schaefer10e ppt ch15
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McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 1
SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer
Religion15
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Slide 2
15. Religion
• Durkheim and the Sociological Approach to Religion
• World Religions • The Role of Religion • Religious Behavior • Religious Organization • Social Policy and Religion
McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 3Durkheim and the Sociological Approach to
Religion• Religion
– Unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things (Durkheim)
• Durkheim viewed religion as collective act– Religion includes many forms of
behavior in which people interact with others
– Acknowledged religion is not the only integrative force
McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 4Durkheim and the Sociological Approach to
Religion• Sacred: elements beyond
everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and even fear• Profane: includes the ordinary and commonplace
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Slide 5
World Religions
• Diversity in World Religions
Differences among religions are striking, but they are exceeded by variations within faiths
– 85% of world’s population adheres to some religion• Christianity is the largest single faith, the
second largest is Islam• Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism
developed in India. Buddhism primarily found in Asia
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Slide 6
World Religions
Figure 15-1. Religions of the World
Source: J. Allen 2005:30—31
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Slide 7
World Religions
Table 15-1. Major World Religions
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Slide 8
The Role of Religion
• Functions of Religion– Manifest functions: open and
stated functions; religion defines the spiritual world and gives meaning to the divine
– Latent functions: unintended, covert, or hidden functions; might include providing a meeting ground for unmarried members
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Slide 9
– Offers people meaning and purpose– Gives people ultimate values and
ends to hold in common
• Religion and Social Support– Religion’s emphasis on divine and
supernatural allows us to do something about calamities we face
The Role of Religion
• The Integrative Function of Religion
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Slide 10
The Role of Religion
• Religion and Social Change– The Weberian Thesis
• Followers of Protestant Reformation emphasized a disciplined work ethic, this-worldly concerns, and a rational orientation for life
– Liberation Theology• Church should be used in political efforts
to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice
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Slide 11
The Role of Religion
• Religion and Social Control: A Conflict View– Marx argued religion impeded
social change• People focus on other-worldly concerns• Religion drugged masses into submission
by offering a consolation for their harsh live on earth
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Slide 12
The Role of Religion
Table 15-2. Sociological Perspectives on Religions
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Slide 13
Religious Behavior
• Belief– Religious beliefs:
statements to which members of a particular religion adhere
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Slide 14
Religious Behavior
• Ritual
• Experience– Religious Experience: feeling or
perception of being in direct contact with ultimate reality or of being overcome with religious emotion
– Religious Rituals: practices required or expected of members of a faith
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Slide 15
Religious Behavior
Figure 15-2. Religious Participation in Selected Countries 1981 and 2001
Source: Norris and Inglehart 2004:74
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Slide 16
• Recognized as the national or official religion
• Denominations– Large, organized religion not officially
linked with the state or government
Religious Organization
• Ecclesiae– Religious organization claiming to
include most or all of the members of a society
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Slide 17
Religious Organization
• Sects
Sects are fundamentally at odds with society and do not seek to become established national religions.
– Relatively small religious group that broke away from some other religious organization to renew the original vision of the faith
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Slide 18
Religious Organization
• New Religious Movements or Cults– New religious movement (NRM):
small secretive religious groups that represent either a new religion or a major innovation of an existing faith• Similar to sects• Tend to be small• Viewed as less respectable than more
established faiths
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Slide 19
Religious Organization
• Comparing Forms of Religious Organization– Ecclesiae, denominations, sects, and
new religious movements have different relationships to society
– Electronic communication led to the electronic church
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Slide 20
Religious Organization
Figure 15-3. Largest Religious Groups in the United States by County, 2000
Source: D. Jones et al. 2002:592
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Slide 21
Religious Organization
Table 15-3. Characteristics of Ecclesiae, Denominations, Sects, and New Religious Movements
Adapted from Vernon 1962; see also Chalfant et al. 1994
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Slide 22
Social Policy and Religion
• Religion in the Schools– The Issue
• Should public schools be allowed to sponsor organized prayers or other expressions of religion in the classroom?
– Some want strict separation of church and state
– Who has the right to decide these issues?
McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 23
Social Policy and Religion
• Religion in the Schools– The Setting
• First Amendment’s provisions on religious freedom
– In 1987, Supreme Court ruled states could not compel the teaching of creationism in public schools
– Many school districts now require teachers entertain alternative theories to evolution and to the creation of the universe
McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 24
Social Policy and Religion
• Religion in the Schools– Sociological Insights
• Supporters of school prayer and of creationism feel use of nondenominational prayer cannot lead to the establishment of an ecclesia in U.S.
• Opponents of school prayer and creationism argue religious majority in a community might impose religious viewpoints at the expense of religious minorities
McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 25
Social Policy and Religion
• Religion in the Schools– Policy Initiatives
Activism of religious fundamentalists in the public school system raises a question: Whose ideas and values deserve a hearing in classrooms?
• In 2003, President Bush declared schools that prevent school prayer could lose government funding
– Religious fundamentalists have pushed their agenda through the political process