ch.13 sociology
Which of the following is true of religious affiliation in the United States?
. It is the most diverse in the world.
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." Which of the following theoretical perspectives best fits with this statement?
. conflict theory
About ______% of U.S. adults indicate they are not affiliated with a religious group
16
About ______% of U.S. adults change their religious affiliation over the course of their lives.
28
Sociologist Herbert Blumer suggested that the meaning of a thing for a person grows out of the ways in which others respond to the object and the person's actions toward it. Which of the following is NOT an example of this?
A chronically ill man is cured following a week of prayer.
A system of common beliefs and rituals centered on "sacred things" that unites believers and provides a sense of meaning and purpose is referred to as ______.
A system of common beliefs and rituals centered on "sacred things" that unites believers and provides a sense of meaning and purpose is referred to as ______.
Which of the following religions prescribes a path for overcoming the endless suffering of everyday life?
Buddhism
Religion is considered one of the major agents of socialization. Discuss a few of the ways religion socializes people into roles and behaviors.
Can talk about gender roles, religious teachings that prescribe certain behaviors, roles within the church, political beliefs, social issue beliefs, interactions with others, and so on.
Mary Baker Eddy, a strong feminist and activist in the early women's movement, founded ______.
Christian Science and the Christian Science Monitor
Which of the following is the world's largest religion?
Christianity
______ is the world's largest religion while Islam is the world's fastest growing.
Christianity
Which of the following would NOT be considered an example of an ecclesia?
Christianity in the United States
Provide definitions and explain the relationships between a church, a denomination, and an ecclesia, and provide an example of each.
Church: a well-established religious organization that exists in a fairly harmonious relationship with the larger society. Example: Presbyterian, United Methodist, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. Ecclesia: formally allied with the state and is the official religion of the society. Example: Greek Orthodox Church in Greece. Denomination: a church that is not formally allied with the state. Example: all churches in the United States. A church can be either an ecclesia or a denomination. While ecclesia might or might not prevent the practice of other religions, they do receive special rights and privileges from the state. Denominations provide greater religious freedom of choice and competition, as none are favored by the state.
Provide definitions and explain the differences between cults, sects, and churches, and provide an example of each
Church: a well-established religious organization that exists in a fairly harmonious relationship with the larger society. Sect: a religious organization that has splintered off from an established church, in an effort to restore perceived "true" beliefs and practices believed to have been lost by the established religious organization. Cult: a religious organization that is thoroughly unconventional with regard to the larger society.
Which of the following is characteristic of religiosity in the United States?
Compared with similar modern, economically developed nations, religiosity in the United States is relatively high.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Islam?
Followers worship the Prophet Muhammad as the messiah.
. Which of the following is a polytheistic religion?
Hinduism
Which of the following is NOT a monotheistic religion?
Hinduism
Which of the following is NOT true of Zionism?
It is embraced by all Jews.
Explain the term new religious movement and why usage of this term is growing in popularity.
New religious movements (NRMs): new spiritual groups or communities that occupy a peripheral place in a country's dominant religious landscape. Considered a more neutral sociological term for cults.
Explain what is meant by the term religious economy, and identify two ways that competition leads to increased engagement in religious organizations.
Religious economy: religions are organizations in competition for followers. Competition leads to increased engagement as religions exert more effort and strategies to gain followers, and it creates an environment where there is "something for everyone."
______ is the linkage of religious convictions with beliefs about a nation or ethnic group's social and political destiny.
Religious nationalism
Which of the following did Émile Durkheim and Karl Marx agree on regarding religion?
Secularization was inevitable.
Discuss the four primary ways sociologists approach the study of religion in society.
Study the way beliefs are socially constructed. Study religion as a social institution and its social organization. Study the function of religions as sources of solidarity. Study the ways social forces affect people's commitment to religion.
Which of the following is characteristic of the religious economy approach?
There is likely to be a religious option for just about everyone.
Which of the following is NOT true of new religious movements?
They tend to be enduring institutions.
Extreme patriotism in the United States could be characterized as ______.
a civil religion
According to anthropologists, which of the following is linked to the early organized religion found at Göbekli Tepe?
agriculture
Which of the following would NOT be considered an example of a religious group's effort to gain more followers?
an individual inviting a fellow Christian to attend mass at her or his church
Along with sociology, which other discipline understands religion as a form of culture?
anthropology
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of cults?
are all eventually accepted into mainstream society
Which of the following is a characteristic of Hinduism?
belief in reincarnation and karma
Which of the following is characteristic of conservative Protestantism?
belief in spiritual rebirth
Which of the following is NOT characteristic of religion?
can only occur in formal organizations
Which of the following is considered the most mainstream religious organization?
church
Which of the following is most likely to feature a charismatic leader?
cult
Which of the following allows for more religious choice?
denomination
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Christianity?
did not become an ecclesia until well after the 19th century
The separation of church and state is an example of ______.
disestablishment
Which of the following receives special rights and privileges from the state?
ecclesia
Which of the following would be considered a modern-day example of a sect?
evangelicalism
According to Max Weber, capitalism developed in the United States and Europe first because they did not have religious values.
false
As scientists, sociologists' main research objective is to disprove or provide empirical evidence for certain religious beliefs.
false
The terms Muslim and Islam can be used interchangeably.
false
Among U.S. adults who change their religious affiliation over the course of their life, which is the most common shift?
from a religious group to the nonaffiliated group
A negative effect of ______ on religion has been the creation of conflict and tension as religious groups come into greater contact.
globalization
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Judaism?
its followers distributed roughly evenly throughout Europe, Israel, and the United States
Buddhism is an example of a ______ religion, in that it believes in the existence of divine spiritual forces rather than a god or gods.
nontheistic
Which of the following is NOT an example of a totem?
objects regarded as ordinary parts of routine, everyday life
According to Émile Durkheim, Australian Aborigines divided their world into the ______, or the sphere of routine, everyday life, and the sacred, or the sphere endowed with spiritual meaning.
profane
A religious organization that has splintered off from an established church in an effort to restore perceived "true" beliefs and practices is referred to as a(n) ______.
sect
Which of the following is NOT characteristic of the way sociologists study religion?
study whether religious beliefs are true or false
Which of the following is true of evangelical Protestant groups?
tend to agree with conservative Republicans on most social issues
Max Weber's concept of the routinization of charisma can be described as
the institutionalization of a charismatic leader's beliefs into an organized religious structure
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Confucianism?
the official state religion of China
A belief in one or more supernatural deities is known as ______.
theism
According to Émile Durkheim, sacred rituals strengthen solidarity and social bonds as people lose their sense of individuality and merge with the larger group.
true
An example of a religious totem would be the wafer and wine used in Catholic Mass.
true
Religion can have both a stabilizing and a destabilizing effect in any given society.
true
The establishment clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is commonly understood as that which gives us separation of church and state
true
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of early Protestantism in the United States, as described by Max Weber?
wealth is an indicator of sin
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Buddhism?
worship of its founder, Siddhartha Gautama
