chapter 13 religion

ecclesia

a church that shares the same ethical system as the secular society and has come to represent and promoste the interest of the society at larrge. promotes interests of ruling classes. official or national religion that people may be born in to

Mana

a diffuse, nonpersonalized force that acts through anything that lives or moves. it is netiher harmful nor beneficial.

religious taboo

a sacred prohibition against touching, mentioning, or looking at certain objects, acts, or people.

a sect

a small group that adheres stritctly to religious doctrimne and often claims that they are the authentic version of the fath from which they split. they represent a withdrawal from secular society

religion

a system of beliefs practices and philosophical values shared by a group of people, it defines sacred helps explain life, and offers salvation from the problems of human existense.

conflict theory perspective

alienation- is the process by which people lose control over the social institutions they themselves invented. people bein to feel like stranggers in their own world. Marx states that religion is one of the most alienation influences in human society. religion serves to alienate people from the real world. Marx sees religion as the tool the upper class uses to dominate the lower classes.lower classes do not want to change their lives in the real world because they are promised their reward in heaven.

profane

all empirically observable things things that are knowable through common every day experiences

totem

an ordinary object such as a plant or animal that has become a sacred symbol to and of a particular group or clan who not only revere the totem but also identify with it. religion brings people together physically, and fufills societies functions, says durkheim. it reaffirms the beliefs, maintains norms,

theism

belief in divine beings- gods and goddesses- who shape human affairs. gods are powerful beings.

animism

belief that inanimate, personalized spirits or ghosts of ancestors that take an interest in, and actively work to influence, human affairs. May be present in rivers and rocks.. can be scared away because they can be good or evil.

secularism

belief that religion should be separate from politcal beliefs

abstract ideals

focus on the achievement of personal awarness and a higher state of consciousness through correct ways of thinking and behaving rather than by manipulating spirits or worshipping gods. Buddhism- to become one with the universe by meditation

To hindus the cow is

holy

universal church

includes all the mebers of a society within one united moral community. it supports secular culture. they may even legitimize the conditions of social inequality.

to sociologist

jesus is a religious symbol

secularized

less influenced by religion. scholars say we dont know about faith anyore.

dysfunction of religion

marx states that religion imposing acceptance of supernatural causes of conditions and events, tends to conceal the natural and human causes of social problems and discourages the individual from taking steps to correct these conditions. Only one basic body of knowledge, limiting independent thinking and search for further knowledge.

polytheism

most theistic societies practice this which is a belief in a number of gods.

rituals

patterns of behavior or practices that are related to the sacred (body of christ)

supernaturalism

postulates the existence of nonpersonalized supernatural forces that can, and often do, influence human events. people trees, rocks, and spirits.

revitalization movements

powerful religious movements that stress a return to the traditional religious values of the past.

functionalist perspective

religion is thought to be helpful to the ind. in coming to terms with impulses that induce guilt and anxiety. it is comforting to know the supernatural causes. Emilie durkheim noted that ablity of religion to bring about group unity and cohesion.religion brings cohesion and hostility and pregudice at its members by others brings them closer.

calvinism

rooted in the concept of predestination that holds that before they are bron, certain people are selected for hell and others for heaven, calvinists believe nothing can change this. max weber believed capitalism derived from this.

human origin

such as ghosts and ancestral spirits

nonhuman origin

supernatural beings that are gods and spirits

denomination

tends to limit its membership to a particular class, ethnic group, or religious group or, at least to have its leadership positions dominated by members of such a group. do not withdraw from a secular society. protestants and catholicism and lutherins.

monotheism

the belief in the existence of a single god. Judasism, christianity, and islam.

earliest evidence of religious practice comes from

the middle east

ecumenism

the trend among many religious communities to draw together and project a sense of unity and common direction

sacred

things that are awe inspiring and knowable only through extraordinary experiences. (cross, temple, a word or phrase)

millenarian movements

typically prophesy the end of the world, the destruction of all evil people and their works and the saving of the just. believers feel that they are the center of the universe and the cosmic drama is comin to its ultimate conclusion in their lives.