The family is one of the largest factors of influencing how someone acts. It prescribes beliefs and views, while also acting as a support group for those in it. And yet, there are also those families that have fallen apart. Divorce has happened. In fact, it happened in my family. Even things such as this can heavily influence those within the family. And there are many other families that aren't the traditional stereotype. This diversity has created a change in the true definition of the word "family". But one of the primary factors in the "ideal family"--which is a family consisting of a father as a breadwinner and a mother at home, in traditional gender roles--is religion. And while just as diverse as a family, religion dictates many of the actions that take place within the households, as well as how the family acts in general. Many other factors, such as divorce and violence within the house all depended on factors such as religious beliefs and how strong they are. Others include how the house is run, and who runs it.
Religion, in all itself, plays a heavy role in today's society. Although the world is steadily advancing, religion still maintains a strong structure within the world. With most families basing themselves off of religion, we see how useful it is to look at it when studying families and the sociology amongst them. To me, it's important to cover this topic because we can truly see the different religious factors the end up affecting those in the household. Usually, they go on to structure beliefs and to set certain precedents about different issues in the world. Because religion is such a massive influence, it creates one of the primary pillars about family life and family function. For these reason, I find that it is important to look at. That being said, I will no divulge my own religious identity, as I believe that could preempt some biases that could be looked at negatively. But otherwise, I believe that this is one of the strongest issues when looking at initial factors of sociology and how people in society define themselves. Religion is usually one of the first stones set when founding the behavior and identity of people.
