X - Chp 10 Terms - Religion

Question 1

collective conscience

Answer 1

The common sentiments and values that people share as a result of living together.

Question 2

profane

Answer 2

Refers to the secular, everyday world.

Question 3

rituals

Answer 3

Set practices designed to connect people to the sacred.

Question 4

sacred

Answer 4

Refers to the religious, transcendent world.

Question 5

totems

Answer 5

Objects that symbolize the sacred.

Question 6

church

Answer 6

A bureaucratic religious organization that has accommodated itself to mainstream society and culture.

Question 7

animism

Answer 7

A type of religion that teaches that humans, animals, plants, and natural phenomena such as rain have souls. Animism accords the beings and things that populate Nature a level of respect that monotheistic religions lack, teaching people to live in harmony with Nature, not to dominate it.

Question 8

fundamentalists

Answer 8

People who interpret their scriptures literally; seek to establish a direct, personal relationship with God; are relatively intolerant of nonfundamentalists; and often support conservative social and political issues.

Question 9

secularization thesis

Answer 9

The theory that religious institutions, actions, and consciousness are on the decline worldwide.

Question 10

revised secularization thesis

Answer 10

The theory that worldly institutions break off from the institution of religion over time. As a result, religion governs an ever-smaller part of most people’s lives and has become largely a matter of personal choice.

Question 11

routinization of charisma

Answer 11

Weber’s term for the transformation of divine enlightenment into a permanent feature of everyday life. It involves turning religious inspiration into a stable social institution with defined roles (interpreters of the divine message, teachers, dues-paying laypeople, and so on)

Question 12

sects

Answer 12

Groups that 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. They are often led by charismatic leaders, who tend to be relatively intolerant of religious opinions other than their own.

Question 13

charismatic leaders

Answer 13

Religious leaders who claim to be inspired by supernatural powers and whose followers believe them to be so inspired.

Question 14

cults

Answer 14

Small groups of people deeply committed to a religious vision that rejects mainstream culture and society.

Question 15

ecclesia

Answer 15

State-supported churches.

Question 16

religiosity

Answer 16

The degree to which religion is important to people.

Question 17

denominations

Answer 17

The various streams of belief and practice that some churches allow to coexist under their overarching authority.