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Chapter 7 Religion by Reginald Bibby Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 1 SOCIOLOGY AND RELIGION • Sociologists seek to understand society by using scientific methods. • Proponents of religion believe in a greater reality that can be known only through faith. • Sociologists are not concerned with the truthvalue of religious beliefs but with who believes what, the nature and extent of spiritual needs, involvement in religious groups, why some people are more committed than others, and the consequences of people being religious. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 2 THEORETICAL TRADITIONS: MARX AND CONFLICT • Marx believed that religion was a human creation soothing the exploited majority like a drug – “the opium of the people.” • Marx argued that religion diverts working people’s attention from the real sources of their suffering. • In Marx’s opinion, wealthy capitalists encourage religious belief for this reason. • For Marx, when exploitation ends, religion will die off. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 3 THEORETICAL TRADITIONS: DURKHEIM AND COLLECTIVITY • Durkheim argued that religion’s origin is social. People • • • living in community share common sentiments that form a collective conscience. Awareness of this collective conscience gives people the feeling of being in the presence of a higher power. “God” is the community experiencing itself as a group. Religious leaders designate some objects as sacred and others as profane. To uphold the collective conscience, people come together as a church. Collective life is thus both the source and product of religion. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 4 THEORETICAL TRADITIONS: WEBER AND IDEAS • Weber believed that religion is largely oriented to this world and has consequences for everyday life. • For example, Weber argued that the Protestant Reformation strongly influenced the moral tone and vigour of capitalism in the West through the Protestant ethic. • By comparing different religions, Weber also showed that conceptions of God are strongly related to the economic, political, and social conditions in which people live. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 5 THE NATURE OF RELIGION • Religion is a system of meaning with a supernatural referent used to interpret the world. • Religion is concerned with discovering life’s meaning whereas humanist perspectives are concerned with making life meaningful. • Religious perspectives imply that our existence has meaning, preceding that which we, as humans, decide to give it. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 6 PERSONAL RELIGIOSITY • Sociologists have measured personal religiosity along four dimensions: belief, practice, experience, and knowledge. • They have found that Canadians: • • • • • believe in God (~80%). maintain that there is life after death (~70%). pray privately at least once a month (~60%). think they have experienced God (~50%) are committed to a religion (~50%). Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 7 RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT ALONG FOUR DIMENSIONS, CANADA, 2000 Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY: THE CHURCH–SECT TYPOLOGY • The Church–Sect typology was developed to • • distinguish between the dominant or “mainline” religious denominations (e.g., United, Roman Catholic, etc.) and smaller groups that had broken away from these dominant bodies (e.g., Baptist, Pentecostal, etc.). Weber said that Churches and sects differ in terms of theology (works vs. faith) and relationship to society (accommodation vs. separation). Most sects evolve into Churches as spontaneity gives way to routinization and institutionalization. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 9 COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY: ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES I MEMBERSHIP • Most people belong to the same religious organizations as their parents. • Especially in urban areas, religious organizations compete for members by building lavish structures and offering a wide range of services. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 10 COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY: ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES II GOALS • Formal goals, such as spiritual growth, often contradict “survival goals,” such as numerical growth. • Leadership efforts to be prophetic (e.g., the stance of the United Church on homosexuality) can clash with member interests, resulting in organizational splits. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 11 COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY: ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES III NORMS, ROLES, AND SANCTIONS • To achieve goals, groups must establish norms, membership roles, means of communication, and sanctions to control behaviour. • Because religious organizations rely mainly on volunteers, this is difficult to achieve. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 12 COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY: ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES IV SUCCESS • Overall, church attendance and membership are down in Canada since 1950, with mainline Protestants and Catholics in Quebec being the hardest hit. • However, attendance and membership among Evangelical Protestants has rebounded. • Overall, congregation members are aging and tend not to be replaced by younger members. • However, established religious groups may be making a comeback by appealing to children, teenagers, and young adults. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 13 RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION, CANADA, 1991 (IN PERCENT) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 14 ATTENDANCE AT RELIGIOUS SERVICES, CANADA, 1946–2000 Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 15 CANADIAN RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION • • • In 1991, 87% of Canadians claimed to be affiliated with a religious group – 47% Catholic, 36% Protestant, 5% other. (In 2001, 84% claimed affiliation -- 45% Catholic, 31% Protestant, and 8% other). In contrast, about a quarter of Americans are Catholic. A tenth of Canadians identify themselves as conservative Protestants (evangelicals), compared to a third of Americans. