Navigating Churches and Religion
RELIGION
Any system of beliefs about the supernatural, and the social groups that gather around these beliefs
Organized Religion
A set of social institutions, including groups, buildings, and resources; public belief
Spirituality
A set of beliefs that, though shared, may not be enacted with other people; private belief
Sociologists Consider...
What religion is (substantive)
What religion does for people (functional)
CHURCH
Any social location or building (church, mosque, synagogue, or temple) where people carry out religious rituals
Centres for worship, teaching, support, and social life
Church attendance alone is not an accurate measure of religiosity, which includes:
- Religious affiliation
- Church attendance
- Personal practices
- Stated importance of religion (Stats Canada)
Science
A cultural and social orientation toward the search for knowledge, based on finding and analyzing empirically grounded evidence • Often viewed as incompatible and at odds with religion
The Age of Enlightenment (1650–1800)
Questioned traditional institutions, customs, and morals by emphasizing rationality and science
Disenchantment
Modern Western society demystifies the natural world and relies on scientific observation, reasoning, and evidence (Weber)
Connected to...
Secularization
The steadily dwindling influence of formal (institutional) religion in public life • Secularization theory—predicts that powerful religious institutions will lose their influence in society (Durkheim, Marx, Freud)
Social Differentiation
The process by which a society becomes increasingly complex and diverse
Societalization
The way people increasingly connect to an abstract “society”
Rationalization
An effort to explain the world through the logical interpretation of empirical evidence
Humanism
Worldview that lets people connect with one another around their common humanity, and not around specific religious commitment
Civil Religion
Organized secular practice that serves similar social functions as traditional religion, such as providing direction or solidarity (e.g. nationalism, major sporting events)
Eventually provokes counter-secularization (charismatic renewal), with revivals or sects (offshoots of mainstream religion) and innovations (new and unconventional religious ideas)
Concepts and Theories
Totemism
The use of natural objects and animals to symbolize spirituality
Rituals and Ceremonies
- Reinforce social solidarity
- Provide an opportunity to escape everyday life (the profane) into experience on a higher level (the sacred) (Durkheim)
Religion is Universal
There are no known human societies without some form of religion
Dominant Ideology
Values that benefit the ruling class to the detriment of everyone else (Marx)
Collective Consciousness
The sum of people’s individual consciousnesses and a shared way of understanding the world (Durkheim)
Theodicy
The need to explain and justify why supernatural forces allow suffering
Fetishism
Irrational, obsessive devotion to or reverence for something (e.g. religion, consumer products)
Fundamentalism
The belief that religious adherents should strictly follow theological doctrines that are claimed to be the oldest, most traditional, and most basic
New Paradigm Theory
Fundamentalism is a result of modernization, and we cannot have one without the other (Warner)
Sectarianism
Narrow-minded adherence to a particular religious sect made up of people whose views diverge from those of others within the same religion
NAMES WORTH KNOWING
Karl Marx (1818–1883) viewed religion as a form of social control and a cause of conflict and social inequality.
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) argued that religion is little more than a symptom of neurosis, and that God is an illusion that people are unable to shed.
Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) viewed the content of a given religion as less important than the opportunity it presents to express social solidarity.
Max Weber (1864–1920) focused on the subjective meaning and personal experience of religion, and believed that people have a natural need to understand the world as “meaningful.”
Mary Daly (1928–2010) proposed that much religion is patriarchal and that women must abandon traditional religions, forming their own religious groups.
Reginald Bibby (b. 1943) proposes that religion is not disappearing in Canada but merely changing and adapting to a more complex, globalized future.
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