Title: W W 2 Agenda
1W W 2 Agenda
- Fact of the day
- Labor Day
- Sections
- Baseball
- Protips
- Office hours
- Assignment
- Heatwave preamble
2Society, Religion, and Baseball
3Todays Takeaways
- Sociology of religion yields insights applicable
to many realms beyond religion. - Durkheim god is society
4Revisiting a Puzzle
- Society is full of conflict, yes?
- So, conflict would seem to be natural human
state. - Much conflict is between groups.
- How do the groups remain internally
non-conflictual enough to engage in external
conflict?
5Examples
- Family feuds
- Gang wars
- Corporate competition
- Sports
- War
- Gender oppression
- Racism
- Religious bigotry
6Outline of Collins Chapter
- Puzzle Why Doesnt Religion Disappear
- Durkheim Common basis of all religions
- Why Do People Have Moral Feelings
- A General Theory of Social rituals
- Type of God Corresponds to Type of Society
- The Rise of the Individual Self
- Interaction rituals in Everyday Life
- World of social rituals
7Puzzle Why Doesnt Religion Disappear
- Enlightenment. Rationality. Rise of science.
Decline of superstition. Broad education.
Cosmopolitan life in cities. But
8Common basis of all religions
- Durkheim treat it as real. Lesson believe your
Rs - Over and over, religions posit god as something
more powerful than the individual. - Compare. Commonalities? Not doctrine, not type
of god, not rules. - Rather beliefs and rituals
9Beliefs World Divided into Sacred Profane
- Sacred
- Dangerous
- Important
- Demands respect
- Profane
- Everything else. Worldly. NON-Sacred
Terminology Dualism of sacred and profane
10The Sacred
- http//www.tldm.org/news2/cih.htm
- Communion in the hand is a sacrilege...Each
Communion in the hand brings more punishment... - your mother
- Margaret Drabble story.
11Ritual Strictly Determined Behavior
- Formal how you do it matters
- Not practical not a means to an end
- Commonly repetitive
- Why do we do it that way? Because we do it that
way.
12Society Within Me Without Me
- My name is my identity but
Fathers family. Irish.
Uncle Moms brother
Daniel John Joseph Ryan Jr.
A boys name
Same name as father and grandfather
Confirmation name. Catholic tradition. Has to be
a saint/bible figure.
13Major Pts This Section
- Religion as something REAL
- Rituals Beliefs sacred/profane
- What motivates near universal division of world
into sacred and profane? - Society as god
- Outside and inside us
- Source of much that is
- Big contributor to who we are (identity,
thinking, perceiving, feeling)
14Religion, Society, Concepts
- Concepts, categories, ideas, abstract thinking
transcending here and now - Encounter and communication with others looking
at the same world allows development of ideas
that go across time/space/event. - Religious thinking built around social
experience. Identity, obligation, conflict. - The symbolism of religion mirrors the social
world (37).
15Why Do People Have Moral Feelings
- Right and wrong always defined with respect to a
group. - Recall that we put moral on different side from
individual - Theres emotional energy to be derived from
belonging-ness and acting moral generally means
identifying with a type of person, a member of a
group or category.
16What is the payoff to being moral?
- Moral righteousness makes you a member in good
standing of the group the secure sense of
belonging constitutes its reward (38.5).
17What is the payoff to being moral?
- Not just moral moral, but
- Good teacher
- Good feminist
- Good X, Y, Z
- As a _______ I want to say
18the emotional energy that one receives from
taking part in intense social gatherings (39.5)
- Athletic events
- Battles
- Night out with the girls or the boys
- Political Rallies Protest Marches
- Concerts
- Academic seminars
- Sex
- Church
19A General Theory of Social rituals
- Group assembly
- Actions ritualized
- Symbolic object to focus group energy on itself
20Type of God Corresponds to Type of Society
- Theory predicts ?society ? ? religion
- Tribal culture equal clans equal totems
- Horticultural society matrilineal/local
fertility gods - Note DaVinci Code point patriarchal society has
suppressed goddess aspects of Christianity - ? social hierarchy ? ? religious hierarchy
- Rationalized, advanced society ? monotheism,
universalism - Chicken or Egg? Theories go both ways
21The Rise of the Individual Self
- Macro Level
- Politics as New ReligionAssociation of religion
with group conflict and persecution undermines
attachment to organized religion but same logic
lives on in attachment to political ideologies. - Micro Level
- ?groupsize ?division of labor
??individualization Association of religion with
group conflict and persecution undermines
attachment to organized religion but same logic
lives on in attachment to political ideologies.
22Erving Goffman
- 1922 1982
- Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
- Asylums
- Stigma
- Interaction Ritual
23Interaction rituals in Everyday Life
24World of social rituals