Download 53108 - Introduction to Sociology

Key words
– Theism
– Atheism
– Denomination
– Cult and Sect
– Secularisation
– Social cohesion
– Social control
– Sacred/Profane
– Protestant Work Ethic
– Dominant ideology
Religion and Belief Systems
• Has anyone consulted a clairvoyant?
• Had their cards or tea-leaves read recently?
• Anyone believe in UFOs?
Who reads horoscopes?
Did you believe it?
Sociological Imagination
• History
‘ability to imagine & understand intersection between
personal biography & historical social structures’ CW Mills
• What is the history of religious practices?
• Structure
• What are the different kinds of religions?
• Culture
• What are key ideas about religion in society?
Definition
•set of beliefs and practices often organized
around supernatural and moral claims,
and often codified
• It’s a universal institution
“A unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred
things, that is to say things set apart and forbidden - beliefs
and practices which unite into a single moral community
called a Church, all those that adhere to them”
(Emile Durkheim 1965)
Sociological Ideas about Religion
• SOCIAL COHESION
– Durkheim
• SOCIAL CONTROL
– Marx
• SOCIAL CHANGE
– Weber
– New Religious Movements
Social Cohesion
Durkheim
• Religion is powerful force for unification
within society
– Main purpose of religion in societies is to help
make contact with one another, not God
– Rituals give sense of community with shared
experiences- birth, marriage, death, planting/harvest,
solstice/ equinox
– Meant no one had to face life alone
– Collective conscience
• Promotes social cohesion
• Emotional support and meaning in times of
stress
• Reinforcement of norms giving them moral
legitimacy
Religion as Social Control
Karl Marx
• Concept of alienation,
consequence of condition of
social forces which separate
human beings from things which
are crucial to their own nature
• Relates to nature of capitalism
whereby people become
commodities (units of labor)
• Ideology - set of persuasive ideas
part of “common sense “ of
society that ensure maintenance
of exploitative social systems.
Religion is ‘opium of the people‘ K.Marx
• “Religious distress is at the same time the expression
of real distress and also the protest against real
distress. Religion is
the sigh of the oppressed
creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the
spirit of spiritless conditions.
It is the opium of the people.” Marx (1844)
• Mechanism for social control
Religion: Force of Social Change?
• Max Weber
• Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism
• Calvinism - hard work and acquisition of material
wealth indicative of God’s favor and of salvation.
• Encouraged hard work and diligence (Protestant Ethic)
• Growth of capitalism
Impact of Religion
• Are religious people happier, better adjusted,
more stable?
• Are religious people healthier?
• Do they recover from disease more often?
• Are religious people more moral, more faithful,
less likely to cheat?
Practices, Beliefs and Social Context
• PRE-THEISTIC
– (tribal societies)
• THEISM
– (more developed societies)
• ATHEISM
– (rise in modern societies)
Pre-theistic systems
• Fate - approximates
modern concepts of
destiny/luck
• Animism- whole natural
world has spiritual qualities
• Totemism- supernatural
qualities concentrated in
particular (sacred) objects
– All reflect need to find
meaning
Theism
• Theism -system of beliefs that
establish divine beings that shape
human affairs
– Polytheism-belief in gods,
each with their own sphere of
influence
– Monotheism-belief in supreme
god.
– 3 religions are monotheistic:
Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam
Atheism
• Term for nonreligious
• Also applied to
systems which
deny existence of
personal
supernatural
beings
Religion vs. Magic
Religion
Magic
Worships the supernatural
Attempts to control
supernatural forces
Object of worship is god or
gods
Does not worship god or
gods
Religious experience an
end in itself
Ritual is means to an end
Group oriented; experience Individually oriented;
designed to unify group
experience designed to
help individual user
Elements of Religion
Religious Organizations:
Relationship to Society
Places of Worship
Church
Basilica
Mosque
Pagoda
Temple
Synagogue
Major World Religions
Ranked by Number of Adherents
1) Christianity: 2.1 billion
2) Islam: 1.3 billion
3) Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4) Hinduism: 900 million
5) Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6) Buddhism: 376 million
• 6 categories: 6.1 billion
9) Sikhism: 23 million
12) Judaism: 15 million
13) Baha'i: 7 million
17) Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
20) Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21) Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22) Scientology: 500 thousand
Origin of Universalizing Religions
Judaism-Abraham is founder, waiting for
Messiah to set up kingdom on earth
Christianity-Founded upon Jesus as Messiah
Islam–same narrative
as Judaism/
Christianity. All
consider Adam
first man and
Abraham one of his
descendants.
