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Chapter 17, Religion
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Defining Religion
The Significance of Religion in American
Society
Forms of Religion
Sociological Theories of Religion
Chapter 17, Religion
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Globalization: World Religions and Diversity
Religious Organizations
Becoming Religious
Social and Political Attitudes: The Impact of
Religion
Religion and Social Change
Six Defining Elements of Religion
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Religion is institutionalized.
Religion is a feature of groups.
Religions are based on beliefs that are
considered sacred, as distinguished from
profane.
Six Defining Elements of Religion
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Religion establishes values and moral
proscriptions for behavior.
Religion establishes norms for behavior.
Religion provides answers to questions of
ultimate meaning, as distinguished from
secular beliefs.
Religious Identification in the U.S.
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Protestant: 57%
Catholic: 26%
None/Undesignated: 12%
Jewish: 2%
Mormon: 1%
Orthodox Church: 1%
Other: 2%
Durkheim: The Functions of
Religion
Religion is functional for society:
 Reaffirms the social bonds between people.
 Creates social cohesion and integration
through religious rituals.
 Binds individuals to society by establishing a
collective consciousness.
Weber: The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism
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The Protestant faith supported the
development of Capitalism.
Material wealth meant one was favored by
God, motivating Protestants to work to confirm
their salvation.
Value judgments about those who haven’t
succeeded can be traced to influence of
religion.
Marx: Religion, Social Conflict, and
Oppression
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Religion legitimates the social order and
supports the ideas of the ruling class.
Oppressed people develop religion to soothe
their distress and it prevents them from rising
up against oppression.
Religion can be the basis for social change or
social continuity.
Religions of the World
Religions of the World:
 Christianity: 1.9 billion
 Islam: 1.2 billion
 Hindus: 761 million
 Chinese folk-religionists: 379 million
 Buddhists: 363 million
 Jewish: 14 million
Christianity
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Dominant religion worldwide and in the U.S.
Two categories of Protestants: mainline and
conservative fundamentalists.
Roman Catholics adhere to a hierarchical
religious system, with values and codes of
behavior mandated by the Pope.
Judaism
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More than 40% of the world's Jewish
population lives in the U.S.
The Jewish faith is more than 4,000 years old.
19% of Jewish Americans attend services in a
typical week, but most observe the high
holidays and bar/s mitzvahs.
Judaism
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Jews are both a religious group and a minority
group.
The bond of solidarity among the Jewish
people is strengthened by their history of
persecution and by continuing prejudice
against them.
Islam
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Muslims believe that Islam is the word of God,
revealed in the prophet Muhammad.
Highly traditional Islamic fundamentalists
adhere strictly to the word of the Koran.
Muslims have a patriarchal world view with
women being denied the freedoms men enjoy.
Hinduism
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Karma is the principle that sees all human
action as having spiritual consequences.
Deeply linked to the caste system in India.
Gandhi used Hindu principles of justice,
honesty, and courage to guide one of the most
important independence movements in the
world.
Buddhism
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Buddhism encourages its followers to pursue
spiritual transformation and enlightenment to
relive themselves of worldly suffering.
Involves a concept of birth and rebirth through
reincarnation.
Many New Age spiritual groups in Western
society have adopted its focus on meditation.
Confucianism
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A complex religious system originating in
China, Confucianism promotes a disciplined
way of life.
Confucians follow the principles of Confucius, a
leader who promoted certain moral practices.
The expression of goodness and social unity is
an important principle, there is not a particular
god or set of disciples Confucians follow.
Diversity and Religious Belief
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In general, those most likely to be unaffiliated
with any church are young, White, welleducated, non-Southern men who move
frequently.
The most religiously committed are older,
African American, less educated, Southern
women who are geographically stable.
Three Types of Religious
Organizations
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Churches - formal organizations that are seen
by society, as the primary and legitimate
religious institutions.
Sects - groups that have broken off from an
established church.
Cults - religious groups devoted to a specific
cause or a leader with charisma.
Becoming Religious
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People learn religious faith through religious
socialization.
The family is one of the main sources of
religious socialization.
Religious conversion involves a dramatic
transformation of religious identity.
Religious Conversion
A social process in three phases:
1. Disruption in previous life experience leading
to withdrawal and some loss of autonomy.
2. Creation of an emotional bond with group
members and a weakening of former bonds.
3. Period of intense interaction with the new
group.
Religion: Social and Political
Attitudes
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Racial Prejudice. People who belong to
religious organizations that encourage
intolerance are likely to be racially prejudiced.
Homophobia is linked to religious orientations
that promote intolerance of any kind.
Anti-Semitism is one of the world’s most
persistent forms of prejudice.
The New Religious Conservatism
Fundamentalists whose unity is facilitated
through Christian religious media, have:
 Fueled anti-abortion activism.
 Revived the effort to teach creationism.
 Campaigned against women’s rights and gay
and lesbian rights, while supporting “family
values.”
Changes in Religious Behavior
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Enormous growth in conservative religious
groups.
Evangelical groups have been highly influential
though their use of electronic media.
Religion has had an important part in the civil
rights movement and feminism.