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Religion
Chapter 14
Religion, Science and Sociology
• Can religion and science coexist?
– Because religion involves matters beyond human
observation and because science is all about
observation, these two institutions can potentially conflict.
– Religion is a social institution
– Sociologists analyze the relationship between
society and religion and the role in plays in
people’s lives.
What is Religion?
• Religion – (According to Durkheim)
– “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things,
uniting adherents into a moral community”
• Transcendent reality – a set of meanings attached
to a world beyond human observation.
Three Elements of Religion
1) Beliefs that Some Things are Sacred
– Sacred – entities/aspects of life that have to do with the
supernatural that inspire awe, reverence, respect, fear
– Profane – ordinary
2) Practices concerning this considered sacred.
3) A moral community resulting from a group’s beliefs and
practices
Functionalism and Religion
Religion performs certain functions:
• Answers questions about the ultimate meaning of life
• Emotional comfort, social support
• Uniting believers into a community (integrative function)
• Provides guidelines for everyday life
• Social Control
• Adaptation
• Support for the Government
• Social Change
– There are also dysfunctions of religion including: War and
Terrorism and Religious Persecution
Symbolic Interactionism and Religion
Peter Berger (The Sacred Canopy, 1990):
– Studied what meanings people give to their religious beliefs
and what religion means to each individual
– Religious Symbols
Symbolic Interactionism and Religion
Focus on Religious Behavior:
A. Belief (religious belief) – statements to which members of
particular religions adhere.
- Fundamentalism
B. Ritual (religious rituals) – practices required or expected of
members of a faith.
- Generally affirm beliefs
C. Experience (religious experience) – feeling or perception of
being in direct contact with God.
Conflict Theory and Religion
Conflict Theorists are highly critical of religion
• The ruling class uses religion to justify its economic, political,
and social advantage over the oppressed.
• Marx saw religion as “The opium of the people” and believed
that religion diverted people’s attention from the oppression
they were facing
• Legitimization of Social Inequalities
– Social Arrangements Represent God’s Desires
– Divine Rights of Kings
– Pharaoh as God
– Hindu Cast System
Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic
• Weber believed that religion sometimes encourages
social change.
• Capitalism involved a radical redefinition of work, it
became a moral obligation rather than a necessity.
– Religion Held the Key to Modernization
Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic
• Weber referred to the cluster of values and
attitudes stressing hard work, thrift, and discipline
as the Protestant ethic.
• Weber found the roots of the Protestant ethic in
the 17th century Puritan theology of Calvinism – a
person’s fate was predetermined by God.
Focus on Theoretical Perspectives:
Religion
World’s Major Religions
• There are three major Western religions: Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam.
• The two major Eastern religions are Hinduism and Buddhism.
Western Religions: Judaism
• Originated 4,000 Years Ago
• Fundamental Change in Religion to Monotheism
• Contemporary - Orthodox, Reform, Conservative
• Certain practices, such as dietary restrictions,
observance of Sabbath, and religious holidays are,
however, binding in traditional Judaism.
• About 17 million followers of Judaism, 5 million of whom
reside in Israel; remainder found mainly in Eastern
Europe, 80 percent of the world’s Jews US and Israel.
Western Religions: Christianity
• Also Monotheistic
• Believe Jesus Christ is Messiah
– Born in Poverty to a Virgin
– At about 30 Jesus Began Teaching
• Belief in Christ’s resurrection
• Christianity is the world’s largest and most diverse religion:
with more than 2 billion followers.
Western Religions: Islam
• World’s Third Monotheistic Religion
– shares its Abrahamic origin with Jews and Christians
• Founded by Muhammad (Born in Mecca)
• About Age 40 had Visions from God
– Visions and Teachings Written in Koran
• World’s Fastest Growing Religion
– About 1.6 billion followers
• All Muslims subscribe to the Five Pillars of Islam:
– a declaration of faith,
• accepting the authenticity of Muhammad as God’s Prophet
– a commitment to pray five times each day,
– charity,
– to keep the fast of Ramadan,
– and a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia once in lifetime.
Eastern Religions: Hinduism
• No Specific Founder
• Chief Religion in India for 2,000 - 4,000 Years
• No Canonical Scripture
– an ancient oral tradition not committed to writing until the Middle
Ages.
• Brahmanas, Bhagavad-Gita, and Upanishads Expound
Moral Virtues
• People Make Sacrifices to gods
• Polytheistic - Many gods
• Central Belief is Karma - Spiritual Progress
• No Final Judgment - Reincarnation
• Spiritual Perfection Results in Nirvana
• About 780 million Hindus today. Nearly all Hindus live in
South Asia, particularly India, whose population is 80 %
Hindu.
Eastern Religions: Buddhism
• Siddhartha Gautama Founded in about 600 B.C.
– Buddhism originated in sixth-century B.C.E. India as an
alternative interpretation of Hinduism
• Four Noble Truths
– Existence is Suffering
– Origin of Suffering is Desire
– Suffering Ceases when Desire Ceases
– Follow “Noble Eightfold Path” to End Desire
• Enlightenment - a state individually attained; achieved
through intense meditation and good deeds.
• Buddhists, numbering approximately 360 million, are
concentrated in the Far East and Southeast Asia.
Religion in the U.S.
• Religious participation goes up as one ages
• 94 % of Americans believe that there is a God
• Importance of
religion in one’s life
How US Adults Identify with Religion
Religion in the US
• Toleration
• Fundamentalist Revival
• The Electronic Church
• Secularization
The Future of Religion
• Religion Thrives
• People will Always Ponder the Purpose of Life
• Science Cannot Tell Us About
– The Existence of God
– The Purpose of Life
– An Afterlife
– Morality