Wk 7: Religion

Question 1

What is religion?

Answer 1

From a sociological perspective, it
refers to the faith in metaphysical
influences that provide significance to
our existence. The broad spectrum of
beliefs categorized as ‘religious’
presents challenges in formulating a
single, concise definition.
* Religion permeates society
extensively, manifesting itself in
various dimensions.
* The doctrines and principles of
Catholicism and Protestantism have
significantly molded our political
landscape throughout the 20th
century.
* Religion wields the power to shape
societal structures, knowledge
systems, and the intricate interplay
of relationships between genders.
* Religion is a dynamic force that
engenders both cohesion and
division within communities.
Additionally, it plays a pivotal role in
shaping individual and collective
identities.

Question 2

Religion as per Australian Law

Answer 2

Generally, a religion is
regarded as a set of beliefs and
practices, usually involving
acknowledgment of a divine or
higher being or power, by which
people order the conduct of their
lives both practically and in a moral
sense

Question 3

In Australian law, the definition or
religion lists two criteria

Answer 3

first, a belief in a supernatural being, thing
or principle;

second, ‘the acceptance
of canons of conduct in order to give
effect to that belief’

Question 4

Key elements of religion

Answer 4

• Ideas about beings or forces existing beyond the
  human realm.
• Engaging in established traditions and practices.
• Presence of structured frameworks within religious systems.
• Relationships of control or influence between humans and entities beyond humanity.
• Providing answers to questions about the meaning of life.
• Offering explanations for tragic or uncontrollable
  events.
• Justifying and supporting the current societal norms.
• Connecting individuals and groups with natural or supernatural elements.
• Projecting human ideals and aspirations onto an
  idealized order beyond our world

Question 5

Theism

Answer 5

the belief in a god or
gods

Question 6

monotheism

Answer 6

meaning they believe that there
is only one God.

Question 7

polytheism

Answer 7

Some religions believe in multiple
gods or demigods

Question 8

The three main religious groups
of the West

Answer 8

Christianity, Judaism and Islam

Question 9

secularisation

Answer 9

religion as insignificant

Question 10

The changing of Australian
religion

Answer 10

Since the Second World War, Australians’
relationship with religion has been
changing.
1. The rise in secularisation (religion as
insignificant),
2. There has been a shift in Christianity
from rational to affective (experiential, feeling-oriented) worship,
3. The impact of migration on the global
movement of religious groups, and,
4. The impact of globalisation on the
spread and separation of religious
ideas and practices (such as by the
internet).
* The result of these four things
accounts for the great diversity of
religious and spiritual beliefs and
practices in contemporary Australia.

Question 11

Civil religion

Answer 11

• The state employs rituals,
  symbols, and language to foster
  a consistent national culture
  and identity, often with ties to
  religion.
• The ANZACs and the Australian
  War Memorial can be seen as
  constituting a civic form of
  devotion separate from religion.
• Anzac Day commemorates
  Australian ideals like
  camaraderie, not limited to
  valorous individuals, but also
  extolling the nation’s ethos and
  heritage, strengthening
  Australian identity.

Question 12

Spirituality

Answer 12

• A state of being related to a
  divine, supernatural or
  transcendent order of reality
• A sense of awareness of a a
  reality goes beyond life
  ordinarily experienced.
• “Religion is structure, an
  institution. It limits you.
  Spirituality is something you
  are” (Wuthnow, 2001, p. 306)
• An expression of self-identity
• Religion can be considered to
  be both separate and
  overlapping.

Question 13

Secularisation

Answer 13

The separation of society from close
identification with religious values.
* The decrease in religious devotion on personal and institutional fronts has resulted in a rise of
secularization.
* Modernity posits that industrialization and adopting scientific knowledge would bring about a move towards secularization.
* Capitalism is aligned with a logical perspective, creating a contrast with religious views.
* Rational actions prioritize intellectual reasoning over sentiment, tradition, and religious beliefs.
* Modernity has shifted society’s attention away from religion, often deeming it incompatible with rationality.

Question 14

Consuming
religion

Answer 14

• ‘New Age’ religions have become
  increasingly popular in Australia since
  the 1980s, with a substantial increase
  in ‘spiritualities by choice as opposed
  to religions by birth’
• Many consumer religions appropriate
  existing spiritualities and cultures.
  While this may often be well intended,
  appropriations of Indigenous culture in
  Australia, for example, can be highly
  destructive, becoming ‘a form of
  cultural genocide that destroys such
  traditions’ (2002, p. 201).
• They take the form of tarot card
  readings, astrology, New Age healing,
  shamanism and crystals, a consumerist
  revival of the old.

