Religion
Chinese Religions
1. Buddhism 2. Confucianism 3. Taoism
Taoism
A Chinese philosophy in which people live a simple life in harmony with nature.
Christianity
A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.
Confucianism
A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.
Hinduism
A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms
Buddhism
A religion based on the teachings of the Buddha.
Islam
A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Paradise and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran. Followers are called Muslims.
Judaism
A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. They preserved their early history in the Old Testament.
That suffering occurs when people crave and cling to impermanent things, a state of dissatisfaction called dukkha, is a central belief of ________
Buddhism
________ believed that religion occurs when there is a separation between the sacred (that which induces wonder and awe) and the profane (everyday earthly realities) in society.
Emile durkheim
Karl Marx (1818-1883) studied the social impact of religion
He believed religion reflects the social stratification of society and that it maintains inequality and perpetuates an unjust status quo. For him, religion was just an extension of and false remedy for working-class (proletarian) economic suffering. He famously argued that religion "is the opium of the people" (1844).
What are some denominations of the Christian Protestant church?
Methodist and Seventh-day Adventist
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion: Symbolic Interactionism
Rising from the concept that our world is socially constructed, symbolic interactionism studies the symbols and interactions of everyday life. To interactionists, beliefs and experiences are not sacred unless individuals in a society regard them as sacred. The Star of David in Judaism, the cross in Christianity, and the crescent and star in Islam are examples of sacred symbols. Interactionists are interested in the negotiated meanings that different societies and groups attribute to these symbols.
Some controversial groups that have been labeled as cults include________.
Scientology and Hare Krishna
Liberation theology
a movement within the Catholic church to understand Christianity from the perspective of the poor and oppressed, with a focus on fighting injustice
Civil religion
a quasi-religious loyalty linking individuals in a basically secular society
Monothesism
a religion based on belief in a single deity
Polytheistic
a religion based on belief in multiple deities
Jainism
a religion founded in India in the sixth century BC, whose members believe that everything in the universe has a soul and therefore shouldn't be harmed. Mahavira founded this religion.
Religion
a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds to be sacred or spiritually significant
Religious rituals
behaviors or practices that are either required for or expected of the members of a particular group
Which sociological perspective most emphasizes the ways in which religion helps to maintain social inequalities within a society?
conflict theory
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion: Functionalism
contend that religion serves several functions in society. Religion, in fact, depends on society for its existence, value, and significance, and vice versa. From this perspective, religion serves several purposes, like providing answers to spiritual mysteries, offering emotional comfort, and creating a place for social interaction and social control.
Sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917)
defined religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things" (1915). To him, sacred meant extraordinary—something that inspired wonder and that seemed connected to the concept of "the divine." Durkheim argued that "religion happens" in society when there is a separation between the profane (ordinary life) and the sacred (1915). A rock, for example, isn't sacred or profane as it exists. But if someone makes it into a headstone, or another person uses it for landscaping, it takes on different meanings—one sacred, one profane.
The main difference between an ecclesia and a denomination is:
ecclesia are state-sponsored and considered the dominant, official religion
Which perspective most emphasizes the ways in which religion helps keep the social system running smoothly?
functionalsim
Megachurch
is a Christian church that has a very large congregation averaging more than 2,000 people who attend regular weekly services.
Denomination
is a large, mainstream religious organization, but it does not claim to be official or state sponsored
Sect
is a small and relatively new group. Most of the well-known Christian denominations in the United States today began as sects
A cultural universal is something that ________ .
is found in all cultures
Secularization
is the decline in the social and cultural importance of religion.
Social scientists refer to the use of a church to combat social injustice in the political realm as________ .
liberation theology
Cults
like sects, are new religious groups. In the United States today this term often carries pejorative connotations. However, almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to levels of greater size, stability, and organization.
A sect?
often believes it must split from larger group to return to important fundamentals
Ecclesia
originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now refers to a congregation. In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all members of a society belong to. It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers
________ is a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds sacred or considers to be spiritually significant.
religion
A functionalist might argue that ________ .
religion helps to facilitate social control, which enforces social norms
Religion serves the role of an established institution worthy of sociological analysis because ________ .
religions have a complex and integrated set of norms
Established sects
sects that last but do not become denominations
Religious beliefs
specific ideas that members of a particular faith hold to be true
________ believes that religion serves several purposes, like providing answers to spiritual mysteries, offering emotional comfort, and creating a place for social interaction and social control.
structural functionalist theory
Which theoretical perspective would approach religion from the micro-level, studying how it impacts an individual's sense of social support, identity, and well-being?
symbolic interactionsim
Totemism
the belief in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings
Atheists
the belief in no deities
Agnostics
the belief that ultimate reality, or God, is unknowable
Religious experience
the conviction or sensation that one is connected to "the divine"
Animism
the religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion: Conflict theory
view religion as an institution that helps maintain patterns of social inequality. For example, the Vatican has a tremendous amount of wealth, while the average income of Catholic parishioners is small. According to this perspective, religion has been used to support the "divine right" of oppressive hereditary monarchies and to justify unequal social structures, like India's rigidly hierarchical caste system.
