Religion

Question 1

Religions are..

Answer 1

Human ways of interacting with the TRANSCENDENT realm (whether or not we believe the transcendent realm exists)
What it means to have faith and the ways that shapes human lives and communities

Question 2

How do we study how religion means to people?

Answer 2

things that we can observe and measure
▪ Attitudes (what they think)
▪ Behaviors (how they act)
▪ Communities (how they organize)

But it should also include some consideration for things that can’t be measured
▪ Their sense of the transcendent in their lives
▪ The feelings passed on from one generation to the next

Question 3

Substantive Definitions of Religion

Answer 3

▪ Emphasize humanity’s relationship with the supernatural, the transcendent and the otherworldly
▪ Has a beyond this world element

• too narrow, exclude a lot of things that would be religion (e.g. talk about gatherings when not all religions have that)

Question 4

What are the Seven Elements of Religion?

Answer 4

• Ritual
• Myth
• Doctrinal
• Ethical
• Experiential
• Social
• Material sacred spaces, objects, and places

Question 5

Ritual

Answer 5

deliberate traditional actions that forge a link between a religious person, a religious community and the transcendent (i.e. Holy Communion in Catholicism, the Hajj in Islam)

Question 6

Myth

Answer 6

Not in the sense of untrue stories, but in the sense of stories meant to ILLIMUNINATE FACTS about the world

Question 7

Doctrinal

Answer 7

Formal or accepted TEACHINGS that govern a religion (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sharia, the Code of Canon law etc…)

Question 8

Ethical (element of religion)

Answer 8

Values and standards of behavior expected of the faithful (right v.s. wrong)

Question 9

Experiential

Answer 9

Direct subjective experiences of ultimate reality
• how do people live the religion, what is the meaning of religion

Question 10

What religion does according to Functionalism

Answer 10

Clifford Geertz : religion is
“(1) a system of symbols
(2) which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men
(3) by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and
(4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that
(5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic
Is TOO BROAD - allows in a bunch of things that are not actually religion

Question 11

Religiosity

Answer 11

Refers to how important religion is to people

Question 12

The various ways Sociologists measure Religiosity:

Answer 12

• BELONGING
What do people say? Are they Catholic, Protestant, Muslim?)
• BELIEFS
What do people say they believe?
• BEHAVIOUR
Really important
Do they attend religious services? Do they pray or keep up with actions required by their religion? Interaction with religious texts

Question 13

What are the Social Factors connected to Religiosity?

Answer 13

• Opportunity
• Need
• Learning
By interacting with other religious people

Tend to be more religious as they get older because they NEED it

Question 14

Durkheim’s Functionalist Approach to Religion

Answer 14

When people live together, they come to share common sentiments and values form a COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE that is larger than the individual
Function of rituals & religion as a whole is to reinforce social solidarity
● Profane = things of the world
● Sacred = things of the transcendent world
● Totems = objects symbolizing the sacred
● Rituals

Question 15

Rituals (according to Durkheim)

Answer 15

Public practices invented to to connect totems to the sacred

Question 16

Totems

Answer 16

objects symbolizing the sacred
• Durkheim

Question 17

Profane

Answer 17

things of the world
• Durkheim

Question 18

Sacred

Answer 18

Things of the transcendent world
• Durkheim

Question 19

Conflict and Feminist theorists’ Main Criticisms against Durkheim’s theory of religion

Answer 19

1. It OVEREMPHASIZES religion’s role in maintaining SOCIAL COHESION.
2. It ignores the fact that when religion does increase social cohesion, it often REINFORCES SOCIAL INEQUALITY.

Question 20

Religion and Feminist Theory

Answer 20

Religion linked to PATRIARCHY
• religions have traditionally placed women in a subordinate position, reinforcing patriarchy

Question 21

Religion and Conflict Theory

Answer 21

Religion linked to INEQUALITY

• Church authorities often support gender and class inequality.
• But religiously inspired protest against inequality often erupts from below.

Question 22

Religion and Conflict Theory - What did Marx call religion?

