Religion: A Sociological Perspective

Posted on Sep 1, 2024 in Religion

Religion: Basic Concepts

Religion: Social institutions involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred.

Key Terms:

  • Sacred: What people set apart as extraordinary, inspiring awe and reverence.
  • Profane: Ordinary elements of life.
  • Ritual: Formal ceremonial behavior (e.g., Holy Communion in Christianity).
  • Faith: Belief anchored in conviction rather than scientific evidence.

Functions of Religion: Structural-Functional Analysis

When practicing religion, people celebrate the power of society over them.

  • Totem: An object in the natural world collectively defined as sacred.
  • According to Durkheim, there are three functions of religion:
    1. Social Cohesion: Unites people.
    2. Social Control: Promotes conformity.
    3. Providing Meaning and Purpose: Offers comforting beliefs of a greater purpose.

Downplays Religious Dysfunctions:

  1. Terrorists have claimed that God supports their actions.
  2. Nations often march to war under the banner of their God.
  3. Religious beliefs have provoked more violence in the world than differences of social class.

Constructing the Sacred: Symbolic-Interaction Analysis

Religion is socially constructed:

  • The difference between sacred and profane is sharpened with rituals.
  • Defining oneself within the “cosmic frame of reference” gives a sense of security and permanence (Peter Berger). E.g., divorce is lower among people with strong religious beliefs.

Inequality and Religion: Social-Conflict Analysis

  • Religion serves hierarchy by legitimizing the status quo.
  • It also diverts people from inequalities while looking hopefully to a “better world to come.”
  • Marx taught that religion “is the opium of the people.”
  • Religion and social inequality are also linked through gender.
  • Religion also promotes change towards social equality:
    • Helped abolish slavery and promoted civil rights.
    • May also support progressive causes: Equal rights for minorities and women.

Max Weber: Protestantism and Capitalism

  • Calvinist ideas set into motion a wave of change that brought about the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe:
    • They sought signs of salvation (Calvin: doctrine of predestination).
    • Thought economic success showed God’s favor.
    • Worked hard and gained assets (Protestant “work ethic”).
    • Reinvested instead of spending assets (principles of thrifty life).

Liberation Theology

The combining of Christian principles with political activism, often Marxist in character. Started in the 1960s in Latin America.

  • They believe that social oppression runs counter to Christian morality, so Christians must promote equality.
  • The Catholic Church condemns liberation theology for distorting traditional church doctrine with left-wing politics.

Types of Religious Organizations

  • Church: A type of religious organization well integrated into the larger community.
  • State church: Formally allied with the state, counting everyone in society as a member, which limits tolerance of religious differences.
  • Denomination: A church independent of the state that recognizes religious pluralism. Adheres to their own doctrine while recognizing the right of others to do the same.
  • Sect: A type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society.
  • Charisma: Extraordinary personal qualities that can infuse people with emotion and turn them into followers.
  • Cult: A religious organization that is largely outside a society’s cultural traditions. Some cult practices are unconventional, so people see them as deviant or even evil. Many long-standing religions began as cults.

Religion in History

  • Animism: Belief that elements of the natural world are conscious life forms that affect humanity. Developed in hunter and gatherer societies.
  • A single divine power responsible for creation emerged with pastoral and horticultural societies. God as a “shepherd.”
  • Agrarian societies developed a specialized priesthood in charge of religious organizations.
  • Industrial Societies place more emphasis on science to explain how the world works. Religion is still needed to ask why we exist.

Christianity

  • 2 billion followers. 85% of Canadians and Americans identify with Christianity.
  • European colonization spread Christianity throughout much of the world over the past 500 years.
  • Built on the personal charisma of a leader, Jesus of Nazareth.
  • Christianity is an example of monotheism: belief in a single divine power.
  • Polytheism: Belief in many gods.
  • Jesus is considered divine and was crucified, making the cross a central symbol. Takes many forms: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox, and others.

Islam

  • Islam means both “submission” and “peace.”
  • Five pillars of Islam:
    1. “Only God is God and Muhammad is his prophet.”
    2. Ritual prayer.
    3. Alms to the poor.
    4. Fasting in Ramadan.
    5. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime.

Judaism

  • 15 million followers, the majority in Israel, Jews as a people have a covenant with God.
  • Four denominations:
    1. Orthodox are very traditional.
    2. Reform Judaism are church-like.
    3. Conservative Judaism are in the middle ground.
  • Anti-Semitism: Prejudice and discrimination against Jews.

Hinduism

  • Oldest of all religions; 800 million followers.
  • Found mostly in South Asia and Africa.
  • Not linked to one person and no sacred writings.
  • Principles:
    1. Dharma: Moral responsibilities.
    2. Karma: Belief in spiritual progress.
    3. Reincarnation: Cycle of birth and rebirth.
    4. Moksha: State of spiritual perfection.

Buddhism

  • 325 million followers (5% of humanity).
  • Inspired by Siddhartha Gautama, who achieved enlightenment, nirvana, and became a Buddha.
  • Life involves suffering but can be overcome through spiritual enlightenment.
  • Four noble truths and the eightfold path. Use meditation to move beyond selfish concerns and desires.

Confucianism

  • Used to be the official religion of China.
  • Today, hundreds of millions of Chinese are influenced by it.
  • Confucius instructed his followers to engage in the world according to a strict code of moral conduct.
  • Jen “humaneness” placing morality above self-interest.
  • Seeks moral goodness and social harmony.

Religion: Class and Ethnicity

Social Class:

  • Members of the Anglican Church and other Protestants are the most affluent & powerful.
  • Jews have the highest income of all religious groups.
  • Muslims by far have the highest percentage attending school full-time.
  • Only Jews have higher levels of educational attainment.

Ethnicity:

  • Tied to religion in the world, but every ethnic group has some diversity.
  • Islam, Hinduism, and Confucianism predominate in Arab societies, India, and China respectively.
  • Christianity and Judaism do not follow this pattern.
  • Particular links are related to types of immigration, e.g., Anglo-Saxon Protestants, Irish Catholics, Russian Jews, and Greek Orthodox.

Religion in a Changing Society

Secularization:

  • Historical decline in the importance of the supernatural and sacred.
  • Science is the major way of understanding.
  • At the core of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec in the 1960s.
  • Religion should weaken in high-income nations as people enjoy higher living standards and greater security.

“New Age” Seekers: Spirituality without Formal Religion

Post-denomination society: Adherents to this kind of spirituality call themselves “seekers” who believe:

  • In a higher power.
  • That we’re all connected.
  • In a spirit world. They want to experience the spirit world.
  • In pursuing transcendence.

Religious Revival: “Good Old-time Religion”

  • In the US, membership in liberal mainstream denominations has declined since 1960.
  • Affiliation with more conservative religious organizations has risen steadily. Something similar happened in Canada.
  • As churchlike organizations become more worldly, people abandon them in favor of sect-like religious communities.
  • Fundamentalism: Conservative doctrine that opposes intellectualism and worldly accommodation in favor of restoring traditional, otherworldly religion.
    • Interprets texts literally.
    • Rejects religious pluralism.
    • Pursues the personal experience of God’s presence.
    • Opposes “secular humanism.”
    • Endorses conservative political goals.
  • The Electronic Church: “Prime-time preachers.”