Religion Flashcards
Religions are..
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
How do we study how religion means to people?
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
Substantive Definitions of Religion
▪ 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)
What are the Seven Elements of Religion?
• Ritual
• Myth
• Doctrinal
• Ethical
• Experiential
• Social
• Material sacred spaces, objects, and places
Ritual
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)
Myth
Not in the sense of untrue stories, but in the sense of stories meant to ILLIMUNINATE FACTS about the world
Doctrinal
Formal or accepted TEACHINGS that govern a religion (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sharia, the Code of Canon law etc…)
Ethical (element of religion)
Values and standards of behavior expected of the faithful (right v.s. wrong)
Experiential
Direct subjective experiences of ultimate reality
• how do people live the religion, what is the meaning of religion
What religion does according to Functionalism
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
Religiosity
Refers to how important religion is to people
The various ways Sociologists measure Religiosity:
• 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
What are the Social Factors connected to Religiosity?
• Opportunity
• Need
• Learning
By interacting with other religious people
Tend to be more religious as they get older because they NEED it
Durkheim’s Functionalist Approach to Religion
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
Rituals (according to Durkheim)
Public practices invented to to connect totems to the sacred
Totems
objects symbolizing the sacred
• Durkheim
Profane
things of the world
• Durkheim
Sacred
Things of the transcendent world
• Durkheim
Conflict and Feminist theorists’ Main Criticisms against Durkheim’s theory of religion
- It OVEREMPHASIZES religion’s role in maintaining SOCIAL COHESION.
- It ignores the fact that when religion does increase social cohesion, it often REINFORCES SOCIAL INEQUALITY.
Religion and Feminist Theory
Religion linked to PATRIARCHY
• religions have traditionally placed women in a subordinate position, reinforcing patriarchy
Religion and Conflict Theory
Religion linked to INEQUALITY
• Church authorities often support gender and class inequality.
• But religiously inspired protest against inequality often erupts from below.
Religion and Conflict Theory - What did Marx call religion?
“The opium of the people”
What did Max Weber stress about Religion? Symbolic Interactionist approach
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
Why is Weber wrong about his approach to religion?
Capitalism develops completely independently from Protestantism
Secularization Theory
Religious institutions, actions, and consciousness are on the decline worldwide and will one day disappear altogether
Revised Secularization Theory
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
No Secularization thesis
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
Critiques of the Traditional Secularization Theory
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
Differentiation
Where worldly institutions, like education, break off from the institution of religion over time
Main Critiques of the Secularization and Revised Secularization Theories
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
The Market Model of Religion
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
Religious Monopoly
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
Religious Pluralism
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
Church
Any bureaucratic religious organization that has fully accommodated itself to mainstream society and culture
Sects
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
Denomination
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
New Religious Movement (NRM)
Groups headed by charismatic leaders with a unique religious vision that rejects mainstream culture and society
• A.K.A cults
Sects and NRMs experience one of three outcomes
- They may DISAPPEAR
- The group persists, but in the process becomes more CHURCH-LIKE
- They may become INSTITUTIONALIZED
Some issues with Stark’s Market Theory
• Some religious monopolies have HIGH religious engagement
• Some places with high religious pluralism have LOW religious engagement
The Future of Religion
• 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
Religious Affiliation in Canada
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
What does “religion is the opium of the people” mean?
How religion often tranquillizes the underprivileged into accepting their lot in life
