Chapter 17

Religion

Chapter Outline

• The Sociological Study of Religion

• Sociological Perspectives on Religion

• World Religions

• Types of Religious Organization

• Trends in Religion in the United States

• Religion in the Future

An Overview Of Religion

• Religion is a system of beliefs and practices based on some sacred or supernatural realm, that guides human behavior, gives meaning to life, and unites believers into a single moral community.

• The sociology of religion focuses on religious groups and organizations, on the behavior of individuals within those groups, and on ways religion is intertwined with social institutions.

Religion

• Seeks to answer questions such as why we exist, why people suffer and die and what happens when we die.

• Comprised of beliefs, symbols and rituals.

• All known groups over the past 100,000 years have had some form of religion.

Religion

• Faith is unquestioning belief that does not require proof or scientific evidence.

• Sacred refers to those aspects of life that are extraordinary or supernatural.

Religion

• Profane refers to the everyday, secular aspects of life.

• Rituals are regularly repeated and carefully prescribed forms of behaviors that symbolize a cherished value or belief.

Sociological Perspectives Of Religion

Functionalist Sacred beliefs and rituals bind people

together and help maintain social control.

Conflict Religion may be used to justify the status

quo (Marx) or to promote social change.

Symbolic

Interactionist

Religion may serve as a reference group for

many people, but because of race, class, and

gender people may experience it differently.

Durkheim on Religion

• According to Emile Durkheim, all religions share three elements:1. Beliefs held by adherents.

2. Practices (rituals) engaged in collectively by believers.

3. A moral community based on the group’s shared beliefs and practices pertaining to the sacred.

Four Categories of Religion

• Simple supernaturalism - the belief that supernatural forces affect people's lives positively or negatively.

• Animism - the belief that plants, animals, and elements of the natural world are endowed with spirits that impact events in society.

Four Categories of Religion

• Theism - belief in a God or Gods.

• Transcendent idealism - belief in sacred principles of thought and conduct, such as truth, justice, life and tolerance for others.

Secularization

• The process by which religious beliefs, practices, and institutions lose their significance in sectors of society and culture.

Civil Religion

• The set of beliefs, rituals, and symbols that makes sacred the values of the society and places the nation in the context of the ultimate system of meaning.

• Civil religion is not tied to any one denomination or religious group.

Church

• Throughout recorded history, churches and other religious bodies have provided people with a sense of belonging.

• Members of this congregation show their unity as they visit with one another.

Major World Religions

Christianity Islam

Current

Followers1.7 billion 1 billion

Founder Jesus Muhammad

Date 1st century C.E. ca. 600 C.E

Major World Religions

Hinduism Buddhism

Current

Followers719 million 309 million

FounderNo specific

founder

Siddhartha

Gautama

Date ca. 1500 B.C.E500 to 600

B.C.E.

Major World Religions

Judaism Confucianism

Current

Followers18 million 5.9 million

FounderAbraham, Isaac,

JacobK’ung Fu-Tzu

Date ca. 2000 B.C.E. 500 B.C.E

Separation of Church and State

• Separation of church and state is often contested by people who believe religion should be a part of public life.

• These workers are complying with a federal court order to remove a monument bearing the Ten Commandments from the Alabama State Judicial Building.

Symbolic Nature of Church and State Connection

• Currency: “In God We Trust”;

• Pledge of Allegiance

• Nativity Scenes and Menorah’s erected on Gov’t

Property;

• Gov’t Events commence with prayer

--Jefferson on Religion Thomas Jefferson on Politics &

Government

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1370.htm

"The want of instruction in the various creeds of religious faith existing among our citizens presents... a chasm in a general institution of the useful sciences. But it was thought that this want, and the entrustment to each society of instruction in its own doctrine, were evils of less danger than a permission to the public authorities to dictate modes or principles of religious instruction, or than opportunities furnished them by giving countenance or ascendancy to any one sect over another." --Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Board of Visitors Minutes, 1822. ME 19:414