Jerusalem's
Dome of the
Rock is sacred
to Judaism,
Christianity
and Islam.
Orthodox Judaism
Hasidic Judaism
Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox)
Reform Judaism
Humanistic Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism
Modern Orthodox
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism
Christianity
Pentecostalism
The Holy Trinity
first humans were created in image of God (imago Dei),
most Christians believe heaven and hell.
Three major branches
1.Roman Catholic
2.Protestant
3.Eastern Orthodox
Jesus Christ is God's only son, born
of a virgin, executed, descended into
Hell, rose again and ascended into
heaven. The only way to heaven is
by accepting this.
Branches of Islam
• Sunni- comprise
majority of Muslims
-largest branch in
most Muslim countries
-Middle East and
Asia
• Shiite- 16% of Muslims
-mostly found Iran,
Pakistan, and Iraq
Hinduism
6 B.C., word Hindu used in India
for people in caste system.
97% of Hindus are concentrated in one country-India.
Trinitarian
While origins of other religions are
in recent past,
Hinduism existed prior to recorded
history.
Largest number of followers in world
Buddhism- emerged from Hinduism.
Other Ethnic Religions
Confucianism prescribed series
of ethical principles for
orderly conduct of daily life in
China.
Confucius-philosopher and
teacher in China
Daoism (Taoism) Daoists seek doa. A virtuous person draws
powers from being absorbed in dao.
Shintoism-ethnic religion of Japan.
considers forces of nature to be divine, especially Sun & Moon.
Religion: Past, Present & Future
(Source: World Christian Encyclopedia)
• Religion
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Christian
RC
Prot.
E.O.
Other
Atheist
Muslim
Hindu
Buddhism
1900
1980
2000
34.4%
16.8%
9.4%
7.5%
0.07%
0.2%
12.4%
12.5%
7.8%
32.8%
18.5%
7.9%
2.8%
3.6%
20.8%
16.5%
13.3%
6.3%
32.3%
18.7%
7.0%
2.4%
4.1%
21.3%
19.2%
13.7%
5.7%
Cults and Sects
• Cults and Sects:
– generally small & often challenge existing social structures
and values.
• Cults
– may claim links with traditional religion.
Inward looking, stressing personal religious experience
• Sects
– seek return to original more fundamental truths.
Doesn’t try to change rest of society, eg. Amish
Alternative Belief Systems
• Are they replacing religion?
– Science and technology
– Markets
• New Religious Movements
(NRMs)
– Clairvoyance, Astrology, Crystal
power
– Paganism and nature worship
Wiccans
Religious school students
cheat more, survey shows
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78% vs. 72% cheated at least once on exams
74% (2002) vs. 71% (2000) vs. 61% (1992)
who claimed “religion is very important to
me”
“Willingness to cheat has become the
norm…”
Shoplifting: 35% vs. 39%
Stealing from parents: 25% vs. 28%
Lying to parents: 95% vs. 97%
Josephson Institute for Ethics (2002)
Summary
• Religion tends to reflect
arrangements of society within
which it emerges
• Religions often serve to legitimate
and maintain existing social
structures
• Religion varies in organization
• Secularization is process in which
religious beliefs/ practices are
progressively restricted in their
application
Words about Religion
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no
need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own
heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” Dali Lama
“A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does
not help to solve them is no religion.” Mohandis Gandi
“The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God and commits suicide.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
“When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.”
Abraham Lincoln
THOMAS JEFFERSON:
“It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read”
Conclusion
• Religion is a part of our cultural heritage. While
some of us may reject membership of a
particular religion we are nevertheless members
of a society into which religion has infused its
notions of morality and within which religion
continues to be a powerful force.