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Sociology of Religion
1.
2. Religion in Historical Perspective
Sociological Perspectives on Religion
Types of Religious Organization
Trends in Religion in the United States
Religion in the Future
3. How does religion affect society as a
whole (does it divide/unite)? How does
it affect social institutions like:
› Marriages, Political Structures, Economy
How does religion, as a social institution,
affect the wellbeing of individuals?
What does it mean to be „religious‟?
How does one define and measure
religiosity?
4. Religiosity is the extent to which a person
does one or more of the following:
› (1) believes in and “feels” or experiences
certain aspects of religion
› (2) becomes involved in religious activities
such as attending church or reading sacred
texts
› (3) believes in the teachings of the church,
› (4) lives in accordance with those teachings
and beliefs.
5. Religion seeks to answer important
questions such as why we exist, why
people suffer and die, and what
happens when we die-the „sacred
canopy‟
Things that people do not set apart as
sacred are referred to as profane—the
everyday, secular or “worldly” aspects of
life.
6. Most religions have four elements:
Ritual (ex. Prayer, communion)
A sense of the Sacred
A system of beliefs-in the supernatural
and a set of ethics OR a set of abstract
ideals
Organization-each religion has a public
component
7. Ernest Troeltsch (1931) created a typology
of three varieties of religious
organizations:
Ecclesia
Church (Denomination)
Sect
Cult (now called New Religious
Movements, NRMs)
8. Attitude
Organization Membership Worship Salvation Toward Other
Religions
Large, Open to all;
bureaucratic members
Formal, Granted by
Church organization,led usually from
orderly God
Tolerant
by professional upper and
clergy middle classes
Guarded
Small group,high
membership, Informal, Achieved by
Sect degree of lay
usually from spontaneous moral purity
Intolerant
participation
lower classes
9. Encompasses all
members of a
society
People are primarily
born into the
ecclesia, do not
convert
Influential in
government affairs
10. Stable, institutional
organization
Well-educated
clergy
Elaborate rituals
and beliefs
Tolerant of religious
pluralism and the
secular world
11. Less organized than
denomination
Charismatic, less
educated ministers
Growth by recruiting,
rather than being born
into church
Higher levels of
devotion
Reject worldliness and
„impure‟ denominations
Tend to draw recruits
from the lower classes
12. Offer completely new
beliefs, rituals, and means of
transcendence
Live in stark opposition to the
world
Informally organized, led by
self-styled, charismatic
leadership
Recruit people who have
economic and
psychological deprivation
13. Simple supernaturalism - the belief that
supernatural forces affect people's lives
positively or negatively.
Animism - the belief that plants, animals,
and elements of the natural world are
endowed with spirits that impact events in
society.
Theism - belief in a God or Gods.
Transcendent idealism - belief in sacred
principles of thought and conduct, such as
truth, justice, life and tolerance for others.
14. Confucianis
Christianity Islam Hinduism Buddhism Judaism
m
No. of
1.7 billion 1 billion 719 million 309 million 18 million 5.9 million
Adherents
No specific Siddhartha Abraham,
Founder Jesus Muhammad K’ung Fu-Tzu
founder Gautama Isaac, Jacob
Dates 1st century ca. 1500 500 to 600 ca. 2000
ca. 600 C.E 500 B.C.E
Founded C.E. B.C.E B.C.E. B.C.E.
15. Diverse-85 denominations with atleast
50,000 members *
Positive slant of religion-heaven, personal
blessings, etc. due to „religious
marketplace‟
Freedom from Anticlericalism-Americans do
not have bitter feelings towards priests as
protectors of the status quo
Civil religion-God is frequently invoked in
American rituals, symbols, etc, with little
reference to which God/beliefs
16.
17.
