McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 1

SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer

Religion15

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 6

World Religions

Figure 15-1. Religions of the World

Source: J. Allen 2005:30—31

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 7

World Religions

Table 15-1. Major World Religions

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 12

The Role of Religion

Table 15-2. Sociological Perspectives on Religions

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 13

Religious Behavior

• Belief– Religious beliefs:

statements to which members of a particular religion adhere

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 15

Religious Behavior

Figure 15-2. Religious Participation in Selected Countries 1981 and 2001

Source: Norris and Inglehart 2004:74

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 20

Religious Organization

Figure 15-3. Largest Religious Groups in the United States by County, 2000

Source: D. Jones et al. 2002:592

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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