Social change vs Conservative force

Question 1

What does the term conservative mean?

Answer 1

• something that is traditional and reinforces traditional values

Question 2

What does the term conserve mean?

Answer 2

• to protect and to stabilise

Question 3

What is conservative force?

Answer 3

Religion conserves society by maintaining status quo

Question 4

Examples of conservative religious beliefs - Christianity

Answer 4

• Christianity and the Catholic church
• They are traditional, e.g., against contraception, divorce and gay marriages
• In Christian culture, marriage, women have to say “love, cherish and obey” but men do not have to say obey - this reinforces how women are subordinate to men

Question 5

Examples of conservative religious beliefs - Hinduism

Answer 5

• Endorses male domestic authority and the practice of arranged marriages

Question 6

What is the functionalist perspective of religion?

Answer 6

• religion is good for society
• prevents society from disintegrating by promoting social solidarity
• through creating a value consensus
• helps individuals deal with stress that would disrupt the life of society

Question 7

What is the Marxists perspective of religion?

Answer 7

• believe that religion is a conservative ideology that supports existing social structures and acts as a mean of social control

Question 8

What is Marx’s opium of the masses

Answer 8

• Marx “opium of the masses” - dulls the pain of exploitation “what’s gods will, will always be” (ascribed status)
• he argues that religion is bad for society (conflict approach)
• Divine rights of kings - religion devises inequality, the king is seen as a godly figure that everyone looks up too
• People have false consciousness, they cant do anything about their status in this life but that means they’ll have a better one in the afterlife - this keeps the rich, rich and the poor, poor

Question 9

What is the feminist perspective of religion?

Answer 9

• religion is an ideology thath legitimises patriarchal power and maintains women’s subordination in the family and wider society (Simone De Bevoir)

Question 10

What does the term social change mean?

Answer 10

• religion is bringing about the change in society

Question 11

What is a structuralist approach (Weber) to social change?

Answer 11

• they favour social change
• Weber argues religion can change society for the better
• Weber’s Calvinist study, when people spent money, it wasn’t for themselves, it was reinvested in their businesses - spirit of capitalism
• This grew their businesses, they didn’t indulge in personal luxuries

Question 12

Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism

Answer 12

• In past societies, people were religious for themselves, they spent money on luxuries “capitalism in the sense of greed” then Calvinism came along and bought change
• Religion can create capitalist work ethic

Question 13

What is Predestination?

Answer 13

No matter how good you are, god has determined your destiny

Question 14

Divine transcendence

Answer 14

• no one is greater than god and the only way to connect with god is through reading the bible
• Calvinists felt unprecedented inner loneliness so they didn’t have a way to communicate with god this created the salvation panic, because they didn’t know how to gain salvation

Question 15

What is ascetism?

Answer 15

• don’t indulge in luxury, live a simple life finding your inner self
• monks avoid pleasure and devote their life to god

Question 16

Idea of vocation or calling

Answer 16

• god calls upon you to do work so everyday you should join a convent or a monastery, so you must be religious
• weber calls this other worldly ascetism
• Calvinism introduced this worldly ascetism
• Calvinists knew Gods’ plan through reading the bible
• it depended on the bible to predict things and they believed that god bought them to this earth to preach his name through working (it was a religious duty to keep working)

Question 17

Who was a Calvinist and what did he say?

Answer 17

Benjamin Franklin - “lose no time, be always employed in something useful” - argues hard work will get him to heaven

Question 18

What were the consequences of the Calvinist theory?

Answer 18

• Psychological function: as they grew wealthier, they believed it was gods favour and salvation, helped people cope with the salvation panic
• Driven by their work ethic: systematically and methodically accumulated wealth by the most efficient and rational needs. Weber argues this is the spirit of modern capitalism

Question 19

Religion and social protests that changed society

Answer 19

• Bruce’s’ Civil Rights movement - He argues that the Black clergy were the backbone of the movement led by Martin Luther King, acting as support systems for the black people involved
• Maduro’s - Liberation Theology - as an example of how religious organisations could provide guidance to the working class and the oppressed as they struggled with the ruling class.