Theries of religion (this is all at the bottom now split up) Flashcards
Functionalist views
> look at society’s contribution to meeting society needs
look at the benefit of religion on an individuals life
religion provides care values which underpin peoples behaviour
religion strengthens the collective conscience of society, proving solidarity
religion is an essential “building block” of a healthy society
Durkheim (1912)
> religion main function is to strengthen social solidarity
religion provides people with common bonds.
sacred objects provide an opportunity for people to meet, discuss, worship and value - they represent the beliefs they both hold and also the culture of the society and common identity
FOR EXAMPLE - Australian Arunta, the totem is both symbolic of believers and cultural identity. For christian’s the cross and bible is sacred, for muslims the koran is sacred
Durkheim expresses concern about the future of religion. He saw a decline in religion as societies develop, as people have their own interest. This is know as the “cult of man”.
EVALUATION - unrealistic to say religion united everyone, there are a lot of religions competing with each other, only specific religious groups can be together.
Malinowski (1954)
two main functions of religion:
1. help deal with uncertainty - ritual provides frequent routine which strengthens the mind. Trobriand island people prepared to fish in dangerous water, ritual before fishing provided them with confidence and feeling of safety.
2. Dealing with crisis in life - helps with things such as death, stress etc. Prayer helps individuals remain psychologically strong.
EVALUATION - people have non religious ways to cope with religion.
> Small scale research, difficuilt to use this evidence.
Talcoff Parsons (1965)
> religion provides guidelines for behaviour and source of meaning for members for society
religion provides a “moral framework”
for example in Christianity, ten commandments provide a set of guidelines about how people should behave, they are “enshrined in law”
religion provides meaning by giving answers to “life eternal questions” e.g. why do people suffer?
without this from religion, society will weaken.
EVALUATION - his view is overly simplistic, peoples views change like values, morals and sense of “right and wrong”.
Civil religion
> functionalist ignore how religion can divide.
civil religion refers to where sacred qualities are attached to society itself.
difference can be overcome by and over-riding “faith in society”
majority of Americans have a deep-rooted faith in their nation. 9/11 is an example of strengthening of Americanism uniting against the common enemy - the Taliban and religious extremism
EVALUATION - is civil religion even a religion? symbols like the Lincoln memorial are not the same as Saints in the Catholic church.
Karl Marx
> religion keeps society stable, but this is an oppressive stability
religion not helpful to individuals, it harms them in many cases
religion helps to maintain “status quo” and prevent positive change.
religion misleads people in preventing them from seeing the truth about life.
religion misleads people in preventing them from seeing the truth about life.
the future, communist society will have no further place in society.
religions main function is to “dull the pain of oppression” Like a drug.
religion ensure inequality and suffering are justified.
e.g. sects appeal to the working class poor, they provide a religious explanation for the pain.
EVALUATION - religion can help make a real difference to the lives of the poor, they overlook how much effort the church makes to help the poor.
Neo-marxist
Otto Maduro
Maduro disagreed with Marx and argued that, rather than always oppressing the poor.
> In South America during the 1960s, the Catholic Church introduced literacy programmes.
> the pope stepped in and out an end to liberation since it have the poor ideas “above their station”
EVALUATION - there is modern day support in Britain, many charities take control in trying to attack poverty, for example Tearfund is a Christian charity that is “passionate about ending poverty”.
Feminist
Karen Armstrong(1993)
Women have not always been oppressed and considered inferior
>For example, women are seen as “goddesses” in Ancient Greek mythology, for example Athena is a powerful female figure.
> even today, there are female Gods in Hinduism.
> the increase in monotheism, however resulted in people seeing God and man as one, for example Jesus.
> the idea of god being a single, all powerful male started womens inferior status in society, this formed the basis of religion as a patriarchal ideology - there is evidence for this like:
- prophets are men
- catholic church excludes women from priesthood
- male pronouns are used “he is in the glory of god”
EVALUATION - Armstrong overlooks positive changes in modern society, in 1992 the Church of England allowed women to be priests and in 2014 the first bishop Libby Lane occurred.
Simone de-Beauvoir (1953)
religion is a instrument of control and an instrument of deception, men typically use religion to oppress women.
> “men enjoy the great advantage of having a God that endorses the code that he writes” - this means men benefit from using religion to justify the control they use over women.
