Chapter 20

Religion

I. Religion: Basic Concepts.

Durkheim: “Things that pass the limits of our knowledge.”

A. Religion is a social institution involving beliefs and practices based upon a conception of the sacred. Religion sets the sacred apart from the profane through beliefs and practices.

B. According to Durkheim, the sacred is that which is defined as extraordinary, inspiring a sense of awe, reverence, and even fear. The sacred is set apart from everyday life. Example: sacred texts.

In distinction, the profane consists of ordinary elements of everyday life.

C. Religions involve ritual, formal ceremonial behavior.

D. Sociology can investigate the social consequences of religious activity, but can never assess the validity of any religious doctrine because religion involves faith, belief anchored in conviction rather than scientific evidence. Sociology examines religion like other social institutions: why does it take the particular form it takes in a given society and what is its effect (and how is it affected) by the rest of society?

II. Theoretical Analysis of Religion.

A. Functions of religion: Structural-functional analysis.

1. Durkheim understood religion as the symbolic celebration of the power of society over the individual. “Society itself is godlike.

Members of technologically simple societies transform certain everyday objects into totems, objects in the natural world collectively defined as sacred. Totems become the center of ritual. Get more abstract in modern societies, but objects still take on sacred significance, e.g., the flag.

2. Durkheim noted three major functions of religion for the operation of a society:

a. Social cohesion. Promotes solidarity through shared symbols, values, norms.

b. Social control. Promotes conformity. Sanctions deviance.

Role of religious claims in politics: GWB, MLK.

c. Providing meaning and purpose.

3. Critical review. This approach downplays the dysfunctional consequences of religion; especially the fact that strongly held beliefs can generate social conflict.

B. Constructing the sacred: Symbolic-interaction analysis.

1. Peter Berger argues that religion places life in a “cosmic frame of reference.” Strategy for coping with life’s difficulties.

C. Inequality and religion: Social-conflict analysis.

1. Marx noted that religion tends to legitimize inequality and the status quo. It also endorses patriarchy.

Religion is the dependent variable.

Capitalism is destroying religion.

Can be progressive: “Peasant Wars in Germany.”

III. Religion and Social Change.

A. Max Weber’s Protestant ethic thesis is an important example of how religion can promote social change, in this instance the growth of capitalism.

Creates structural foundation for “disenchanted” world of capitalism.

B. Liberation theology is a fusion of Christian principles with political activism, often Marxist in character. It has been important in much of Catholic Latin America.

a. Associated with rise of evangelical Protestantism.

IV. Types of Religious Organizations.

A. A church is a type of religious organization well integrated into the larger society.

Tend to conform to dominant social norms.

There are two types of churches.

1. A state church is a church formally allied with the state. Christianity after Constantine.

2. A denomination is a church, independent of the state, that accepts religious pluralism.

Catholicism is a denomination in the U.S., especially after Vatican II.

B. A sect is a type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society. In comparison with churches, sects tend to display the following characteristics:

Deny beliefs of those outside the sect.

Place themselves in opposition to “the world.”

Often offer a distinctive way to live.

1. They are less formal, more emotional, less intellectualized.

2. Their leaders display charisma, extraordinary personal qualities that can turn an audience into followers.

3. They rely on active proselytization, recruiting many members through a process of conversion, a personal transformation or rebirth resulting from adopting new religious beliefs.

4. They usually attract lower-class members.

C. A cult is a religious organization that is substantially outside the cultural traditions of a society.

Require strict separation from society, often uncritical devotion to charismatic leader.

Defined by society as deviant, often evil.

Christianity began as a cult, became a sect, then a denomination, then the established church of the Roman Empire.

V. Religion in History.

A. Religion in preindustrial societies.

1. Hunting and gathering cultures often embrace animism, the belief that elements of the natural world are conscious life forms that affect humanity. The whole world is sacred. Shamanism.

2. Among pastoral and horticultural people, there arose a belief in a single divine power. “Lord is my shepherd.”

3. In agrarian societies, religion becomes more important, with a specialized priesthood in charge of religious organizations.

B. Religion in industrial societies.

1. People generally look to physicians and scientists for the comfort and certainty members of their society had previously sought from religious leaders.

2. Religious thought persists simply because science is powerless to address issues of ultimate meaning in human life.

VI. World Religions.

A. Christianity is the world’s most widespread religion. It grew out of Judaism.

1. Christianity is an example of monotheism, or belief in a single divine power. Many other religions are polytheistic, believing in many gods.

B. Islam is centered in the Middle East but spreads throughout much of the world. Muslim beliefs center around the “five pillars of Islam.”

C. Judaism is the smallest of the world religions. It centers around the concept of the covenant and is divided into three main denominations: Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative.

D. Hinduism is the oldest of the world’s great religions and is mostly practiced in India and Pakistan. Key Hindu concepts include dharma, karma, reincarnation, and nirvana. It includes some polytheistic elements.

E. Buddhism also arose in India and is now spread through much of Asia.

F. Confucianism was the state religion of China for over two millennia. A central concept is jen, meaning “humaneness.” It lacks a clear sense of the sacred.

G. Western religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) are typically deity-based, with one clear focus on God. Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism) tend to be more like ethical codes that make a less clear-cut distinction between sacred and secular.

VII. Religion in the United States.

A. Religious affiliation. Eighty-five percent of U.S. adults identify with a religion.

pp. 512-514.

D. Religiosity is the importance of religion in a person’s life. It is multidimensional and high by most measures in the contemporary U.S.

E. Religion, class, ethnicity, and race.

1. Religion varies by social class.

2. Religion is frequently related to ethnicity and race.

VIII. Religion in a Changing Society.

A. Secularization is the historical decline in importance of the supernatural and the sacred. It is widespread in the modern world, but this does not suggest that religion is likely to fade away completely.

Point is that religion does not play central role in public life. Encourages fundamentalist reaction, either political or retreatist.

B. Civil religion is a quasi-religious loyalty binding individuals in a basically secular society.

A1) U.S. has foundation of shared biblically based civil religion. Belief in higher power that is moral authority. Shared familiarity with the Bible. Non-sectarian and not explicitly Christian.

1. In a society with no formal ties between church and state, religious organizations take the form of denominations, yet an increasing number of people are pursuing spiritual growth outside established religious organizations. This suggests a trend toward the United States becoming a postdenomination society.

2. Membership in established, mainstream churches has plummeted by nearly 50 percent, while affiliation with conservative religious organizations has risen dramatically.

C. In recent decades, an increasing number of people are seeking spiritual development outside of established religious organizations. These “New Age” Seekers:

1. Believe in a higher power.

2. Believe we’re all connected.

3. Believe in a spirit world.

4. Strive to experience the spirit world.

5. Pursue transcendence.

D. At the same time as New Age spirituality is flourishing, there has also been a revival of “good ol’-time religion.” These trends suggest a limitation of secularization.

E. There has been a marked revival of fundamentalist religions in the U.S., which feature a conservative religious doctrine that opposes intellectualism and worldly accommodation in favor of restoring traditional, other-worldly spirituality.

1. Fundamentalism is distinctive in the following ways:

a. Fundamentalists interpret sacred texts literally.

b. Fundamentalists reject religious pluralism.

c. Fundamentalists pursue the personal experience of God’s presence.

d. Fundamentalism opposes “secular humanism.”

e. Many fundamentalists endorse conservative political goals.

Politicization of fundamentalism in conflict with tradition of retreatism.

2. Many similarities to fundamentalist Islam: rejection of secular modernity.