Beliefs In Society

Question 1

Sacred vs profane - Durkheim

Answer 1

The sacred - things set apart and forbidden, inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder, taboos and prohibitions
The profane - things that have no special significance

Question 2

Totemism - Durkheim

Answer 2

Worship of a sacred totem = worship of society
Inspires feelings of awe, power over the group

Question 3

Symbols and the collective conscience

Answer 3

Sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience - norms, values, beliefs and knowledge

Question 4

Psychological sense over the uncontrollable - Malinowski

Answer 4

Lagoon fishing - safe and uses a predictable and safe method and ritual
Ocean fishing - dangerous and uncertain, accompanied by ‘canoe magic’ - rituals to ensure a safe and successful expedition
Gives people a sense of control and reinforces group solidarity

Question 5

Life crises - Malinowski

Answer 5

Events such as birth, puberty, death, marriage mark major and disruptive changes in social groups
Religion helps to minimise disruption
Provides ritual to get us through them

Question 6

Civil religion - Bellah

Answer 6

American way of life - binds Americans together
A belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society
Involves loyalty to the nation state

Question 7

Functional alternatives - Merton

Answer 7

If one institution fails, others can pick up the roles
Non-religious beliefs and practices can perform similar functions to organised religion

Question 8

Lenin & Marx

Answer 8

‘Spiritual gin’
‘Opiate of the masses’
Religion feels good but it keeps them passive, controlled and is bad for them
By ‘dulling the pain’ religion can prevent revolution

Question 9

‘Dual character’

Answer 9

Religion is the ‘heart of a heartless world’ - Marx
‘Alienation’
There is something almost genuine in the comfort some people get from it

Question 10

Liberation theology

Answer 10

Three factors prompted priests within the Catholic Church to take a more radical, political stance:
Deepening rural poverty
Human rights abuses
Growing commitment among catholic priests to an ideology supporting the poor and opposing human rights violations

Question 11

Maduro & Löwy

Answer 11

Maduro - religion can be a revolutionary force that brings about change
Löwy - questions Marx’s view that religion always legitimises social inequality

Question 12

Civil rights movement

Answer 12

Black campaigns for equal rights
Church provided leadership (MLK), organisation, practical support and a value system

Question 13

The New Christian Right

Answer 13

Fundamentalist Protestant Christian movement
Campaigning for hardline Christian influences on politics (abortion, marriage etc)
However they do not cooperate effectively

Question 14

Stark and Bainbridge - 3 types of cult

Answer 14

Audience cults - does not involve formal membership, little interaction between members, participation may be through the media
Client cults - based on a relationship between a consultant and a client
Cultic movements - more organised, demand higher levels of commitment, exclusive

Question 15

Why do new religious movements grow?

Answer 15

Marginality
Relative deprivation - middle class people may feel spiritually deprived
Social change
Growth of world-rejecting NRMs
Growth of world-affirming NRMs

Question 16

Denomination or death - Niebuhr

Answer 16

Sects are world-rejecting organisations that come into existence because of a schism
The second generation lack the commitment
Death of the leader - charismatic leader dies and the sect collapses or a more formal leadership takes over and becomes a denomination

Question 17

World-rejecting movements - Wallis

Answer 17

Clearly religious with a clear notion of God
Highly critical of the outside world
Restricted contact with the outside world
Have conservative moral codes

Question 18

World-accommodating movements - Wallis

Answer 18

Breakaways from mainstream churches or denominations
Neither accept nor reject the world
Seek to restore religious purity

Question 19

World-affirming movements - Wallis

Answer 19

Not highly organised
Accept the world as it is
Tolerant of other religions
Entry is through training

Question 20

Weber - secularisation

Answer 20

Medieval catholics believed that the world was an enchanted garden
Protestantism imagine a more remote God, disenchanting the world - rationalisation

Question 21

Bruce - secularisation

Answer 21

Industrial revolution brought social and geographical mobility
Urban communities were ‘looser’

Question 22

Parsons - secularisation

Answer 22

Structural differentiation - religion loses functions to other institutions
Religion became more purely ‘privatised’

Question 23

Berger - secularisation

Answer 23

‘Sacred canopy’ - protected medieval Catholic Churches
Protestant reformation shattered this

Question 24

Church attendance today

Answer 24

40% in the mid 19th century
10 - 15% in the 1960s
By 2015, about 5% of the adult population attended church on Sundays

In 1971 60% of weddings were in churches, by 2012 it was only 30%

Question 25

Cultural defence

Answer 25

Religion provides a focal point for the defence of a struggle against an external force such as hostile foreign power

Question 26

Cultural transition

Answer 26

Religion provides support and a sense of community for ethnic groups

Question 27

Secularisation in America

Answer 27

1962 - 40% of Americans attended church on Sundays
American religion has remained popular by becoming less religious

Question 28

Calvinist beliefs - Weber

Answer 28

Predestination - God has predetermined who will go to heaven and who will go to hell
Divine transcendence - creates a salvation panic
Asceticism - self denial, devoting themselves to God
Calvinists accumulate wealth and invest it, creating capitalism

Question 29

Gramsci

Answer 29

The ruling class maintain their control over society through the use of ideas
Hegemony - using religion to maintain control

Question 30

Spiritual health service - Davie

Answer 30

There for everyone whenever it needs to be
‘Believing without belonging’

Question 31

Lyon

Answer 31

We are now in a period of re-enchantment - growing vitality of non traditional religion

Question 32

Heelas and Woodhead

Answer 32

Spiritual shopping
Holistic milieu of spirituality

Question 33

Religious market theory - Stark & Bainbridge

Answer 33

People are naturally religious and it is human nature to seek rewards
Churches operate like companies selling goods in a market
Competition leads to improvements in the quality of religion

Question 34

Gender and religiosity

Answer 34

More women than men say that they have a religion
More women than men say that religion is important to them
Women are more likely than men to practise their religion

Question 35

Women and the new age

Answer 35

Women are more often associated with nature
More attracted to new age movements
Gives them a higher status and sense of self worth
Less time consuming than traditional religion

Question 36

Ethnicity and religiosity

Answer 36

Black people are twice as likely to attend church than white
Most ethnic minorities originate from poorer countries - offers support in a hostile environment