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Key words
– Theism– Atheism– Denomination– Cult and Sect– Secularisation– Social cohesion– Social control– Sacred/Profane– Protestant Work Ethic– Dominant ideology
Religion and Belief Systems
• Has anyone consulted a clairvoyant?
• Had their cards or tea-leaves read recently?
• Anyone believe in UFOs?
Who reads horoscopes?
Did you believe it?
Sociological Imagination
• History• What is the history of religious practices?
• Structure• What are the different kinds of religions?
• Culture• What are key ideas about religion in society?
‘ability to imagine & understand intersection between personal biography & historical social structures’ CW Mills
• It’s a universal institution
•set of beliefs and practices often organized around supernatural and moral claims,
and often codified
Definition
“A unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say things set apart and forbidden - beliefs
and practices which unite into a single moral community called a Church, all those that adhere to them”
(Emile Durkheim 1965)
Sociological Ideas about Religion
• SOCIAL COHESION– Durkheim
• SOCIAL CONTROL– Marx
• SOCIAL CHANGE– Weber– New Religious Movements
Social Cohesion Durkheim
• Religion is powerful force for unification within society– Main purpose of religion in societies is to help
make contact with one another, not God
– Rituals give sense of community with shared experiences- birth, marriage, death, planting/harvest, solstice/ equinox
– Meant no one had to face life alone– Collective conscience
• Promotes social cohesion• Emotional support and meaning in times of
stress• Reinforcement of norms giving them moral
legitimacy
Religion as Social ControlKarl Marx
• Concept of alienation, consequence of condition of social forces which separate human beings from things which are crucial to their own nature
• Relates to nature of capitalism whereby people become commodities (units of labor)
• Ideology - set of persuasive ideas part of “common sense “ of society that ensure maintenance of exploitative social systems.
Religion is ‘opium of the people‘ K.Marx
• “Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and also the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” Marx (1844)
• Mechanism for social control
Religion: Force of Social Change?• Max Weber• Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism• Calvinism - hard work and acquisition of material
wealth indicative of God’s favor and of salvation.• Encouraged hard work and diligence (Protestant Ethic)
• Growth of capitalism
Impact of Religion
• Are religious people happier, better adjusted, more stable?
• Are religious people healthier?
• Do they recover from disease more often?
• Are religious people more moral, more faithful, less likely to cheat?
Practices, Beliefs and Social Context
• PRE-THEISTIC – (tribal societies)
• THEISM – (more developed societies)
• ATHEISM – (rise in modern societies)
Pre-theistic systems
• Fate - approximates modern concepts of destiny/luck
• Animism- whole natural world has spiritual qualities
• Totemism- supernatural qualities concentrated in particular (sacred) objects– All reflect need to find
meaning
Theism
• Theism -system of beliefs that establish divine beings that shape human affairs– Polytheism-belief in gods,
each with their own sphere of influence
–Monotheism-belief in supreme god.
– 3 religions are monotheistic:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Atheism
• Term for non-religious
• Also applied to systems which deny existence of personal supernatural beings
Religion vs. Magic
Religion MagicWorships the supernatural Attempts to control
supernatural forces
Object of worship is god or gods
Does not worship god or gods
Religious experience an end in itself
Ritual is means to an end
Group oriented; experience designed to unify group
Individually oriented; experience designed to help individual user
Elements of Religion
Religious Organizations: Relationship to Society
Places of Worship
Church Basilica
Mosque
Pagoda Temple
Synagogue
Major World ReligionsRanked by Number of Adherents
1) Christianity: 2.1 billion 2) Islam: 1.3 billion3) Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion4) Hinduism: 900 million5) Chinese traditional religion: 394 million6) Buddhism: 376 million
• 6 categories: 6.1 billion
9) Sikhism: 23 million12) Judaism: 15 million13) Baha'i: 7 million17) Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million20) Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21) Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22) Scientology: 500 thousand
Origin of Universalizing Religions
Christianity-Founded upon Jesus as Messiah
Islam–same narrative as Judaism/ Christianity. All consider Adam first man and Abraham one of his descendants.