"After stating the constitutional reasons against a public establishment of any religious instruction, we suggest the expediency of encouraging the different religious sects to establish, each for itself, a professorship of their own tenets on the confines of the university, so near as that their students may attend the lectures there and have the free use of our library and every other accommodation we can give them; preserving, however, their independence of us and of each other. This fills the chasm objected to ours, as a defect in an institution professing to give instruction in all useful sciences... And by bringing the sects together, and mixing them with the mass of other students, we shall soften their asperities, liberalize and neutralize their prejudices, and make the general religion a religion of peace, reason, and morality." --Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1822. ME 15:405

IN GOD’S

NAMEHTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2006/10/08/BUSINESS/08RELIGIOUS.H

TML?_R=1&PAGEWANTED=ALL

As Exemptions Grow, Religion Outweighs Regulation

By DIANA B. HENRIQUES

Published: October 8, 2006

NAMEHTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2006/10/08/

BUSINESS/08RELIGIOUS.HTML?

As Exemptions Grow, Religion Outweighs Regulation

EXEMPTIONS AVAILABLE Federal law gives religious

organizations unique ways to challenge government restrictions

on how they use their land or buildings. In Boulder County, Colo.,

the Rocky Mountain Christian Church is using a new federal law

to fight a county decision preventing it from expanding on land

designated for open space.

By DIANA B. HENRIQUES

Published: October 8, 2006

Some of the exceptions have existed for much of the nation’s history, originally

devised for Christian churches but expanded to other faiths as the nation has become more religiously diverse. But many have been granted in just the last 15 years — sometimes added to

legislation, anonymously and with little attention, much as are the widely criticized “earmarks” benefiting other

special interests.

An analysis by The New York Times of laws passed since 1989 shows that more than 200 special arrangements, protections or exemptions for religious groups or their adherents were tucked into Congressional legislation, covering topics ranging from pensions to immigration to land use.

New breaks have also been provided by a host of pivotal court decisions at the state and federal level, and by numerous rule changes in almost every department and agency of the executive branch.

The special breaks amount to “a sort of religious affirmative action program,”said John Witte Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at the Emory University law school.

Professor Witte added: “Separation of

church and state was certainly part of American law when many of today’s

public opinion makers were in school. But separation of church and state is no longer the law of the land.”

The changes reflect, in part, the growing political influence of religious groups and the growing presence of conservatives in the courts and regulatory agencies. But these tax and regulatory breaks have been endorsed by politicians of both major political parties, by judges around the country, and at all levels of government.

“The religious community has a lot of pull, and

senators are very deferential to this kind of legislation,” said Richard R. Hammar, the editor

of Church Law & Tax Report and an accountant with law and divinity degrees from Harvard.

As a result of these special breaks, religious organizations of all faiths stand in a position that American businesses — and the thousands of nonprofit groups without that “religious”label — can only envy.

And the new breaks come at a time when many religious organizations are expanding into activities — from day care

centers to funeral homes, from ice cream parlors to fitness clubs, from bookstores to broadcasters — that compete with

these same businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Religious organizations are exempt from many federal, state and local laws and regulations covering social services, including addiction treatment centers and child care, like those in Alabama.

Religion and Schools

• Shown here is Dr. Kenneth Miller, a biology professor, during a discussion of the pros and cons of incorporating the teaching of intelligent design into the Ohio state science curriculum.

HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2006/10/11/BUSI

NESS/11RELIGIOUS.HTML?EX=1318219200&E

IN GOD’S NAME

Religion-Based Tax Breaks: Housing to Paychecks to Books

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

The Rev. Rick Warren, who fought for tax breaks for clergy members, conducts an

afternoon service at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

By DIANA B.

HENRIQUES

Published: October 11,

2006

For tens of millions of Americans, the Rev. Rick Warren is best known for his blockbuster spiritual guide, “The Purpose Driven Life,” which has sold more than 25 million copies; his success as

the founder of the 22,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.; and his efforts on behalf of some of the world’s

neediest people.

But for tens of thousands of ministers — and their financial advisers — Pastor Warren will also be remembered as their

champion in a fight over the most valuable tax break available to ordained clergy members of all faiths: an exemption from federal taxes for most of the money they spend on housing, which typically represents roughly a third of their compensation. Pastor Warren argued that the tax break is essential to poorly paid clergy members who serve society.

The tax break is not available to the staff at secular nonprofit organizations whose scale and charitable aims compare to those of religious ministries like Pastor Warren’s church, or

to poorly paid inner-city teachers and day care workers who also serve their communities.