Answer 22

“The opium of the people”

Question 23

What did Max Weber stress about Religion? Symbolic Interactionist approach

Answer 23

The way religion can be a force for SOCIAL CHANGE

▪ In “The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism,” Weber made a connection between the rise of capitalism and meanings people attached to religious ideas, such as the need to prove intense worldly activity through displays of industry, punctuality, and frugality in everyday life
WRONG WRONG WRONG

Question 24

Why is Weber wrong about his approach to religion?

Answer 24

Capitalism develops completely independently from Protestantism

Question 25

Secularization Theory

Answer 25

Religious institutions, actions, and consciousness are on the decline worldwide and will one day disappear altogether

Question 26

Revised Secularization Theory

Answer 26

Holds that an overall trend toward the diminishing importance of religion is unfolding in different ways throughout the world
• Religion is still important, but is becoming more and more LESS important. Shuffled off to the margins of society

Question 27

No Secularization thesis

Answer 27

States that the world is still religious and people still have religious impulses, but looks different over various historical periods. Things are changing a bit in the cycle of religion
• People were way more religious in the past compared to now

Question 28

Critiques of the Traditional Secularization Theory

Answer 28

Traditional secularization theory stated that all societies undergo a process called DIFFERENTIATION, where worldly institutions (i.e., education) break off from the institution of religion over time.
▪ ACTUALLY, the divide between religion and the educational system is murky

Question 29

Differentiation

Answer 29

Where worldly institutions, like education, break off from the institution of religion over time

Question 30

Main Critiques of the Secularization and Revised Secularization Theories

Answer 30

Religion has not disappeared and is not likely to, State and church still influence each other, outside the west the world is growing more religious

Question 31

The Market Model of Religion

Answer 31

Religion is a service demanded by at least some people
▪ Religious denominations represent various “brands” of religion
▪️ In a religious monopoly there is only one service and people may not find the “brand” that is right for them
▪️ Religious pluralism offers more brands and thus more people will be religious
• buyers and sellers of religion

Question 32

Religious Monopoly

Answer 32

Exists when one religious body has acquired special privileges from the state, preventing other religious bodies from selling their brand to consumers.
▪ When consumers can access only one brand, satisfaction is limited to those whose needs match what is offered
• prominent in Europe
• lack of choice in religion, leads to religious inactivity

Question 33

Religious Pluralism

Answer 33

The diverse array of religions and religious beliefs in a given area
• if a religion does not attract consumer interest, it is punished with extinction

Question 34

Church

Answer 34

Any bureaucratic religious organization that has fully accommodated itself to mainstream society and culture

Question 35

Sects

Answer 35

Usually form by breaking away from churches because of disagreement about church doctrine.
• Sects are less integrated into society and less bureaucratized than churches are

Question 36

Denomination

Answer 36

Midway on the continuum between church and sect; it does not seek to distance itself from the world, is bureaucratically organized, and generally maintains a tolerant relationship with other denominations

Question 37

New Religious Movement (NRM)

Answer 37

Groups headed by charismatic leaders with a unique religious vision that rejects mainstream culture and society
• A.K.A cults

Question 38

Sects and NRMs experience one of three outcomes

Answer 38

1. They may DISAPPEAR
2. The group persists, but in the process becomes more CHURCH-LIKE
3. They may become INSTITUTIONALIZED

Question 39

Some issues with Stark’s Market Theory

Answer 39

• Some religious monopolies have HIGH religious engagement
• Some places with high religious pluralism have LOW religious engagement

Question 40

The Future of Religion

Answer 40

• In the 21st century, gradual secularization will likely continue
• At the same time, the expanded menu that is available to Canadians today will likely foster even greater religious pluralism in the future

Question 41

Religious Affiliation in Canada

Answer 41

Europeans who first settled Canada were mostly Christian:
• English-speaking Protestants
• French-speaking Roman Catholics

▪ Jews arrived beginning in the eighteenth century.
▪ Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists arrived in the twentieth century

Question 42

What does “religion is the opium of the people” mean?

Answer 42

How religion often tranquillizes the underprivileged into accepting their lot in life