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201.16 religious institutions
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- 2. 2 Religion and Society •A system of beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies • Focus is on sacred matters • Promotes community among followers • Provides a personal spiritual experience for its members
- 3. 3 The Great Transformation •In communal societies, religion permeated all aspects of society. • In contemporary industrial society, the institution of religion has become separated from many social and economic activities • Max Weber – The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
- 4. 4 Function: What ReligionsDo • Durkheim emphasized believers’ attitudes toward sacred objects, not the objects themselves – What people believe is less important than that they have those beliefs in common
- 5. 5 Integration • Durkheim viewedreligion as an integrative force in human society – Gives meaning and purpose to people’s lives – Offers ultimate values and ends to hold in common – Serves to bind people together in times of crisis and confusion
- 6. 6 Social Change • MaxWeber sought to understand how religion might also contribute to social change – The Weberian Thesis • Protestant work ethic: disciplined commitment to worldly labor driven by a desire to bring glory to God, shared by followers of Martin Luther and John Calvin • Argued this provided capitalism with approach toward labor essential to its development
- 7. 7 Social Control • Marxon Religion – Argued religion inhibited social change – People focus on otherworldly concerns – Religion drugged masses into submission by offering a consolation for their harsh lives on earth – Religion’s promotion of social stability helps to perpetuate patterns of social inequality
- 8. 8 Social Control • Genderand Religion – Women have played fundamental role in religious socialization, but generally take subordinate role in religious leadership – Most religions are patriarchal, and reinforce men’s dominance in secular and spiritual matters – Women compose 12.8 percent of U.S. clergy, but account for 51 percent of theology students
- 9. 9 Characteristics of Religion •Beliefs – Ideas, based upon faith, that people consider true • The sacred and profane – Sacred: that which has supernatural qualities – Profane: that which is the ordinary • Rituals – Routines that reinforce the faith • Moral communities – People who share a religious belief • Personal experience – Grants meaning to life
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- 11. 11 Components of Religion •Religious rituals: practices required or expected of members of a faith • Religious experience: feeling or perception of being in direct contact with ultimate reality or of being overcome with religious emotion
- 12. 12 Components of Religion •Community – Ecclesia: religious organization claiming to include most or all of the members of a society; is recognized as the national or official religion – Denomination: large, organized religion not officially linked to the state or government
- 13. 13 Components of Religion •Community – Sect: relatively small religious group that has broken away from some other religious organization to renew what it considers the original vision of the faith • Sects are at odds with society and do not seek to become established national religions • Established sect: religious group that is the outgrowth of a sect, yet remains isolated from society
- 14. 14 Components of Religion •Community – Cult or new religious movement (NRM): small, alternative faith community that represents either a new religion or a major innovation in an existing faith • Similar to sects since they tend to be small and are often viewed as less respectable than more established faiths • Unlike sects, may be totally unrelated to existing faiths
- 15. 15 Components of Religion •Comparing Forms of Religious Organization – Ecclesiae, denominations, sects, and new religious movements have different relationships to society – Best viewed as types along a continuum
- 16. 16 Religious Organization • Church –A formal religious group well established and integrated into society • Ecclesia – a system by which a religion becomes the official religion of a state • Denomination – A religion that maintains friendly relations with the government but does not claim to be the only legitimate religion
- 17. 17 Sects and Cults •Sects: – Loosely organized religious group – Non professional leadership – Actively rejects social environment – Breaks away from a larger religious group • Cults – Non-conventional religious group – Social conditions demand separation – Members required to withdraw from normal life – Full-time communal obligation for members
- 18. 18 Christianity • World’s largestreligion • Three main branches – Roman Catholic – Protestant • Luther breaks away from Roman Catholic Church in 16th century – Orthodox Christian • Division of Christianity in 10th century • Serves eastern Europe
- 19. 19 Islam • Second largestreligion in world • Significant beliefs and practices – Only one god that all must recognize – Daily prayer, share wealth, pilgrimage • No centralized authority – Local clerics rule often with close state ties – Two major sects • Sunni • Shiite
- 20. 20 Judaism • Numerically smallestof world religions • Important beliefs: – God’s chosen people – Torah: first 5 books of the Bible; oldest truths from God • Major divisions – Orthodox: strictly traditional – Reform: liberal and worldly – Conservative: middle ground between Orthodox and Reform
- 21. 21 Hinduism • Largest ofthe Eastern religions – Concentrated largely in India • Important beliefs – Dharma: special force makes daily demands and sacred obligations – Karma: spirit remains through life, death, rebirth • Organization – Caste membership
- 22. 22 Buddhism • Large religionthroughout Asia – Includes southeast Asian countries and China • Based upon teachings of the Buddha, the enlightened one – Monks and lay people spread his teachings • Important beliefs – To relieve human suffering one must follow a path that ultimately leads to enlightenment – “Right” thoughts and actions must be daily performed and evaluated through meditation
- 23. 23 Confucianism • Originated withConfucius attempting to solve practical problems of daily living – Wisdom summarized guides management of society • Jen: human sympathy that binds people in 5 basic relationships – Sovereign and subject – Parent and child – Older brother and younger brother – Husband and wife – Friend and friend • Proper etiquette and ritual help these relationships
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- 26. 26 Religion and Functionalism •Religion, as a major social institution, provides many important functions – Cohesion • Reduce social isolation • Increase social solidarity – Social control • Authority over significant events • Social violations become moral offenses – Purpose • Reduction of anxiety regarding the unknown
- 27. 27 Conflict Perspective and Religion •Religion is a tool of the ruling class – Focus on “otherworldly matters” detracts from this world concerns • Passive acceptance of misery • True rewards will come in afterlife – Inequality and domination is legitimate • A false consciousness is created • Liberation theologist critique – Religion can be a powerful agent of social change • Counter ruling class power
- 28. 28 Symbolic Interaction and Religion •The creation of a social identity – A religious identity is a main element is certain social interactions – Others who keep religion private still find it creates an important part of their personal identity – Radical religious changes may lead to a fundamental shift in identity • Important agents of religious socialization – Family: earliest religious learning – Schools: separation of church and state issues
- 29. 29 Sociological Perspectives on Religion •Early sociologists sought to provide a science of society that would tap the ways of knowing built into the scientific method and apply them to society • They recognized significant role religion had played in maintaining social order, and believed it essential to understand how it had accomplished this
- 30. 30 Secularization • The declininginfluence of religion in daily life – Combines with increasing influence of science • Religious groups see social decline – Problems can be solved through renewed religious influences
- 31. 31 Civil Religion • Thequasi-religious beliefs that link people to society and country – Countries confer sacredness upon non- religious aspects of life • Patriotism ceremonies – Crimes and moral violations are equated • “blue laws” • Civil religion reinforces core values and strengthens communal bonds
- 32. 32 Religion Today • TheMegachurch – All-inclusive church draws large audiences – Several hundred exist in U.S. – Largest concentration found in Southwest – Approximately half are nondenominational • Church becomes daily-life center
- 33. 33 Social Change • Liberationtheology: use of a church in political efforts to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice from a secular society – Adherents contend that organized religion has a moral responsibility to take strong public stand against oppression of the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, and women