53108 Introduction to Sociology

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Religions
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Key words

• Theism
• Atheism
• Denomination
• Cult and Sect
• Secularisation
• Social cohesion
• Social control
• Sacred/Profane
• Protestant Work Ethic
• Dominant ideology

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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?
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Sociological Imagination
ability to imagine understand intersection
between personal biography historical social
structures CW Mills

• History
• What is the history of religious practices?
• Structure
• What are the different kinds of religions?
• Culture
• What are key ideas about religion in society?

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Definition

• set of beliefs and practices often organized
  around supernatural and moral claims, and
  often codified

• Its 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)

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Sociological Ideas about Religion

• SOCIAL COHESION
• Durkheim
• SOCIAL CONTROL
• Marx
• SOCIAL CHANGE
• Weber
• New Religious Movements

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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

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Religion as Social ControlKarl 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.

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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

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Religion Force of Social Change?

• Max Weber
• Protestant Ethic the Spirit of Capitalism
• Calvinism - hard work and acquisition of material
  wealth indicative of Gods favor and of
  salvation.
• Encouraged hard work and diligence (Protestant
  Ethic)
• Growth of capitalism

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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?

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Practices, Beliefs and Social Context

• PRE-THEISTIC
• (tribal societies)
• THEISM
• (more developed societies)
• ATHEISM
• (rise in modern societies)

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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

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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

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Atheism

• Term for non-religious
• Also applied to systems which deny existence of
  personal supernatural beings

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Elements of Religion
Ritual
Prayer
Emotion
Belief
Organization
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Religious Organizations Relationship to Society
Millenarian Movements
The Sect
The Denomination
The Ecclesia
The Universal Church
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Places of Worship

• Church
• Basilica
• Mosque
• Pagoda
• Temple
• Synagogue

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Major World ReligionsRanked 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

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• 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

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Origin of Universalizing Religions
Judaism-Abraham is founder, waiting for Messiah
to set up kingdom on earth

• Christianity-Founded upon Jesus as Messiah

Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock is sacred to
Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Islamsame narrative as Judaism/ Christianity.
All consider Adam first man and
Abraham one of his descendants.
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Orthodox Judaism
Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox)
Hasidic Judaism
Zionism
Reform Judaism
Humanistic Judaism
Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism
Modern Orthodox
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism
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Christianity
Lutheran
Baptist
Presbyterian
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

Methodists
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.
Anabaptism
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Branches of Islam
Sharia
Jihad

• 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

Qur'an
Five Pillars
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Ethnic Religions
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
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Buddhism- emerged from Hinduism.
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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.
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Religion Past, Present Future(Source World
Christian Encyclopedia)

• Religion 1900 1980 2000
• Christian 34.4 32.8 32.3
• RC 16.8 18.5 18.7
• Prot. 9.4 7.9 7.0
• E.O. 7.5 2.8 2.4
• Other 0.07 3.6
  4.1
• Atheist 0.2 20.8 21.3
• Muslim 12.4 16.5 19.2
• Hindu 12.5 13.3 13.7
• Buddhism 7.8 6.3 5.7

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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.
  Doesnt try to change rest of society,
  eg. Amish

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Alternative Belief Systems

• Are they replacing religion?
• Science and technology
• Markets
• New Religious Movements (NRMs)
• Clairvoyance, Astrology, Crystal power
• Paganism and nature worship Wiccans

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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

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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
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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.