Download chapter 17, religion

Chapter 17, Religion
Key Terms

sacred
That which is set apart from ordinary activity.

profane
That which is of the everyday world and is
specifically not religious.

totem
An object or living thing that a religious group
regards with special awe and reverence.

secular
Ordinary beliefs of everyday life.

religiosity
The intensity and consistency of practice of a
person’s (or group’s) faith.

monotheists
The worship of a single god.

polytheists
Worship of more than one deity.

patriarchal religions
Beliefs and practices are based on male power
and authority.

matriarchal religions
Based on the centrality of female goddesses,
who may be seen as the source of food,
nurturance, and love or who may serve as
emblems of the power of women.

exclusive religious groups
Those with an easily identifiable religion and
culture, including distinctive beliefs and strong
moral teachings.

inclusive religious groups
Those with a more moderate, liberal, and
ecumenical religious orientation.

rituals
Symbolic activities that express a group's
spiritual convictions.

collective consciousness.
Body of beliefs that are common to a
community or society and that give people a
sense of belonging.

Protestant ethic
Belief that hard work and self-denial lead to
salvation.

ideology
Belief systems that legitimates the social order
and supports the ideas of the ruling class.

ethnoreligious groups
Groups for whom religion and ethnicity are
especially intertwined. Two examples are
Hasidic Jews and the Amish.

churches
Formal organizations that tend to see
themselves, and are seen by society, as the
primary and legitimate religious institutions.

sects
Groups that have broken off from an
established church, when a faction questions
the legitimacy or purity of the church from
which they are separating.

cults
Religious groups devoted to a specific cause or
a leader with charisma, and are like sects in
their emotional intensity.

charisma
A quality attributed to individuals believed by
their followers to have special powers.

religious socialization
The process by which one learns a particular
religious faith.

brainwashing thesis
Claim that innocent people are tricked into
religious conversion.

social drift theory
Emphasizing that conversion is linked to
shifting patterns of association and that people
are active participants in the conversion
process.

antisemitism
The belief or behavior that defines Jewish
people as inferior and then targets them for
stereotyping, mistreatment and acts of hatred.

secularization
The process by which religious institutions,
behavior and consciousness lose their religious
significance.

rationalization of society
Society is increasingly organized around
rational, empirical, and scientific forms of
thought.