The fact that religion (as well as ideology – the same Marxism, and scholars such as Confucianism), possessing minds, is a huge and very real physical force, there is no reason to doubt. Undoubtedly its major impact on man and society, history, culture, life and customs. What is the mechanism of this influence? As a religion and acts as a system? Religion as a set of beliefs, rites, cults, temples, priests, etc. occurs certain conditions of social existence, at a certain level of production and the whole economic structure. The changing conditions of life (we are talking about changes of a fundamental nature) provide the corrective impact on the forms and methods of religious activity, the essence of belief and worship, the nature of religious organizations. This is normal and natural, with no changes in the lifestyle sector of ideas as it freezes at a primitive level, such as demonstrate the religious ideas of, say, the Australian Aborigines.
However, the impact of radical changes in the production of a religion is by no means straightforward and automatic. On the contrary, it is largely depends on the organizational forms and the dogmatic structure that this or that religion has developed during its early development. In practice, this means that, once it has arisen and begun to form in these conditions by certain inherent structural principles is her, this or that religion – is a very autonomous system, evolving on their own, internally deterministic laws. External influences can only stimulate change and development of religion in one way or another, to encourage her to adapt to changing circumstances. At the same time, religion can greatly modified. On the basis of old ideas, beliefs and religious forms may be new, one system may be replaced by another, more developed and adapted to changing circumstances, more aptly relevant to the needs of society.
But even in this case new religion (or modify, radically reformed the old) is governed not only by direct exposure to the outside, as its own internally deterministic laws of development. Religion as autonomous system is closely linked to ethnic and cultural tradition, and this connection, at least at first, determines the firmness of its authority. Religion is based on tradition, that is, the experience of hundreds of generations, gives its standards sacred character and to make them a stricter standard of conduct required a stereotype. A national-cultural tradition, with its powerful conservative force of inertia creates the internal stability and resilience external factors that distinguishes a religion as a system and ensure its autonomy, its internal determinism. When incorporated with their own religious ideas and institutions into a single integrated system (Religion in the broadest sense), the tradition of creating a kind of impenetrable protective armor that protects the structure from its destruction by external forces. It is in this – the reverse effect of religion on life society, the nature of culture, in the course of history.