Exam 1 Review Flashcards

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1
Q

What is Religion?

A

A shared meaning system
Uses myths, rituals and symbols to sacralize that meaning system.

Give a sense of belonging to a reference group.
Involves a set of ethics or values that directs members’ lives.

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2
Q

Substantive Definition

A

Focus on SUBSTANCE of religion, especially beliefs

  • Type of philosophy
  • Belief system
  • Moral code

Durkheim: “religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden”

Religion = division of SACRED and PROFANE

Greeley: sacred attitude, reverence or profound respect toward meaning-giving source

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3
Q

Functional Definition

A

Focus on what religion does

Religion meets fundamental needs:
Meaning, purpose in life
Explanations about death, suffering, evil, injustice

Durkheim: religion unites followers “into one single moral community called a Church”
Religion is powerfully integrative

Karl Marx: religion is “the opium of the people”
People uncritically accept religious teachings
Poor use religion for comfort and meaning, upper class use it as a tool of control

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4
Q

Functional Definition CONT.

A

Peter Berger: religion is an “audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe as humanly significant”
Religion provides a sacred cosmos or order
Religion fends off chaos and meaninglessness

Functional definitions expand our view of what we might consider to be “religion” or “religious”
Can you think of anything else that fulfills these functions?

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5
Q

Symbolic Definition

A

Focus on symbols – objects, behaviors, or stories that represent or remind one of something else

Clifford Geertz: religion is “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long lasting moods and motivations in [people] by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic”

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6
Q

Symbolic Def. Cont….

A

System of symbols” that provides blueprint for understanding the world

“Moods and motivations”: feelings and directions for behavior

“Conceptions of a general order of existence”: worldview, explanations, cognitive ordering

Much in common with functionalist definitions

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7
Q

Civil Religion

A

American flag, pledge of allegiance, “holy” sites (e.g., war memorials, etc.), national anthem

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8
Q

Macro theories

A

Macro theories look at structure of society and its overall patterns.
The “big picture,” rather than everyday interaction between individuals.

Sociologists use two primary theories:
Functional Theory
Conflict Theory

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9
Q

Functional theory

A

Durkheim:
“God stands in same relationship to worshipers as does a society to its members
Social norms, society’s needs given aura of divine authority”

What functions does religion fulfill?
Individual functions: meaning, comfort, social belonging

Societal functions: sacralizes cultural values, discourages deviance, unifies people

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10
Q

Conflict theory

A
Karl Marx: 
Basic reality of modern society is class conflict
Religion an ideology that justifies the current social arrangements (“opiate of the masses”)

Society composed of groups seeking own interests

Social animosity, inequality are result of struggle for power, privilege, and prestige

Modern society characterized by conflict, coercion, and power play

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11
Q

Conflict theory cont..

A

Religious conflicts:

Jewish/Christian conflicts, anti-Muslim sentiment, anti-Catholic sentiment in 19th century

Conflict over religious and secular authority:
Anti-war, anti-abortion activism

Debates over science, technology, homosexuality, and more
Amish, Mormon conflicts with government
BUT, conflict can produce internal unity, cohesion
Conflict can produce social change
Religious values sometimes at odds with culture
Abolitionism, Civil Rights movement, etc.

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12
Q

Secularization theory

A

Until 19th century, religion fundamentally shaped the culture and institutions of most societies

Founders of sociology took for granted that modern societies would become more secular

Impact of modernity on religion

  • Advances in science, technology, education
  • Industrialization and urbanization
  • Greater regulation by the state

Other institutions less dependent on religion
Dominant view in sociology until late 20th century

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13
Q

Secularization theory :

Peter Berger

A

A scientific worldview and the presence of religious diversity threaten the “sacred canopy” over society
Both make religious worldviews seem relative, fragile

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14
Q

Secularization theory :

Mark Chaves:

A

Religious authority is declining at the societal, organizational, and individuals levels

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15
Q

Economic Theory

A

These theories used to explain:

  • Relatively high rates of religiosity in U.S.
  • Growth of evangelical Christianity and Mormonism
  • Decline of Catholicism and mainline Protestantism
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16
Q

Economic Theory cont…

Religious Capital:

A

Another insight from economic theories:
Degree of investment an individual has in his/her faith, mastery over and attachment to religious culture

Helps explain why individuals tend to switch to similar ones (if they do switch)

Individuals in highly distinctive faiths (e.g., Mormonism, Hinduism) tend not to leave them

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17
Q

Problems with economic theories

A

Individuals’ religious choices are deeply socially embedded
-Most people keep religion they grew up in
-Religion intertwined with race and ethnicity
-People often adopt religious behaviors of those
around them

Effect of pluralism on religious vitality (i.e., participation) is mixed

Biased toward American religion, especially Protestantism

Both secularization and economic theories have little to say about the role of religion in:

  • Shaping political attitudes and behavior
  • Bringing about social change
  • Contributing to (or challenging) social inequality
  • Non-dominant or dis-empowered groups of people
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18
Q

Institutional theories

A

Focus on local religious institutions like congregations

Why? Most people practice and experience religion through local congregations.

Penny Edgell: congregations vary in degree to which they facilitate

  • Civic engagement and social activism
  • Fostering of close-knit support networks

Robert Wuthnow: religious institutions failing to adapt their ministries to young adults

  • Delayed or absent marriage and childbearing
  • Longer periods of education
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19
Q

Subcultural theories

A

Religious subcultures important for creating identities, meaning-making, and political engagement.

Christian Smith: “religion survives and can thrive in pluralistic, modern society” by offering “satisfying morally orienting collective identities which provide meaning and belonging”

Example: Evangelical Christians create group boundaries to distinguish themselves from rest of society (“in the world but not of the world”)

Nancy Ammerman: fundamentalists create a world in opposition – modern world is chaotic and fallen

  • -Maintain that God is in full control of their lives
  • -Creates sense of permanence, power, and stability
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20
Q

Individual theories

A

–“Lived religion” or “everyday religion”

–Focuses on how religiosity is practical, experienced,and expressed by ordinary people in their daily lives

–Research uses interviewing and ethnographic
observation

–Acknowledges that individual religion may differ from
official, institutional religion

–Important contrast to large-scale theories because of attention to non-dominant religious groups and practices

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21
Q

Methods:

What is the Sociology of Relgion?

A

The study of religion as a product and creator of of human action.

AKA
STUDY of human system of religion

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22
Q

How does it differ from other ways of studying about religion?

A
study
Social dimensions of religion
and take a Scientific approach:
--Objectivity
--Methodological empiricism
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23
Q

What does Sociology of Religion focus on?

A

Focus on both individuals and religious groups

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24
Q

Method: Surveys and statistical analysis

A

Responses are quantifiable (e.g., How often do you attend religious services?)

  • Multivariate inferential statistics:
  • -Effect of independent variables on a dependent variable
  • -Example: effect of church attendance on donating to charity
  • -Use of “control variables”: age, education, race, region, income
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25
Q

Method: Surveys and statistical analysis

Strengths

A
  • -Generalizability
  • -Multivariate analysis

**Important issues to consider:
Measurement
Sampling

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26
Q

Weaknesses

A

Causality
Oversimplistic
Mis-reporting or over-reporting

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27
Q

Interviews

A
  • -Open-ended or semi-structured
  • -Interviews recorded, transcribed
  • -Researcher looks for patterns
  • -Rich detail

Weaknesses:
Time-consuming
Sampling, making generalizations
Double interpretation

28
Q

Observaion/Ethnography

A

Primary method of anthropologists

Immersion in situation/group to be studied

Advantages:

  • -Data are “thick”
  • -Data are social rather than individual
  • -Direct observation of behavior, rather than self-reporting

Weaknesses:

  • -Generalizability
  • -Biased by observer’s “filtering” system
29
Q

Content Analysis

A
Analysis of cultural “texts”:
--Written documents
--Spoken words
--Newspapers
--Songs
--Film/TV
Researcher looks for underlying themes
30
Q

Experimentation

A
  • -Powerful tool in social sciences
  • -Research subjects assigned to “treatment” or “control” groups
  • -Used by social psychologists
  • -Rare in research on religion
  • -Quasi-experimentation more possible
31
Q

Triangulation

A

Each method has strengths and weaknesses

Some individual studies use more than one method

**Trinitapoli 2007

–Survey results: Many teens (especially evangelical Christians and Mormons) have exclusivist religious beliefs (i.e., say they believe that “only one religion is true”)

–Interview results: Teens with exclusivist beliefs articulate those beliefs carefully and cautiously, suggesting that they have internalized social norms of tolerance and pluralism

32
Q

Social construction of religion:

Concept of social constructionism

A

Reality is “socially constructed”

“Social order is a human product, or more precisely, an ongoing human production”

33
Q

Berger: externalization,

A

Externalization: humans make a “world,” create culture

34
Q

Berger: objectivation,

A

Objectivation: we confront that world as something “out there”

35
Q

Berger: Internalization

A

Internalization: objectified world is reabsorbed into our consciousness

36
Q

Why is religion important in creating meaning and order? And good at it?

A

Religion legitimates, or says what is and should be, by locating “human phenomena within a cosmic frame of reference”

In other words, this reality we’ve created is tenuous and fragile – religion helps to make it seem permanent and sacred

37
Q

“Sacred cosmos”

A

Religion “is the human enterprise by which a sacred cosmos is established”

38
Q

Sacred canopy (Berger)?

What’s the debate?

A

Berger: religion most effective if it has a monopoly in a given society – a “sacred canopy”

Religion provides a shield against terror and chaos, a sacred canopy that infuses human experience with cosmic meaning

39
Q

Sacred umbrella (Smith)

A

Christian Smith: “People don’t need macro-encompassing sacred canopies to maintain their religious beliefs. They only need ‘sacred umbrellas,’small, portable, accessible relational worlds—religious reference groups—under which their beliefs can make complete sense.”

**
Religious groups form and maintain
–Collective identities
–Symbolic group boundaries (“us” and “them”)

40
Q

Sacred umbrella (Smith) cont….

A

Pluralism/diversity can actually enhance these processes
“…those religious groups will be relatively stronger which better possess and employ the cultural tools needed to create both clear distinction from and significant engagement and tension with other relevant outgroups”

41
Q

What are the implications for religion in a pluralistic society?

A

Pluralism threatens plausibility of any one religion, reveals socially constructed nature of religion

Yet, modern believers seem to successfully construct a religious worldview, even in a pluralistic society
How?

42
Q

People experience the sacred/holy in culturally specific and appropriate ways

A

–Durkheim: sacred is a nonempirical force, intrinsically valuable

–Greeley: people sacralize their ultimate systems of value, sacredness relates to need for meaning and belonging

–People tend to experience the holy in culturally specific ways

–Social expectations influence experiences

–Social groups define what is normal or desirable, shape interpretations

–Examples: raising hands during worship, speaking in tongues

43
Q

How do myths, rituals, and symbols create a worldview and a meaning system?

A

Myths:
–Stories or belief systems that explain purpose of life, role and origin of evil and suffering

–Communicate and reinforce a particular worldview

Ritual:

  • -More important than beliefs in some traditions
  • -Something about rituals that appeals to humans
  • -Affirms myths, gives emotional impulse
44
Q

Religion as cultural system: worldview and ethos

A

Worldview: intellectual framework used to explain meaning of life, nature of reality
How do we explain things that happen?
How are we supposed to live our lives?
What are the characteristics of human nature?