Question 15

Agnosticism

Answer 15

is the view that the truths
about claims made by religions (such as
the existence of an afterlife or deities)
are unknowable

Question 16

Atheism

Answer 16

on the other hand, is a
rejection of these claims, and is regarded
as oppositional to theism

Question 17

Philosophies of
life

Answer 17

Some cultures don’t have religions per
se, but have philosophies that help guide
people throughout life. Philosophies of
life are doctrines that focus on a set of
ethical, moral or philosophical principles
(i.e., Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism)

Question 18

totemism

Answer 18

Preliterate societies practised totemism
by honouring a totem or a sacred object.
The totem itself was thought to have
divine and mystical powers.

Question 19

animism

Answer 19

is the belief which
recognises that animate spirits live in
natural objects and operate in the world.

Question 20

Is religion really
on the decline?

Answer 20

• The visibility of religious engagement in
  public life has somewhat diminished, yet
  it remains notably evident in discussions
  involving gender, education, and its
  impact on US politics.
• Church attendance, membership, and
  active involvement have shown a
  decrease, resulting in a nearly 44%
  decline in Christianity across Australia.
• The count of individuals identifying with
  no religious affiliation has nearly
  doubled since 1996.
• Not all religious groups are experiencing
  decline, and this phenomenon can be
  attributed to the connection between
  ethnicity and religious identification.
• Although Buddhism and Islam
  are growing – this is due to
  migration.
• Younger age groups are growing
  in reporting no religion. In 2016,
  around half of those stating no
  religion were younger than 18
  years old. Numbers start to rise
  at 15 and peak between 22 and
  24.
• While declining in the West,
  Christianity is growing in Africa,
  Latin America and Asia –
  potentially the result of
  education or globalisation.

Question 21

Global lead for religion?

Answer 21

Currently, Christianity holds the
global lead as the most widespread
religion. However, projections
indicate that by 2050, the number of
Christians and Muslims might be on
par.

Question 22

Core components of fundamentalism:

Answer 22

1. Founding religious doctrines and scriptures are
   literally true
2. Doctrines and scriptures and valid for all times and places.
3. The potential to be linked to political movements associated with radical reformation of society on the basis of what was ordained by God.
4. The potential to reinstate ‘a golden age of
   religiosity’
5. Fundamentalist religions can be highly integrated into mainstream institutions (e.g., Iran) or marginalised (e.g., Australia).

Question 23

cults

Answer 23

Cults are new religious
movements led by charismatic
leaders with few followers (for
e.g., Cult of the Martyrs)

Question 24

sect

Answer 24

Once a cult has enough members
to sustain itself, it becomes a sect.
Sects are still regarded as being
oppositional to society’s
dominant norms.

Question 25

church

Answer 25

Eventually, sects can evolve into a
church. The term ‘church’ doesn’t
always refer specifically to a
building or a denomination of a
religion; instead, it is a large,
highly organised group of
believers (bureaucracy).

Question 26

theocracy

Answer 26

If a church becomes highly
integrated into the dominant
culture, it may join with the state.
A state religion, or theocracy, is
formed when government and
religion work together to shape
society.

Question 27

Functionalism Applied to
Religion

Answer 27

Emile Durkheim defined
religion as a ‘unified system
of beliefs and practices
relative to sacred things, that
is to say, things set apart and
forbidden—[the] beliefs and
practices which unite into
one single moral community
called a Church, [and] all
those who adhere to them’
(Durkheim, 1912/1995).

• The real purpose of religion is to
  establish a collective moral
  consciousness (i.e., morals)
• An expression of human sociality.
• The worship of God is the worship of
  society.
• Religion enables existence and
  provide assumptions about the nature
  of life (e.g., time).
• Religion makes sense of experience
  and provides strength in the face of
  suffering:
  “The believer who has communicated
  with his god is not merely a man who
  sees new truth of which the unbeliever
  is ignorant; he is a man who is
  stronger”
  Durkheim
• Religious rituals develop around
  sacred objects, further
  strengthening the social norm. This
  allows the followers to come
  together and contribute to these
  rituals, strengthening the group’s
  common understanding and belief.
• This, in turn, helps strengthen the
  group’s bonds and further
  integrates the individuals into the
  group. This unity created by
  religion allows members to
  integrate by increasing cohesion
  and functioning as a social control
  mechanism.