The housing deduction is one of several tax breaks that leave extra money in the pockets of clergy members and their religious employers. Ministers of every faith are also exempt from income tax withholding and can opt out of Social Security. And every state but one exempts religious employers from paying state unemployment taxes —reducing the employers’ payroll expenses but also leaving

their workers without unemployment benefits if they are laid off.

How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion on U.S. Education?

True or False?

• Virtually all sociologists have advocated

the separation of moral teaching from

academic subject matter.

False

• While contemporary sociologists hold strong

opinions on many subjects; most do not think

that it is their role to advocate specific stances.

• Early sociologists were less inclined to believe

that they had to be ―value free.‖

– Durkheim advocated that education should

have a moral component and that schools

had a responsibility to teach a commitment to the common morality.

How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion on U.S. Education?

True or False?

• The number of children from religious

backgrounds other than Christianity and

Judaism has grown steadily in public

schools over the past three decades.

True

• Although about 86% of those age eighteen and

over in the forty-eight contiguous states of the

United States describe their religion as some

Christian denomination, there has still been a

significant increase in those who adhere either

to no religion (7.5%) or who are Jewish,

Muslim/Islamic, Unitarian–Universalist, Buddhist,

or Hindu.

How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion on U.S. Education?

True or False?

• Debates over the content of textbooks

focus only on elementary education

because of the vulnerability of young

children.

False

• Attempts to remove textbooks occur at all

levels of schooling.

• A recent case involved the removal of

Chaucer’s ―The Miller’s Tale‖ and

Aristophanes’s Lysistrata from a high

school curriculum.

Prayer in the Classroom

• Should prayer be permitted in the classroom?

• On the school grounds?

• At school athletic events?

• Given the diversity of beliefs that U.S. people hold, arguments and court cases over prayer and schools will continue in the future.

www.cc.org -

•Barack Obama promised Planned Parenthood that he would sign the pro-

abortion “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) – a bill that would end virtually

ALL restrictions on abortion and provide an unlimited right to tax-payer

funded, abortion-on-demand. Click here and join our campaign to “Stop

FOCA” by signing our petition today.

The time for pro-life Americans to act is NOW!

Roberta Combs, President

College Students and Religion

• College students may

turn to religion for

answers to important

questions for which there

are no easy answers.

• Rituals help individuals

outwardly express their

beliefs and provide a

sense of cohesion and

belonging.

Sidebar Navigation

About Us

Join

Donate

Commentary

Newsletter

Press Room

News

Campaigns

Online Store

RSS Feeds

Obama administration to greatly damage charitable

giving

Top military officers say: "Keep law banning

homosexuals"

Black S.C. Democrat blasts his party for it's anti-

choice position on education

Pro-Life Senators' Open Letter to Obama

Where is the fiscal restraint?

He doth protest too much

More

$25 $50

$100 $500

Other amount

Action Alert

•Defend Conscience Protections for Healthcare Workers

Support CCA

CONNECT WITH US:

twitter

In Theatres Now - The Cross: The Arthur

Blessitt Story

Christian Coalition condemns Iowa judges

for making law on homosexual "marriage“

Coalition Guest Commentary - Pro-Life

Senators' Open Letter to Obama

Coalition Guest Commentary - Where is the

fiscal restraint?

Pastor Warren Cancels ABC Interview

and Will Not Talk About Prop 8

Gingrich Says the Obama Adminstration

is "Anti-Religious"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other organizations with similar names, see

Christian Coalition.

The Christian Coalition of America, originally

called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a US

Christian advocacy group, which includes

Christian fundamentalists, evangelicals, neo-

evangelicals and charismatics. It once wielded

great power within the Republican Party but

membership has declined drastically in recent

years. It claims to have 1,200,000 members.

Brief history

[edit] Beginnings with Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed

Following a well-funded but failed bid for the U.S. presidency in

1988, religious broadcaster and political commentator Pat

Robertson used the remains of his campaign machinery to jump-

start the creation of a voter mobilization effort dubbed the

Christian Coalition. Americans for Robertson accumulated a

mailing list of several million conservative Christians interested

in politics. This mailing list formed the foundation for the new

organization.