Ethos: attitudes about life

Symbols can bind worldview and ethos into unified system of meaning

45
Q

American Protestantism

% of Americans in each major religious tradition

A
Mainline Protestant – 18%
Evangelical Protestant – 25%
Black Protestant – 7%
Catholic – 23%
Jewish – 2%
Mormon (LDS) – 2%
Other – 5%
None – 20%
46
Q

Mainline protestants

A

Predominantly white denominations
–Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Reformed Church in America, Disciples of Christ–

–Concentrated in Northeast and Midwest

  • Tend to have modernist theology
  • -View Bible as containing God’s word, but need to take historical and social context into consideration
  • View Jesus as way to salvation, but NOT the ONLY way
  • Not big on proselytizing
  • Emphasize community involvement and activism
  • More open to changing as society changes
47
Q

Evangelical protestants

A

Predominantly white denominations
–Southern Baptists, Church of God, Pentecostal, Brethren, Holiness, Assemblies of God, Apostolic, Evangelical Covenant Church, Nazarene, Missouri and Wisconsin Synod Lutherans, most non-denominational churches–

–Concentrated in South and Midwest

–Believe in the inerrancy of the Bible

–View Jesus as the only path to salvation

–Stress personal conversion

–Emphasize importance of proselytizing

48
Q

Mainline Protestants:

Origins

A
  • *Colonial roots
  • -Early British, German, and Scandinavian immigrants
  • *Legal establishment in colonies
  • -Congregationalists in New England
  • -Episcopalians in NY, Virginia, North and South Carolina
49
Q

Historical influence

A

Important influence on American culture
Public officeholders, founding of colleges and universities
Benefitted from post-WWII boom
Suburbanization created demand for new churches
Upwardly mobile Americans joined mainline churches

50
Q

Peak in 1950s and 1960s

A

Mainline influence and membership peaked in 1950s
From 25% of Americans to about 15% today
Episcopal Church: 3.4 million (1964) to 2 million today
United Methodists: 11 million (1967) to 7 million

51
Q

Challenges faced today

A
  • -Aging parishioners and clergy
  • -Difficulty attracting and retaining young people

–Vigorous debate and conflict over *homosexuality and LGBT rights

  • United Church of Christ and Episcopalians most liberal on LGBT issues
  • United Methodists most conservative
  • Lutherans and Presbyterians most divided
52
Q

Reasons for decline, theoretical perspectives

A

Social unrest in 1960s and 1970s

  • -Clergy/leaders sometimes differed from parishioners on issues (Civil Rights, Vietnam War, etc.)
  • -Religion lost some public influence (Supreme Court rulings on school prayer, expanding abortion rights)

–Lower fertility rate

–Lower retention rates (mainline Protestants’ children often switch to other churches/religions)

Applying our theories:
Secularization theory – declining influence of religion in society?

Economic theories – mainline Protestantism too lax/liberal, too much like rest of society

53
Q

Evangelical protestants

Impact of 1960s and 1970s

A

Not a major group in 1950s, but quietly growing
National Association of Evangelicals formed in 1942
Developed own media (radio, magazines, then TV and film)
Evangelical Protestants emboldened by
Concern over mainline Protestants’ liberalization
Social upheaval of 1960s and 1970s
Entering politics in 1980s and 1990s – Moral Majority, Christian Coalition, etc.
Innovation – non-denominational churches and megachurches

54
Q

Evangelical protestants

Impact of 1960s and 1970s

A
Evangelical Protestantism now respectable, middle-class religious choice
Less switching to mainline Protestantism among upwardly mobile evangelicals

A political force, especially in the South

Continued growth and innovation
Non-denominational churches and megachurches Membership growth
Assemblies of God: 300K in 1950, 3 million today
Southern Baptists: 7 million in 1950, 16 million today

55
Q

Reasons for growth, theoretical perspectives

A

Higher fertility rates compared with mainline Protestants

Higher retention rates among youth

Applying our theories:
Economic theories – more demanding, innovative religious groups more successful, generate more commitment
Subcultural identity theory – evangelical Christianity offers a “morally orienting collective identit(y) which provide(s) meaning and belonging”

56
Q

Evangelical protestants

A

Evangelical Protestantism’s challenges

  • -Generational divides in social attitudes
  • -Growth has slowed

Growth of religious “nones” – people with no religious identity

  • -Research: in part a reaction to evangelical involvement in politics
  • -Growth of “nones” at expense of both mainline and evangelical Protestantism

Thought question:
Soon the country will no longer have a Protestant majority – what will this mean?