Question 28

The sacred

Answer 28

That which transcends
everyday life (e.g., beliefs, scripture, and
churches

Question 29

The profane

Answer 29

Everyday life (work, income
to pay bills, bills, hobbies, and the
material etc)

Question 30

Difference of sacred vs. profane

Answer 30

Our understanding of
this difference occurs
through symbolic
interactionism

Question 31

Marx & Conflict
Theory: Religion is an
agent of social control

Answer 31

• Marx believed the wealthy used
  their power and influence to
  assure that the poor believed
  their plight was divinely inspired,
  and that some heavenly afterlife
  would make everything better.
• Marx suggested that religion
  helped people feel better by
  numbing them to their true pain.
  In short, religion causes people to
  ignore the real problem—
  capitalist oppression.
• The source of false consciousness:
  “Religious suffering is, at one and
  the same time, the expression of
  real suffering and a protest against
  real suffering. Religion is the sigh
  of the oppressed creature, the
  heart of a heartless world, and the
  soul of soulless conditions. It is
  the opium of the people” (Marx,
  1844/2000).
• i.e., Religion encourages
  meekness and passivity and
  compensation for suffering in our
  next life.
• In contrast to Durkheim, he
  argued that religion leads us to
  lose connection with ourselves
  and fellow humans. Religion leads
  us to lose our humanity.
• A loss of humanity due to the
  legitimation of inequality and a
  support for the status quo.
• He focused on how social
  arrangements for inequality could
  be seen as divinely ordained.

Question 32

Weber: Religion
produces social
change

Answer 32

• Max Weber agreed with Marx’s
  notion that there was a link
  between the economy and religion,
  although he believed the opposite
  of what Marx believed was true. He
  pointed out a connection between
  Protestant and capitalist values
  (Weber, 1905/2002).
• In order to avoid poverty, people
  have to work hard, save money and
  be thrifty. Weber termed this idea
  the Protestant ethic (robust
  labour).
• When profits are reinvested into
  production, the resulting effect is a
  strengthening of the means of
  production. This investment in infra
  structure and a work ethic that
  links economic success with
  spiritual or religious achievement
  was, for Weber, a key contributing
  factor in the rise of capitalism.
• Furthermore, the Protestant work
  ethic emphasises individuality.
  Protestantism often supports the
  notion of individual salvation,
  which lays the groundwork for
  individuals to focus on their own
  well-being first and the good of
  others second .

Question 33

Conflict theory:
Feminism

Answer 33

Religion is patriarchal – men systematically
dominate women.
* Judaism, Christianity and Islam include passages
and practices that identify women as
inferior to and dependent on men.
* Within religious contexts, women are
often urged to embrace their
secondary role on Earth with the
promise of equality in the afterlife.
* The Church, symbolically, reinforces
the exclusion of women from domains
like work and politics, leaving them
primarily associated with reproduction
and domestic life (de Beauvoir, 1972).
* Religious beliefs have been used to
justify acts such as witch burning,
Indian suttee, Chinese foot binding,
and other brutal practices, contributing
to the suppression of the feminine.

• Patriarchy is not universal.
  Matriarchy religions exist

Question 34

Religion &
Social change

Answer 34

• Contemporary Catholic priests
  challenge the wealthy and
  advocate for the poor.
• Members of the clergy can
  develop revolutionary potential
  when oppressed members of the
  population have no outlet for their
  grievances.
• The oppressed pressure priests to
  take up their cause
• The above has occurred in Latin
  America and led to the
  development of a church-based
  liberation theology.

Question 35

Functionalism:

Answer 35

Functionalists believe that religion binds
members of the community together through participation in rituals that celebrate the supernatural. Religion also strengthens society’s norms and values by teaching these
beliefs in a religious context.

Question 36

Conflict theory:

Answer 36

Conflict theorists believe that religion
often serves only to further the inequalities of social classes. Feminists and conflict theorists would suggest that the reason people believe God is a man is because men run most religions, and they wish to maintain their positions.

Question 37

Symbolic Interactionism:

Answer 37

Believers separate or label things
that are sacred from things that are profane using their systems of beliefs. These systems of beliefs define meanings and morals to specific actions. In addition to this belief system, there is an organisation that ensures the continuing effectiveness of the religious experience.