Religion And Social Change

Question 1

Identify two ways in which religion can be seen as a conservative force.

Answer 1

• ‘Traditional’, defending traditional customs, institutions, moral views, roles etc. Upholds traditional beliefs about how society should be organised.
• It functions to conserve or preserve things as they are. It stabilises society & maintains the status quo.

Question 2

Give two examples of traditional conservative beliefs held by religions.

Answer 2

• Catholic Church forbids divorce, abortion & artificial conception. It opposes gay marriage & condemns homosexual behaviour.
• The belief that the man should be head of the family was embedded into the traditional marriage ceremony of the Church of England from 1602. Bride: ‘love, honour and obey’. Groom: ‘love and honour’.

Question 3

Briefly outline how functionalists view religion as a conservative force.

Answer 3

Functions to maintain social stability and prevent society from disintegrating.
Example: Promotes social solidarity by creating value consensus, thus reducing the likelihood of society collapsing through individuals pursuing their own selfish interests at the expense of others.

Question 4

Briefly outline how Marxists view religion as a conservative force.

Answer 4

By legitimating or disguising exploitation and inequality, it creates false consciousness in the w/c and prevents revolution, thereby maintaining the stability of capitalist society.

Question 5

Briefly outline how feminists view religion as a conservative force.

Answer 5

It acts as an ideology that legitimates patriarchal power & maintains women’s subordination in the family & wider society

Question 6

According to Weber, what major social change did Calvinism bring about?

Answer 6

The emergence of capitalism in Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Question 7

What is unique about modern capitalism?

Answer 7

It’s based on the systematic, efficient, rational pursuit of profit for its own sake, rather than for consumption. Weber calls this ‘the spirit of capitalism’.

Question 8

Briefly outline the following Calvinist belief:

- Predestination

Answer 8

God had predetermined which souls would be saved (‘the elect’) and which wouldn’t, even before birth. Individuals couldn’t change this, whether through their deeds, as Catholics believed, or through faith, as Lutheran Protestants believed.

Question 9

Briefly outline the following Calvinist belief:

- Divine transcendence

Answer 9

• God was so far above and beyond this world and so incomparably greater than any mortal.
• No human being could possibly claim to know his will (inc. the Church & priests).
• Left Calvinists feeling ‘an unprecedented inner loneliness’.
• Created ‘salvation panic’.
• Didn’t know whether they’d been chosen to be saved.
• Couldn’t do anything to earn salvation.

Question 10

Briefly outline the following Calvinist belief:

- Asceticism

Answer 10

Refers to abstinence, self-discipline and self-denial.
Example: Monks lead an ascetic existence, refraining from luxury, wearing simple clothes and avoiding excess to devote themselves to God and a life of prayer.

Question 11

Briefly outline the following Calvinist belief:

- The idea of a vocation or calling

Answer 11

• Before Calvinism: religious vocation meant renouncing everyday life to join a convent/monastery (other-worldly asceticism).
• Calvinism introduced: this-worldly asceticism. They were put on this earth to glorify God’s name by their work.
• Benjamin Franklin: ‘lose no time; be always employed in something useful’.

Question 12

Briefly outline the two consequences of Calvinists’ lifestyle.

Answer 12

• Wealth and success performed a psychological function that allowed them to cope with their salvation panic. Took growth in wealthiness as sign of God’s favour and their salvation. Contradicts original doctrine that God’s will was unknowable.
• Driven by their work ethic, they systematically & methodically accumulated wealth by the most efficient & rational means possible. Reinvested it in their businesses (not luxuries), which grew & prospered, producing further profit to invest & so on. Weber: spirit of capitalism. Brought capitalism as we know it.

Question 13

In what ways did Hinduism fail to encourage capitalism, according to Weber?

Answer 13

Its orientation was other-worldly - it directed its followers concerns away from the material world to the spiritual world.

Question 14

In what ways did Confucianism fail to encourage capitalism, according to Weber?

Answer 14

• It wasn’t ascetic.

- Lacked the drive to systematically accumulate wealth that’s necessary for modern capitalism (same as Hinduism).

Question 15

Briefly outline three criticisms of Weber.

Answer 15

• ‘Debate with Marx’s ghost’. Marx saw economic/material factors as driving force for social change. Weber argues material factors alone aren’t enough to bring about capitalism. Specific cultural factors needed too.
• Kautsky (1927): Weber overestimates role of ideas and underestimates economic factors bringing in capitalism into being. Argues capitalism preceded Calvinism.
• Tawney (1926): Technological change, not religious ideas, caused the birth of capitalism. it was only after capitalism was established that the bourgeoisie adopted Calvinist beliefs to legitimate their pursuit of economic gain.