18. ‘Proof’ that the U.S. is more secular ‘Proof’ that the U.S. is NOT more secular
1 out of 4 people between 18-28 yrs. of Slighlty more people (38% of
age were unaffiliated with any religion population) claims to have had a born
again experience in 2008 than 20 yrs
earlier
28% of US adults raised in faith have Percentage of people believing the
abandoned faith or chosen another Bible is the „inspired Word of God‟ is
one roughly the same in 2008 as 1984
Major denominations, like the Disciples In 2007, 38% of 18-29 yrs old „strongly
of Christ, PC-USA, Episcopalians, AME agreed‟ that God was „angered by
Zion have lost at least 20% of their human sin‟, the highest of any age
membership in the last 20 yrs. (link) group
The no. of Americans having never 33% of the same age group reported
attended church doubled between witnessing to friends at least once in
1973 and 2008 (link) the past month, the highest of any age
group (Link)
No. of Americans who believe that the Church membership was nearly 62% in
Bible is the actual Word of God 2000, only 17% in 1776 (Starke & Finke)
decreased from 37% in 1984 to 31% in
2008 (link)
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24. Religion is the „opiate of the masses‟
according to Karl Marx-a way for the
elites to reinforce the oppression of the
lower classes
Later conflict theorists point to the use of
religion to justify racism, sexism, and
oppression of homosexuals
Focus on the „hereafter‟ blinds people to
current oppression
25.
26. Religion serves as a reference group to
help people define themselves.
People are socialized into certain roles
(ex. Being reverent during communion)
through group expectations
People attach sacred meaning to
symbols
27. What does the
head covering
for women
represent in the
Christian faith?
(Hint: 1 Cor. 11)
How do head
coverings in
various faiths
function as a
sociological
symbol?
28. Max Weber studied the attitudes of
Protestants and Catholics in Western Europe
towards work and this life in late 19th
century
He discovered that Protestants, particularly
Calvnists, developed a rational worldview
of hard work and thrift that propelled their
economic activities
Protestant Ethic spread to America, to non-
Calvinists
› Example: Ben Franklin is famous for his quote “A
penny saved is a penny earned”
29.
30. Modern evangelical leaders often
express their belief that economic
freedom and Bible are compatible
Jerry Falwell once stated:
› “God is in favor of freedom, property, ownership,
competition, diligence, work and acquisition. All of this is
taught in the Word of God, in both the Old and New
Testaments”
Pat Robertson
› ”…Communism and capitalism in their most extreme, secular
manifestations are equally doomed to failure,….free
enterprise is the economic system most nearly meeting
humanity‟s God-given need for freedom”.
31. Religion is a „social glue‟ that binds
people with sacred rituals
Religion upholds basic social norms
Legitimates governmental authority
Religion is a balm for the oppressed and
marginalized
But also dysfunctional….
Prevents social change
Enhances political conflict
32. Events like the “Meet You at
the Pole” (pictured below)
bind people by sacred rituals
Most monarchies, like Great
Britain, invoke a „divine
right‟ of the monarchy to
rule the people. Vestiges of
this system can be seen in
the coronation ceremony
of Queen Elizabeth II (1952).
33. People engage in a
rational cost-benefit
analysis when
„shopping‟ for
churches
Churches vary in their
promise of rewards in
this life and the
hereafter
Successful churches
Rational Choice theory
explains why prosperity gospel
are those that
churches, like Joel Osteen’s promise the most
Lakewood Church, gather rewards
40,000+ each week.
34. Secularization theory, which believed
that modernization, democratization,
and globalization would decreased the
need for faith, has been debunked
Worldwide surge of fundamentalism(s)
across religious traditions
Religious devotion will increasingly be
coupled with religious tolerance
Polarization of beliefs within traditions
Editor's Notes
80% of people in the world claim that religion is important to them, 60% in industrialized nationsNearly 60% of the members of the United Church of Christ believe in evolution, less than 20% of the members of the Assemblies of God21% of Southern Baptists believe that abortion should be illegal in all circusmstances, 3% of the UCC membershipJames Davison Hunter, author of “Culture Wars” suggests that religious groups are uniting together on common political groups, regardless of actual beliefs. It is very common to see progressive Protestants, for example, united with secular humanist on a pro-choice agenda as it is for evangelicals, orthodox Jews, and conservative Catholics to unite in pro-life lobbying groups.