Chapter 8 - Religion

Question 1

What is the sociological approach to religion?

Answer 1

Sociologists are not concerned with religious “Truth” (not theological), but instead about the effects, expressions, organizations, causes, etc. It is a scientific approach, not a believer’s approach.

Question 2

How did Durkheim view religion?

Answer 2

The world is divided into the Sacred (extraordinary, supernatural) vs the Profane (everyday, ordinary).

Religion:

• belief in sacred
• practices (rituals) centring around the sacred
• moral community (church) results from 1 &2

Question 3

What are the functions of religion according to Durkheim?

Answer 3

1. social cohesion
2. social control
3. provides meaning and purpose

Question 4

What are the origins of religion according to Durkheim?

Answer 4

A “natural explanation”, religion was created in the social realm (from social experience) , not by the supernatural.

Question 5

What do people feel in the “presence of the sacred” according to Durkheim?

Answer 5

1. Share in a greater power
   Collective conscience: awareness that the group is more than a sum of its individual parts, and believing that this experience is supernatural
2. Feel heightened strength
   Collective effervescence: energy and enthusiasm that stem from being a part of a larger group, and believing that this strength comes from the supernatural

Question 6

How did Marx view religion?

Answer 6

Religion is a projection of the human mind onto the supernatural realm; religion is man made.
Religion is a way that people deal with the alienation caused by capitalism.
“Religion is the opium of the people”