However, despite public announcements that excitement among

evangelical and Christian right voters prompted the creation of

the Christian Coalition, the incorporation records of the State of

Virginia reveal that the Christian Coalition, Inc. was actually

incorporated on April 30, 1987, with the paperwork filed earlier,

and with planning having begun before that. Thus the Christian

Coalition was actually planned long before Pat Robertson's run

for President began. Robertson's candidacy appears to have been

planned from the start for launching the Christian Coalition.

After its founding, it was granted a grace period to

operate as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization

before the IRS made its final determination. Forty-

nine state chapters were also created as independent

corporations within their states, including the

Christian Coalition of Texas.

A handful, including the Christian Coalition of

Texas successfully obtained non-profit status as a

501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization, while the

national group's application remained pending and

unresolved.

In 1990, the national Christian Coalition, Inc., headquartered in

Chesapeake, Virginia, began producing "non-partisan" voter guides

which it distributed to conservative Christian churches, with 40

million being distributed in the 1992 and 1996 presidential election

years. Under the leadership of Reed and Robertson, the Coalition

quickly became the most prominent voice in the conservative

Christian movement, landing Reed on the cover of Time in May,

1994, its influence culminating with an effort to support the election

of a conservative Christian to the presidency in 1996 or 2000.

Complaints that the voter guides were actually partisan led to the

denial of the Christian Coalition, Inc.'s tax-exempt status in 1999. The

Christian Coalition, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the IRS after which

the IRS backed down for most of the years in question, holding out

only on 1992. However, instead of pursuing legal action, Pat

Robertson renamed the Christian Coalition of Texas, Inc. as the

Christian Coalition of America, Inc., since the Texas chapter already

enjoyed tax exempt status, and transferred the trademark and all

operations to the Texas-based corporation

In 1998, an advocacy group for religious freedom Americans

United urged the IRS to review the Coalition’s partisan political

activities over the decade in which its tax-exempt status was

pending. The following year, the IRS revoked the Coalition’s

provisional tax-exemption, in view of the Coalition's distribution

of "voter guides" which had a partisan bias. The revocation cost

the Coalition up to $300,000 in back taxes and penalties.

Following this, the Coalition reorganized as the Christian

Coalition of America, as an effort to regain its tax-exempt

status.[3][6] Churches that once embraced the Christian Coalition

have disassociated themselves for fear of losing their own tax-

exempt status.[6] After its tax-exempt status was denied, CCA was

able to turn all of its attention to politics. In 2000 the coalition

moved from its long-standing base of operations in the

Chesapeake Bay area to an office on Capitol Hill in Washington,

D.C.

In 2005, the Coalition concluded a settlement

agreement with the Internal Revenue Service,

ending its long-running battle with that agency

regarding its tax exempt status.[4]

As a result, the IRS has now recognized the

Coalition as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization,

the first time in the Agency's history that it has

granted a letter of exemption to a group that stated

in its application that it would distribute voter

guides directly in churches. The consent decree

enforces limitations on the terminology that may be

used in the Coalition's "voter guides".[4]

Conflict Perspective

• According to Karl Marx, religion is the "opiate of the people."

• Max Weber argued that religion could be a catalyst to produce social change.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Religion serves as a reference group to help people define themselves.

• Women’s versions of a certain religion usually differ from men’s versions.

Question

• According to the functionalist perspective, religion offers meaning for the human experience by:

A. providing an explanation for events that create a profound sense of loss on both an individual and a group basis.

B. offering people a reference group to help them define themselves.

C. reinforcing existing social arrangements.

D. encouraging secularization.

Answer: A

• According to the functionalist perspective, religion offers meaning for the human experience by providing an explanation for events that create a profound sense of loss on both an individual and a group basis.

Question

• In regard to religion, Max Weber asserted that:

A. church and state should be separated.

B. religion could be a catalyst to produce social change.

C. religion retards social change.

D. the religious teachings of the Catholic Church were directly related to the rise of capitalism.

Answer: B

• In regard to religion, Max Weber asserted that religion could be a catalyst to produce social change.