Judaism-Abraham is founder, waiting for Messiah to set up kingdom on earth
Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock is sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Orthodox Judaism
Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox) Hasidic Judaism
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reconstructionist JudaismHumanistic Judaism
Modern Orthodox
Christianity
Three major branches
1.Roman Catholic 2.Protestant3.Eastern Orthodox
The Holy Trinity
first humans were created in image of God (imago Dei), most Christians believe heaven and hell.
Jesus Christ is God's only son, born of a virgin, executed, descended into Hell, rose again and ascended into heaven. The only way to heaven is
by accepting this.
Presbyterian
Anabaptism
Pentecostalism
Branches of Islam• Sunni- comprise
majority of Muslims -largest branch in
most Muslim countries
-Middle East and Asia
• Shiite- 16% of Muslims -mostly found Iran,
Pakistan, and Iraq
Qur'an Five Pillars
6 B.C., word Hindu used in India for people in caste system.
97% of Hindus are concentrated in one country-India.
While origins of other religions are in recent past,
Hinduism existed prior to recorded history.
Largest number of followers in world
Hinduism
Trinitarian
Buddhism- emerged from Hinduism.
Other Ethnic Religions
Confucianism prescribed series of ethical principles for orderly conduct of daily
life in China. Confucius-philosopher and
teacher in China
Daoism (Taoism) Daoists seek doa. A virtuous person draws powers from being absorbed in dao.
Shintoism-ethnic religion of Japan. considers forces of nature to be divine, especially Sun &
Moon.
Religion: Past, Present & Future(Source: World Christian Encyclopedia)
• Religion 1900 1980 2000• Christian 34.4% 32.8% 32.3%• RC 16.8% 18.5% 18.7%• Prot. 9.4% 7.9% 7.0%• E.O. 7.5% 2.8% 2.4%• Other 0.07% 3.6% 4.1%• Atheist 0.2% 20.8% 21.3%• Muslim 12.4% 16.5% 19.2%• Hindu 12.5% 13.3% 13.7%• Buddhism 7.8% 6.3% 5.7%
Cults and Sects
• Cults and Sects: – generally small & often challenge existing social structures
and values.
• Cults – may claim links with traditional religion.
Inward looking, stressing personal religious experience
• Sects – seek return to original more fundamental truths.
Doesn’t try to change rest of society, eg. Amish
Alternative Belief Systems
• Are they replacing religion?– Science and technology– Markets
• New Religious Movements (NRMs)– Clairvoyance, Astrology, Crystal
power– Paganism and nature worship
Wiccans
Religious school students Religious school students cheat more, survey showscheat more, survey shows
78% vs. 72% cheated at least once on exams78% vs. 72% cheated at least once on exams 74% (2002) vs. 71% (2000) vs. 61% (1992) 74% (2002) vs. 71% (2000) vs. 61% (1992)
who claimed “religion is very important to who claimed “religion is very important to me”me”
“Willingness to cheat has become the “Willingness to cheat has become the norm…”norm…”
Shoplifting: 35% vs. 39%Shoplifting: 35% vs. 39% Stealing from parents: 25% vs. 28%Stealing from parents: 25% vs. 28% Lying to parents: 95% vs. 97%Lying to parents: 95% vs. 97%
Josephson Institute for Ethics (2002)Josephson Institute for Ethics (2002)
Summary
• Religion tends to reflect arrangements of society within which it emerges
• Religions often serve to legitimate and maintain existing social structures
• Religion varies in organization• Secularization is process in which
religious beliefs/ practices are progressively restricted in their application
Words about Religion
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” Dali Lama
“A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does
not help to solve them is no religion.” Mohandis Gandi
“The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God and commits suicide.”RALPH WALDO EMERSON
“When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.” Abraham Lincoln
THOMAS JEFFERSON: “It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read”
Conclusion
• Religion is a part of our cultural heritage. While some of us may reject membership of a particular religion we are nevertheless members of a society into which religion has infused its notions of morality and within which religion continues to be a powerful force.