Question 16

According to Bruce, why were the black clergy so important in the black civil rights movement?

Answer 16

• Black Clergy, led by MLK, played a decisive role, giving support and moral legitimacy to civil rights activists.
• Used churches as meeting places.
• Bruce argues: black clergy were able to shame whites into changing the law by appealing to their shared Christian values of equality.

Question 17

Briefly outline four ways in which religious organisations can support and contribute to social change.

Answer 17

• Taking the moral high ground.
• Channelling dissent
• Acting as honest broker
• Mobilising public opinion.

Question 18

Briefly outline the aims of the New Christian Right in America.

Answer 18

• Take America ‘back to God’.
• Make abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage and divorce illegal.
• Campaigns for the teachings of ‘creationism’ and to ban sex education in schools.

Question 19

According to Bruce, what are the two reasons why the New Christian Right have been unsuccessful in their aims?

Answer 19

• Its campaigners find it very difficult to cooperate with people from other religious groups, even when campaigning on the same issue, such as abortion.
• It lacks widespread support and has met with strong opposition from groups who stand for freedom of choice.

Question 20

Define relative autonomy.

Answer 20

Ideas can be partly independent of the economic base of society.

Result, religion can have a dual character and can sometimes be a force for change as well as stability.

Question 21

Briefly explain how religion has a dual character.

Answer 21

Engels: although religion inhibits change by disguising inequality, it can also challenge the status quo and encourages social change .

Ex: religion sometimes preaches liberation from slavery misery.

Question 22

Briefly explain ‘the principle of hope’.

Answer 22

Def: Our dreams of a better life that contain images of utopia.

Extra: Images of utopia can sometimes deceive people with promises of rewards in heaven. However, they may also help people see what needs to be changed in this world.

Question 23

What was the aim of liberation theory theology?

Answer 23

Strong commitment for the poor and opposition to military dictatorships.

Question 24

What three factors led to liberation theology?

Answer 24

• Deepening rural poverty and the growth of urban slums throughout Latin America.
• Human rights abuses following military take-overs, such as torture and death squads murdering political opponents, for example in Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
• The growing commitment among Catholic priests to an ideology that supported the poor and opposed violations of human rights.

Question 25

According to Maduro, how does liberation theology show that religion can be a revolutionary force?

Answer 25

Religious ideas radicalised the Catholic clergy in defence of peasants and workers, making them see that serving the poor was part of their religious duty.

Question 26

Briefly outline the difference between liberation theology and Pentecostalism.

Answer 26

Liberation theology offers a radical solution to poverty: collective improvement through political action in the public sphere, while Pentecostalism’s solution is conservative: individual self-improvement through the private sphere of family and church.

Question 27

According to Worsley, what do millenarian movements expect?

Answer 27

The total and imminent transformation of this world by supernatural means. This will create a heaven on Earth, a life free from pain, death, sin, corruption and imperfection. Transformation will be collective.

Question 28

Why do millenarian movements appeal to the poor?

Answer 28

They promise immediate improvement, and they often arise in colonial situations.

Question 29

Briefly explain what cargo cults are.

Answer 29

Islanders (Melanesia) felt wrongfully deprived when ‘cargo’ arrived in the islands for the colonists. Cargo cults sprang up in 19th + 20th centuries asserting the cargo was meant for them but had been diverted by colonists for themselves, and this unjust social order was about to be overturned.

Question 30

What is the political significance of millenarian movements?

Answer 30

Worsley: It’s pre-political - used religious ideas + images but united native populations in mass movements that spanned tribal divisions.

Engels: They represent the first awakening of ‘proletarian self-consciousness’.

Question 31

Define hegemony.

Answer 31

• The way that the r/c use ideas such as religion to maintain control.
• Ideological domination or leadership of society.

Question 32

How does religion act as a counter-hegemony?

Answer 32

Gramsci sees religion as having a dual character and in some circumstances.

Question 33

Using the example of miners, briefly outline the three ways in which religion can challenge hegemony according to Billings.

Answer 33

Leadership: Miners benefited from leadership of ‘organic intellectuals’ - many of them lay preachers who were themselves miners + trade union activists. Helped convert miners to union cause. Textile workers lacked such leadership.

Organisation: Miners were able to use independent churches to hold meetings and organise, whereas the textile workers lacked such spaces.

Support: Churches kept miners’ morale high with supportive sermons, prayer meetings + group singing. Contrast: textile workers who engaged in union activity met with opposition from local church leaders.