Question

• The Anglican Church in England and the Lutheran church in Sweden are examples of a(n):

A. church

B. sect.

C. denomination.

D. ecclesia.

Answer: D

• The Anglican Church in England and the Lutheran church in Sweden are examples of a(n) ecclesia.

Religion and Tradition

• These Jews at the

Western Wall in

Jerusalem—a wall

that holds special

significance for all

Jews—express their

faith in God and in

the traditions of their

ancestors.

Fundamentalism

• A traditional religious doctrine that is conservative, is typically opposed to modernity, and rejects “worldly pleasures” in favor of otherworldly spirituality.

Hindusim

• According to Marx and Weber,

religion serves to reinforce

social stratification in a

society.

• According to Hindu belief, a

person’s social position in his

or her current life is a result of

behavior in a former life.

Buddhism

• Worshippers at this

Buddhist temple in

Los Angeles

celebrate the Thai

New Year.

Confucianism

• Confucianism is

based on the ethical

teachings formulated

by Confucius, shown

here in a portrait

created by a Manchu

prince in 1735.

Islam

• The Muslim women

shown here pray at a

mosque courtyard in

Bangladesh during the

fasting month of

Ramadan.

• According to Muslim

teaching, Ramadan

marks God’s revelation of

the Qur’ and to the

Prophet Muhammad.

Christianity

• Christians around the world have been drawn to cathedrals such as the Basilica of Sacré Coeur in Paris (built between 1875 and 1914) to worship God and celebrate their religious beliefs.

Original Locations of the World’s Major Religions

Characteristics of Churches and Sects

Organization Membership

Church

Large, bureaucratic

organization,led by

professional clergy

Open to all;

members usually

from upper and

middle classes

Sect

Small group,high

degree of lay

participation

Guarded

membership, usually

from lower classes

Characteristics of Churches and Sects

Worship Salvation

Church Formal, orderly Granted by God

SectInformal,

spontaneous

Achieved by moral

purity

Characteristics of Churches and Sects

Attitude Toward Other Religions

Church Tolerant

Sect Intolerant

Cult

• This mass wedding

ceremony brought

widespread media

attention to the

Reverend Sun Myung

Moon and the

Unification Church,

which many view as

a cult.

Major U.S. Denominations That Self-identify As Christian

Religious Body Members Churches

Roman Catholic 67,260,000 19,431

Southern Baptist

Convention

16,440,000 42,972

United Methodist 8,251,000 35,102

Church of God in Christ 5,500,000 15,300

Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter Day Saints

5,503,000 12,112

Major U.S. Denominations That Self-identify As Christian

Religious Body Members Churches

Evangelical Lutheran

Church in America

4,985,500 10,657

National Baptist

Convention,USA

5,000,000 9,000

National Baptist

Convention of America

3,500,000 N.A.

Presbyterian Church

(U.S.A.)

3,241,000 11,064

Assemblies of God 2,730,000 12,222

U.S. Religious BodiesMembership

Religious Body Members

Protestants 91,500,000

Roman Catholics 63,683,000

Muslims 6,000,000

Jews 5,602,000

Orthodox Christians 5,631,000

Buddhists 1,864,000

Hindus 795,000

Churches in Low Income Areas

• Churches in

converted buildings

such as this seek to

win new religious

followers and to offer

solace and hope to

people in low-income

areas.

Quick Quiz

1. According to Sociologists, religion attempts to:

A. bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.

B. have a personal relationship with God.

C. all of the choices.

D. save every soul.

Answer: A

• According to Sociologists, religion attempts to bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.

2. Who said "religion is the opiate of the masses?”

A. Emile Durkheim

B. Karl Marx

C. Max Weber

D. Talcott Parsons

Answer: B

• Karl Marx said "religion is the opiate of the masses?”

3. A relatively small religious group that has broken away from another religious organization to renew what it views as the original version of the faith is referred to as:

A. an ecclesia

B. Catholicism

C. a sect

D. a denomination

Answer: C

• A relatively small religious group that has broken away from another religious organization to renew what it views as the original version of the faith is referred to as a sect.

4. Unquestioning belief that does not require proof or scientific evidence is:

A. sacred

B. profane

C. taboo

D. faith

Answer: D

4. Unquestioning belief that does not require proof or scientific evidence is faith.