57
Q

Catholicism and Judaism

Immigrant faiths – what are the implications?

A

Catholicism and Judaism both

had to adapt to American, largely Protestant, environment

intersect with race, ethnicity, and nationality in complex ways

have changed due to assimilation and broader societal trends

58
Q

Immigration of Catholics to America – basics, timing

A

Sees itself as continuation of Christian communities founded by disciples of Jesus
Apostolic succession and authority

Salvation through Christ
However, emphasis on Church as official agent and mediator of God’s grace

Emphasize seven rituals or sacraments
Baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, reconciliation, matrimony, holy orders, and anointing the sick

Mary and saints as mediators

59
Q

Vatican II – What was it? What was its impact on Catholicism in U.S.?

A

Pope John XXIII called for a council to scrutinize all aspects of church life
1962-1965: Second Vatican Council (Vatican II)
Sweeping changes impacted American Catholicism
Changes to mass – in English, priest facing the people
Greater emphasis on ecumenism
Recognition of marriage across Christian traditions
Changes to religious orders
Some changes in teachings (e.g., meatless Fridays)

Loss of distinctiveness?
Some scholars argue that Catholicism lost too much of what made it unique and compelling

60
Q

Challenges facing Catholicism since Vatican II

A

Attendance at Mass decreased significantly
-In 1974, 47% attended weekly; in 2012 only 24% attended weekly

Drop in fertility rate
–Catholic women using birth control at similar rate to other women

  • -Higher rates of outmarriage
  • -Decline in religious orders
  • -Priest sex abuse scandal
  • -Catholics today:
  • –Similar levels of religiosity (attendance, commitment) to mainline Protestants
  • –Difficulty retaining young people
61
Q

Impact of Latino immigration on Catholic Church in U.S.

A

Surge of immigration from Mexico and Latin America
2/3 of these immigrants are Catholic
1/3 of American Catholics now Latino

Impact of Latino Catholics

Tend to have higher fertility rates

Different style of Catholicism – some similarities with Pentecostalism (NPR story)

More liberal on economic and social issues (like immigration reform)

However, Latino immigrants become less Catholic (and less religious) across generations

62
Q

Immigration of Jews to America – basics, timing

A

Due to immigration, grew in late 19th century and early 20th century
First from Germany, then from Eastern Europe

Concentrated in NYC, Los Angeles, and Florida

Despite some anti-Semitism, Jewish immigrants found U.S. to be welcoming

63
Q

Adaptation and assimilation for Jews and Judaism

A

Adaptation and assimilation

Some relaxation of home religious practice

Worship at synagogue took on new importance

German Jewish immigrants founded Reform Judaism

Later immigrants founded Conservative Judaism, seeking middle ground between Reform and Orthodoxy

Rising rates of outmarriage

64
Q

Different branches of Judaism in U.S. – main characteristics and popularity

A

Branches of Judaism:
**Hasidic and Orthodox Judaism: most conservative, literal reading of scripture

**Conservative Judaism: follows rules of Torah/Talmud, but allows for modern reinterpretation

**Reform Judaism: emphasizes social justice, peace over rituals and dietary laws

**Reconstructionist Judaism: most liberal, emphasizes ethics

65
Q

What makes Jews distinctive today?

A

Today, Jews vary widely in their religious practices
9% Orthodox, 24% Conservative, 27% Reform
36% “Just Jewish”
Jewish Americans much more likely than average to be atheist or agnostic

66
Q

Judaism Basics

A

Emphasizes rituals and ethical practices over creeds

Based on Torah and Talmud

Seasonal liturgies (e.g., Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hanukah) and individual liturgies