christianity, the wine of the mass represents the Blood of Christ, although it does not mean that the consumption of this drug in an abusive way is looked upon favorably.

During Holy Week, in most Catholic countries red meat is not eaten, replacing it with chicken or poultry.and instead, chicken or fish is substituted. This is done to coincide with the anniversary of Jesus' death, representing the suffering he had to undergo before his crucifixion.

3. Intervention on the body

Religions such as Christianity do not accept to intervene on the body, since it is seen as a creation of God and, therefore, only he has the right to modify what he has created.

Thus, Christians generally frown upon tattoos and piercings, and in more radical cases, blood transfusions and vaccinations. This has as a consequence the association of individuals with this type of body markings with delinquency or with belonging or belonging to areas that are not in keeping with the faith.

As for blood transfusions and vaccinations, not accepting them for religious reasons is not only a danger to the individual himself, but also to people close to him who may be affected by the disease from which they are not protected.

On the other hand, in religions such as Hinduism and various Pacific religions, body modification is a religious symbol. body modification is a religious symbol. Hindu women wear nose piercings, and in Polynesian religions ceremonial tattoos are common.

In Judaism, the newborn is circumcised, while in Islam a similar procedure is performed, although it must be said that this was already done before the appearance of the Islamic religion.

This type of procedure, which basically involves surgery on the penis for non-medical purposes, can be perceived as a male version of female genital mutilation, which in the West is considered mistreatment of women.

4. Animal worship

As we were saying, there are religions such as Judaism and Islam which shun certain animals, in this case the pig.

Others, on the other hand, worship certain animals. In India, cows are considered sacred animals, which cannot be touched. As a result, on more than one occasion, cattle, which roam freely in the cities, can paralyze traffic by standing in the middle of the street without anyone doing anything to stop them.

In Ancient Egypt, cats were practically seen as gods, and great sphinxes and statues were erected in their honor, in addition to having certain privileges that citizens of lower classes were not entitled to enjoy.

The adoration for the felines was such in Egypt that they even paid homage to them once the kittens were dead, building tombs and placing their mummies in them.. In those same tombs they were accompanied by offerings to the gods, which were very expensive.

5. Punishment of crimes

In certain Islamic countries, theft is punished with a law that is a re-adaptation of the ancient code of Hammurabi, which can basically be summarized with the principle of an eye for an eye. The thief, who has used his hand to commit a crime, will have his hand amputated as just punishment for his criminal act.

It should be said that in most religions, both theft and murder are considered sins and are not accepted in any way.

6. Pilgrimage

In Islam there is a religious rule to visit Mecca, the holy Arabian city, at least once in a lifetime. Every year, millions of Muslims visit this city to gather in the square where the Kaaba is located and pray. square where the Kaaba is located and pray around it.

In the Christian world there is the Camino de Santiago, which also moves thousands of people each year traveling through northern Spain to honor St. James the Greater, who is buried in the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela.

Bibliographical references:

• Jaki, S. L. (1985). The Road of Science and the Ways to God. 3rd ed.