EXAMPLE - 2016, BBC news interview with leader of Pakistan’s council of Islamic ideology - he claim the Koran claims they can “lightly beat” their wife.
> in acting as an instrument of deception, he claims women are susceptible to the false promises of “equality in a sexless heaven”. There is suffering here on Earth which will be rewarded in afterlife.
> women follow religion the most, but they are treated badly by it.
EVALUATION - women’s growing interest in new ageism does not oppress them, decline religion etc.
Nawal El Saadawi (1980)
religion is not patriarchal, it is the way it is used by men.
> religion is used to justify men’s actions against women, even with little evidence to justify it.
> the example of forced female circumcision, a practice often linked to Islam, in reality there is no such link to Islam more than any other religion. There is no evidence of this in the Qur’an - this doesnt prevent men from using religion to justify these practices.
EXAMPLE - BBC NEWS, 2007 - highlight the NHS in England had recorded 5000 new cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) and that it is a 14 year prison sentence for such procedures
> men use the Qur’an to oppress women as well, a suitable for men and women committing adultery is stoning as stated in Qur’an, however it is used against women more than men.
EVALUATION - they ignore the progress taking place that give women a better deal.
> religion can actually be a tool used to combat oppression.
Jean Holm (1994) Signs of hope!
Muslim women tend to keep their own name when they marry and have the freedom to choose which interpretation of Islam is evidence religion doesn’t oppress them.
> Sikh Gurus in India work hard to improve women’s lives
> women get a way better deal out of religion now than they once did
> radical feminists are misguided when looking at women and religion
Nawal El Saadawi (1980)
religion is not patriarchal, it is the way it is used by men.
> religion is used to justify men’s actions against women, even with little evidence to justify it.
> the example of forced female circumcision, a practice often linked to Islam, in reality there is no such link to Islam more than any other religion. There is no evidence of this in the Qur’an - this doesn’t prevent men from using religion to justify these practices.
EXAMPLE - BBC NEWS, 2007 - highlight the NHS in England had recorded 5000 new cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) and that it is a 14 year prison sentence for such procedures
> men use the Qur’an to oppress women as well, a suitable for men and women committing adultery is stoning as stated in Qur’an, however it is used against women more than men.
EVALUATION - they ignore the progress taking place that give women a better deal.
> religion can actually be a tool used to combat oppression.
Rachel Rinaldo (2010) piety movements
women play an important part in piety movements, they choose to reject western nations of “freedom” and choices that are given to women
> women prefer to embrace traditional gender roles.
> strict codes of dress and home centred roles as wives and mothers are valued
EVALUATION - women don’t consciously choose piety, but are victims of ideology - radical feminists say women don’t have a genuine choice for patriarchal ideology.
postmodernist views of religion
> there is no single role/function that religion performs in postmodern society
religion isn’t so much declining, but rather is undergoing change in society.
there is a huge diversity of religious beliefs and practises in postmodern society.
dominant, established religions are under increasing competition.
the growth of religious fundamentalism is a reaction to postmodernism
Lyotard (1995) postmodern society
there has been three major changes in religious beliefs in society:
1. decline in traditional meta-narratives of the truth
2.the growth of religious fundamentalism - fundamentalists rejects claims that multiple truths exist, they believe the freedoms and choices people have to “pick and choose” what religion they follow must be challenged
characteristics of fundamentalists:
> strict moral codes of behaviour are expected
> a desire to return to a past, golden age of religiosity
> an intolerance to other religions.
> absolute views that their beliefs are right
EXAMPLE - Jehovah witnesses saw their numbers increases from 44k in 1928 to 6 million in 2000! They consider other religions and people believing in them are destined for hell.
EVALUATION - there is nothing overly new about fundamentalism at all, there is evidence in the historical record of fundamentalist views, undermining claims that its something that has formed due to changes in postmodern society taking place.
3. Spread of new types of religious organisations - a number of sects and cults have grown over the years, there is now a “pick and mix” available to choose what beliefs you want to follow due to the “spiritual supermarket” in society.
> new ageism is an example of how religion decline as less traditional beliefs grow. New agers accept that “truth” is relative and makes no claim of “monopoly of the truth”
EVALUATION - is new ageism really that new? new age practices can be centuries old, such as witchcraft and astrology.
