Lecture 3 Pt. 2 Flashcards

Question

socialization and life course (old age)

Answer 1

beginning around the mid-sixties, old age is experienced differently based on cultural context - in traditional societies, older individuals hold respect and authority - in contrast, modern industrial societies often prioritize youth, leading to potential marginalization of the elderly - growing old may entail letting go of roles that once provided identity and fulfillment

Answer 2

historical patterns of mortality have changed, with most individuals in modern societies living into their later years - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified five stages of grief and adjustment to death, though subsequent research suggests these stages may not be universally applicable

Answer 3

a setting where people are isolated from society and manipulated by an administrrative staff

Answer 4

- controlled environment: staff supervise all aspects of daily life, including eating, sleeping, and working - standardized routines: life in a total institution is controlled and standardized, with the same food, uniforms, and activities for everyone - formal rules: formal rules dictate when, where, and how inmates perform their daily routines

Answer 5

- breaking down existing identity: inmates are stripped of personal possessions and forced to adopt standard-issue clothes and a uniform appearance - building a new self: inmates are motivated to conform by rewards and punishments, such as access to books, television, or phone calls

Answer 6

that which is an ordinary element of everyday life

Answer 7

that which is extraordinary, inspiring a sense of awe, reverence, and even fear

Answer 8

a tale about how the world/universe was created

Answer 9

- experiential religiosity: the strength of a person's emotional ties to a religion - ritualistic religiosity: frequency of ritual activity - ideological religiosity: an individual's degree of belief in religious doctrine - consequential religiosity: how strongly religious beliefs figure in a person's daily behavior - intellectual religiosity: knowledge of the history and doctrines of a particular religion

Answer 10

an object in the natural world collectively defined as sacred

Answer 11

- social cohesion: religion unites people through shared symbols, values, and norms (religious life underscores both our moral and emotional ties to others) - social control: every society uses religious imagery and rhetoric to promote conformity (societies infuse many cultural norms with religious justification) - providing meaning and purpose: religious beliefs offer the comforting sense that the vulnerable human condition serves some greater purpose

Answer 12

a church formally allied with the state - state churches typically define everyone in the society as a member - tolerance of religious differences, therefore, is severely limited

Answer 13

a church, independent of the state, that accepts religious pluralism - denominations are sects that have become incorporated into mainstream society

Answer 14

a type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society - sect members hold rigidly to their religious convictions and can sometimes be considered dogmatic in their insistence that they alone follow the true religion

Answer 15

- sects are less formal - in sects, leaders are not necessarily formally trained - differ in social composition, as churches tend to include people of high social standing while sects tend to attract more disadvantaged people

Answer 16

a religious organization that is substantially outside a society's cultural traditions

Answer 17

the belief that elements of the natural world are conscious life forms that affect humanity

Answer 18

an example of monotheism (opposite of polytheism), the belief in a single divine power - this at the time new religion broke the Roman Empire's traditional polytheism - most Christians live in Europe or the Americas - the dominance of Christianity in the West can be seen in the practice of numbering years on the calendar beginning with the birth of Christ

Answer 19

centers around the prophet Mohammed - Islam holds people accountable to God for their deeds on earth, and as a Muslim, you are obligated to defend your faith - a majority of people in the Middle East are Muslims - people across northern Africa and western Asia are also Muslims - Islam is the second-largest faith in Europe - many Westerners view Muslim women as among the most socially oppressed people on earth - Muslim women do lack many of the personal freedoms enjoyed by Muslim men, yet most accept the mandates of their religion - moreover, patriarchy was well-established in the Middle East before the birth of Mohammed

Answer 20

monotheistic religion as a result of the Jews' liberation from bondage - the covenant refers to a special relationship with God by which Jews became the 'chosen people' - Judaism emphasizes moral behavior in this world. Three main denominations are (1) orthodox Jews, (2) Hasidism: messianic and strong spiritual devotion to Judaism, and (3) conservative Judaism: the middle ground between the other two - the United States has the largest concentration of Jews and the largest European communities are found in France and Britain

Answer 21

Hinduism is thought of as an 'ethical religion', as every Hindu recognizes the moral force in the universe known as dharma - karma refers to the belief in the spiritual progress of the human soul - karma works through reincarnation - Hinduism does not spring from the life of any single person, it does not envisage God as a specific entity, and it has no sacred writings - Hinduism remains an Eastern religion, the predominant creed of India today, although it does have a significant presence in a few societies of southern Africa as well as Indonesia

Answer 22

the central notion is that human existence involves suffering, and materialism inhibits spiritual development and is not a solution to the suffering - Buddhism finds spiritual consequences in each daily action and recognizes reincarnation and enlightenment, as the end of the cycle

Answer 23

Confucianism was an ecclesia and can sometimes be considered more of a model of disciplined living instead of a religion - Confucius shared the same concern as Buddha for the problems and sufferings in the world - he instructed his followers to engage in the world according to a strict code of moral conduct - a central concept is jen, humanness, which means we must always subordinate our self-interest to moral principle - in this way, layer upon layer of moral obligation integrates society as a whole - most of all, Confucianism stands out as lacking a clear sense of the sacred

Answer 24

a distinction can be made between (1) those who are skeptical about the existence of a God, and (2) those who hold the view that the existence of God can never be proven

Answer 25

- Secularisation - Resurgence of interest - New religious movements - Religious funamentalisms and 'the clash of civilizations' - New institutional forms of religion

Answer 26

the historical decline in the importance of the supernatural and the sacred - as religious organizations become more secular, they direct attention less to other-worldly issues (e.g., life after death) and more to worldly affairs (sheltering the homeless, raising funds) - Secularisation is also largely a result of the increasing importance of science - science takes over from religion - in broader terms, people perceive birth, illness, and death less as the work of divine power than as natural stages in the life course - such events are now more likely to occur in the presence of physicians

Answer 27

a resurgence of interest in the mainstream traditional world faiths as they take on new forms and come to attract a wider group of followers - Pentecostalism is the belief that Jesus will return in their lifetime - Pentecostal meetings are less hierarchical and dogmatic than the formal Christian church - they are more expressive; crowds pursue 'ecstasy' and this taps into emotion

Answer 28

as church-like organizations become more worldly, some people may want to instead join a more sect-like religious community that better addresses their spiritual concerns and seems more committed - world-affirming groups aim to release 'human potential' and encourage active participation in society - these are often more akin to 'therapy groups' rather than religious groups - world-rejecting groups are highly critical of the outside (material evil) world and have strict ethical codes - world-accommodating groups seek to establish older certainties and faith while giving them new vitality

Answer 29

fundamentalism can be seen as a conservative religious doctrine that opposes intellectualism and worldly accommodation in favor of restoring traditional, other-worldly spirituality; some features of fundamentalists are: - they interpret 'infallible' sacred texts literally - they reject religious pluralism - they seek to have a personal experience of God's presence - they oppose secularisation and modernity - they promote conservative beliefs, including patriarchal onest - they emerge in response to social inequality or perceived social crisis to attract new members

Answer 30

civil religion is a quasi-religious loyalty binding individuals in a secular society - even if some traditional dimensions of religiosity are weakening, new religious qualities may be found in things such as patriotism, associations, etc. - examples of new institutions are cyber-churches and mega-churches