Block 1: Religion and Conformity

Question 1

Socialization

Answer 1

• process through which culture is passed from generation to generation, including norms, values, and beliefs
• primary: family
• secondary: education, religion, media, peers

Question 2

Jencks’ view of culture

Answer 2

• quality possessed by individuals who are able to gain learning that is seen as desirable and ‘cultured’
• quality possessed by some societies, seeming more civilized/superior
• collective body of arts and intellectual work in a society
• whole way of life of a people

Question 3

Types of culture

Answer 3

• high (status related)
• folk (ordinary people)
• mass (product of media, ‘less worthy’ than high or folk)
• popular (appreciated by large numbers of ordinary people)
• subculture (youth groups, ethnic groups, members of same gang, e.g. those who live close together and share a lifestyle)
• global (all-embracing, common to people all over the world)

Question 4

Identity

Answer 4

• sense that someone has of who they are and what is important about them
• sources include nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, class, and religion
• personal (how a person thinks about themselves) and social (how a person is perceived by others)

Question 5

Civilization

Answer 5

• broadest most comprehensive cultural entities
• religions, civilizations of the past, and contemporary civilizations

Question 6

Religious definitions

Answer 6

• substantive (concerned with content)
• functional (defined in terms of functions religion performs for society and individuals, i.e. Durkheim)
• substantive can be exclusive, while functional can be overly inclusive

Question 7

Faith

Answer 7

• belief anchored in conviction rather than scientific evidence

Question 8

Religiosity

Answer 8

• importance of religion in a person’s life
• experimental (strength of emotional ties)
• ritualistic (religious practices that are required
• ideological (individual’s degree of belief in religious doctrine)
• intellectual (person’s knowledge of the history and doctrines)
• consequential (how strongly religious beliefs influence daily behavior)

Question 9

Spirituality

Answer 9

• individual and group efforts to find meaning for existence within OR independent of organized religion

Question 10

Contemporary sociological definition of religion

Answer 10

• cultural system of commonly share beliefs and rituals that provides a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose through a reality that is sacred and all-encompassing
• religion is a form of culture, involves beliefs through ritualized practices, and provides a sense of purpose

Question 11

Key aspects of religion

Answer 11

• sacred symbols, rituals/special behavior, feeling of reverence, and community of believers

Question 12

Durkheim and Religion

Answer 12

• functionalistic… people are worshipping society when they worship god
• reinforces the shared values and moral beliefs that hold society together
• social solidarity and unity
• members of society understand the moral bonds uniting them
• religion is a system of beliefs and rights that divides the world into the sacred and the profane
• social cohesion, social control, and providing meaning and purpose

Question 13

Sacred things

Answer 13

• extraordinary
• inspire awe, reverence, or even fear

Question 14

Profane things

Answer 14

• ordinary, elements of everyday life

Question 15

Weber and Religion

Answer 15

• ties to social change
• Protestantism gave rise to capitalist industrialism
• Calvinism also supports capitalism
• in rational world with pursuit of rational goals, personal religion will develop… turning towards personal emotional life

Question 16

Marx and Religion

Answer 16

• social control, as religion is an illusion that legitimized social inequality
• the opium of the people
• alliance exists between political and religious elites
• religion is tied to social inequality such as within gender and ethnicity

Question 17

Daniel Hervieu-Leger

Answer 17

• religion is a chain of memory and connection, traces history
• in traditional societies, memories are strong and supported by rituals, passed between generations
• in modern societies, traditions are forgotten, the memories ‘crumble’

Question 18

Peter Berger

Answer 18

• social constructionism… religion is constructed and allows people to make sense of their lives
• symbolism and ritual

Question 19

Gender, feminism, and religion

Answer 19

• religion dominates and oppresses, is a product of patriarchy
• men dominate in public sphere, typically

Question 20

Religious organizations

Answer 20

• Church: type that is well integrated, with rules and regulations, large membership, etc.
• ecclesia: church formally allied with the state
• denomination: church independent of the state
• Sect: small group departed from an established religion, less formal (charismatic leader, active recruitment, and conversion)
• Cult: religious organization that is substantially outside a society’s cultural traditions

Question 21

New Religious Movements

Answer 21

• do not belong to established organizations
• charismatic, authoritarian leaders that exert tight control
• products of and responses to modernity
• world rejecting, world affirming, or world accommodating

Question 22

Changing role of religion

Answer 22

• secularization: religious decline
• neo-secularization: changing role of religious authority
• de-secularization: resurgence of religion

Question 23

Religious change in Ireland

Answer 23

• percentage of Roman Catholics has continued to decline, while more and more have no religion
• average age of Roman Catholics is slightly older than that for the general population
• lowest percentage is in Dublin
• divorce rates have been rising amongst Catholics

Question 24

Non-Catholic change

Answer 24

• Orthodox Christians are the fastest growing, and Apostolic and Pentecostal have been as well
• Muslim community has grown, as well as Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews

Question 25

Macro Level

Answer 25

- Irish State and Catholicism - strong relationship between being Catholic and the Irish identity, so Church has played a key role in influencing laws

Question 26

Mezzo Level

Answer 26

- social institutions... Catholic Church has influenced education, welfare, system, and health - moral monopoly - institutional control

Question 27

Micro Level

Answer 27

- individuals - Ireland has tended to have a strong religious ethos, but weekly mass attendance has declined

Question 28

Types of Catholics

Answer 28

- strong (identify with institutional Church, deeply involved, happy and proud - cultural (identify more with heritage and being Catholic, more detached from the institution) - alienated (agnostics, have separated from Church based on child abuse, abortions, etc) - a la carte (choose which beliefs to follow and adhere to) - creative (mix Catholic beliefs with non-Catholic, mix and match based on preference)