RELIGION

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RELIGION
RELIGION
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Definition

• An institution consisting of beliefs, pratices,
  and values pertaining to the distinction between
  the empirical and the super-empirical.

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MAJOR FUNCTIONS

• World Construction and Maintenance
• Theodicydealing with suffering and evil
• Instrumentalhealth, wealth, happiness, etc.

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THEORIES OF RELIGION

• Functional Analysis
• Durkheim The Sacred and the Profane
• People celebrate the power of their society
• Religion performs three major functions
• Social Cohesion
• Social Control
• Meaning and Purpose
• Criticism

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• Symbolic Interaction (Peter Berger)
• Religion provides a cosmic frame of reference, a
  Sacred Canopy.
• Criticism
• Conflict Theory (Marx)
• Alliance between religion and political-economic
  power
• The opium of the people
• Religion and Patriarchy
• Colonialism, Slavery, Segregation
• Criticism

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CHRISTIANITY

• 1.9 billion followers. c. 1/3 of humanity.
• Most in Europe or Americas.
• Began as cult, incorporating much from Judaism.
• Trinity, Jesus as Son of God, Resurrection
• 312, became official religion of Holy Roman Empire

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ISLAM

• 1.1 billion (c. 19 of humanity) Muslims
• 6 million in U.S. (disputed)
• Muhammad (born c. 570), Mecca, Medina. Quran,
• HijraFlight to Medina. 622 B.C.E. A.H.1
• Sunni, Shia (c. 10)

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• Five Pillars of Faith
• The Profession One God, Allah, Muhammad his
  Prophet
• Prayer
• Alms
• Fasting during Ramadan
• Hajjpilgrimage to Mecca at least once
• Dualism Heaven and Hell

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JUDAISM

• 14 million world wide, most in U.S. and Israel
• Moses, Exodus, 13th cty. B.C.E. (Passover)
• Monotheism
• Denominations
• Orthodox
• Reform
• Conservative
• Sects e.g. Chabad/Lubavitcher

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HINDUSIM

• Oldest (At least 4,500 years ago)
• 775 million14 of humanity. 1.3 million in U.S.
• India (also Pakistan, Southern Africa, Indonesia)
• No single person is key. Sacred writings, but not
  seen in same light as Bible and Quran
• Deities Brahma, Shiva, VishnuBrahman-Atman.
  (Others)

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• Karma/Samsara (Reincarnation)
• Moral order in every element of nature
• Rituals

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BUDDHISM

• 330 million (6). Mostly Asia. Myanmar (Burma)
  Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, India, PRC, Vietnam
• Origin in India. Siddartha Gautama.
• Asoka (3rd cty B.C.E.).
• Life involves suffering, pleasures transitory.
  Goal of spiritual transformation.
• Acts have consequences. Reincarnation.

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CONFUCIANISM

• From c. 200 B.C.E. till 1900, the official
  religion of China.
• Suppressed after 1949 revolution. Still
  influential. Mostly in China, but also in North
  America.
• Confucius c. 551-479 B.C.E.
• Strict code of moral conduct.
• No clear sense of sacred, supernatural.

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SECULARIZATION

• KEY TERMS
• Secularism
• Secularization
• The Secularization Hypothesis
• Evidence?

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Survey Data on Religion

• www.thearda.com

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Believe in God?
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Church Membership

• Record-keeping varies among denominations
• Long Range 6 in 1800 35 in 1900 77 in
  1936.
• Decline started in 1960s. Mostly among liberal
  churches. Slide stabilized in 1978.
• About 60 claim membership (86 claim a
  preference (NORC 1999)

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Personal Salience

• Religiosity very important or important
• Bible study, book sales,
• New Age Spirituality. 35 million at laest
  somewhat interested

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SECULARIZATION (?)

• Perceived Influence of Religion
• Evidence for Secularity
• Moral relativism
• Bias against religion in media, education
• Lack of regard for religious factors in
  diplomatic circles.

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Conclusions

• Data do not support general secularization
• Problems of measuring religiosity
• Problems of time frame
• Evidence tricky
• Secularization is segmental. Occurs
  simultaneously with revival.

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Religion and the Election2004
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Why Evangelicals Love Bush

• They feel persecuted, marginalized. He makes them
  feel better.
• Bush was transformed, born again.
• He was called to his role.
• Moral Clarity

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CAUSES OF SECULARIZATION

• RATIONALIZATION (Weber)
• STRUCTURAL DIFFERENTIATION
• Division of Labor
• Education
• Secular State
• Religious foundations of morality give way to
  legal technicalities
• Critics of differentiation, specialization

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Causes (cont.)

• Spread of Capitalismthe great solvent
• Growth of Science
• Disenchantment, demystification
• Pluralismno world view holds a monopoly.
  Post-modernism
• Privatization, Individualism

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Stark and Bainbridge Theory

• Secularization is Self-Limiting
• Stimulates revival and innovation
• Sources of religion vary amount remains about
  the same.
• Sects arise where religion strong cults where it
  is weak.

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• Critique
• Losses not obviously offset by gains. E.g., Great
  Britain.
• Secularization continues as a major trend,
  following rationalization. Affects segments of
  society differentially.
• Groups differ in openness to religious appeals.
• CONCLUSIONS

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