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 16 SOURCES OF RELIGION: INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED EXPLANATIONS I REFLECTION • Religious commitment develops in people who seek greater meaning in their lives but many Canadians and Americans who think about life’s “big questions” are not religiously committed. SOCIALIZATION • Attendance at church, synagogue, mosque, etc., is learned through socialization but only 1 in 3 Canadians whose parents attended are themselves regular attendees. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 17 SOURCES OF RELIGION: INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED EXPLANATIONS II DEPRIVATION • Claim: Religious people are socially disadvantaged. • Fact: Measures of income, health, and number of social relationships are not strongly related to religious commitment in either Canada or the United States. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 18 SOURCES OF RELIGION: STRUCTURE-CENTRED EXPLANATIONS • • • According to the secularization thesis, the level of religious commitment declines with industrialization and post-industrialization. Opponents argue that religion persists because it responds to widespread interest in spirituality (persistence thesis). In Canada, age and residence in less economically developed regions and communities are positively associated with religiosity, but as workforce participation increases commitment tends to decrease. Education has little effect. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 19 SERVICE ATTENDANCE, COMMITMENT, AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS, CANADA, 2000 Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 20 THE CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGION I PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES • Findings on the relationship between level of religious commitment and mental health are contradictory. • In general, Canadian studies show that religious commitment in itself has a very small influence on mental health, suggesting that religion is only one route to personal happiness. INTERPERSONAL CONSEQUENCES • Religious and non-religious Canadians are about equally compassionate and tolerant but religious people are more opposed to “moral innovation”. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 21 PERSONAL WELL-BEING AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE ATTENDANCE, 2000 Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 22 PERCENTAGE OF CANADIANS OPPOSED TO SELECTED ISSUES Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 23 THE CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGION II SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES • In the United States, there exists a civil religion which is simply the American Way of Life. This is less true in Canada. • In the United States religion has an integrative function. This is also less true in Canada. • Religion has on occasion challenged North American culture. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 24 THE FUTURE OF RELIGION I • • • Secularization thesis: Religion is bound to be replaced by science and reason as society modernizes. This has institutional, personal, and organizational consequences. Persistence thesis: Humans have needs that only religion can satisfy. Thus, even if traditional religions decline, new ones will emerge. Research shows that there has been some decline in religious involvement overall, but there is much variation between countries, with Canada occupying a middle position; there is no consistent pattern between (post-)industrialization and religiosity. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 25 PRACTICES, BELIEFS, AND RELIGIOUS SELF-IMAGE, SELECTED COUNTRIES Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 26 THE FUTURE OF RELIGION II • Canada is paradoxical. Personal beliefs and practices • • are high, yet involvement in religious groups is low. Few Canadians are deserting traditional religions for new ones. Most Canadians say they are affiliated with Christian churches, but reject Christianity as an authoritative system of meaning, drawing instead on Judeo-Christian and non-conventional “fragments” of belief and practice in a consumer-like fashion. In Canada, teenagers differ little from adults in religious matters except with respect to attendance of religious services. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 27 RELIGION AND SPIRITAULITY IN CANADA: TEENAGERS AND ADULTS Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 28 RECEPTIVITY TO GREATER INVOLVEMENT IN THE CHURCH, 2000 Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 29 SUPPLEMENTARY SLIDES Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 30 CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT, AND OTHER, CANADA, 1991-2001 Percent of Canadians 50 40 Catholic Protestant other 30 20 10 0 1991 2001 Note” “Other” includes “no religion” – 12.3% of Canadians in 1991 and 16.2% in 2001. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 31 MINOR RELIGIONS, CANADA, 1991–2001 Percent of Canadians 2 1.6 1.2 1991 2001 0.8 0.4 0 Eastern Orthodox Jewish Muslim Buddhist Hindu Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. Sikh 32 IMMIGRANTS BY RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION AND IMMIGRATION PERIOD < 1961 1971-80 1991-2001 1961-70 Roman Catholic 39.2 Protestant 39.2 Christ. Orthodox3.8 Other Christian 1.3 Jewish 2.7 Muslim 0.2 Hindu 0.0 Buddhist 0.4 Sikh 0.1 No religion 11.0 Other religions 2.1 Total 100.0 43.4 26.9 6.3 2.2 2.0 1.3 1.4 0.9 1.1 13.5 1.0 100.0 1981-90 33.9 21.0 3.8 3.8 2.2 5.4 3.6 4.8 3.9 16.5 1.1 100.0 32.9 14.5 3.0 4.9 1.9 7.5 4.9 7.5 4.3 17.3 1.3 100.0 Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited. 23.0 10.7 6.3 5.3 1.2 15.0 6.5 4.6 4.7 21.3 1.4 100.0 33