SOC 101 Quiz #4

Secularism

• A movement away from teaching traditional religious values; excluding religion from public life and the shaping of social policies

• Principle or doctrine that separates religious authority from public, political, and social life, often advocating for a state and public sphere neutral to religion

Schism

• A “break” that occurs within a religion over differences in spiritual interpretation

• Formal separation or division of a religious organization into two or more distinct, independent factions

Totenism

• Worshipping an animal or natural object as the mystical ancestor of all creation; found in tribal societies

• A human group (clan/tribe) shares a sacred, spiritual connection with a natural entity, such as an animal, plant, or object

Deism

• A philosophical position that God simply created the world and left humanity to manage it by giving humans reason and intellect to govern themselves

• Centers on the belief in a rational creator who established natural laws but does not intervene in human affairs

Faith

• To believe in the existence of something that cannot be verified through the process of empirical or scientific analysis

• Complete trust, confidence, or allegiance in a person, concept, or, in a religious sense, a divine power, often without needing empirical evidence

Fundamentalism

• A movement that emphasizes a return back to spiritual values and religious teachings

• Belief in the literal meaning of a sacred text

Religious Extremism

• A belief in and support for ideas and actions that are very far from what most people (spiritual or otherwise) consider correct or reasonable; justifying acts of violence and murder in the name of faith

• An ideology and social movement that advocates for extreme, often violent, measures to enforce strict interpretations of religious dogma

Sacred Objects

• Objects that transcend everyday existence; believed to be extraordinary, powerful, awe-inspiring, and dangerous

• Objects that people see as awe-inspiring, supernatural, holy, and not part of the natural world

Dogma

• This is believed to be a “spiritual truth” that cannot be altered or interpreted differently; one cannot redefine Christianity or Islam

• A principle, belief, or doctrine established by an authority (religious, political, or social) that is asserted to be unquestionably true

Karl Marx

• Religion is an “instrument of deception” used by the “ruling class” to control the actions and loyalties of its citizens by promising them something that “does not exist;” it is the “greatest lie” and the “opium of the masses”

• Religion is as social institution that justifies inequality, perpetuates ruling-class ideology, and acts as the "opium of the people," providing false comfort to the proletariat

Reincarnation

• Believed that after death, human beings are born again in this world or in other worlds as humans or other creatures (religious doctrine in Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.)

• The belief that a person’s soul or consciousness survives physical death to be reborn into a new body

Civil Religion

• A belief that “the Deity” becomes part of a “Nation’s Identity” (ex. God favors the United States over other nations)

• Integrating religious beliefs into secular life (AKA secular religion)

Magic

• The manipulation of “spiritual forces” controlled by the shaman

• Beliefs and rituals intended to control or influence natural/supernatural forces for specific, often private, tangible goals

Ecclesia

• No distinction between the legal authority of church and state; religious and state law become one and the same

• An official religious organization that claims everyone in society as its members (AKA state religion)

Shaman

• A mystical healer that is believed to have “unique abilities” that allows them to either heal the sick or punish one’s enemies

• A priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events

Cosmology

• A unified vision or religion; combining all religions as one from the same origin (most people disagree with this conclusion)

• The study of the universe's origin, structure, and fate through spiritual or mythological lenses, often including a creator

Sect

• A religious organization that does not seek accommodation with the larger society; feel that larger organized churches are “out of synch” with the true teachings of their faith

• A religious group that has broken away from an established religion

Spirituality

• The inner feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors related to the soul or the spirit on a quest to find or to be one with that which is defined as the sacred

• A personal journey to seek the inner meanings of who we are in relation to the universe around us

• The personal, subjective experience and search for the sacred, meaning, and transcendence

Humanism

• A historical movement that rejects creationism and embraces a system of values and beliefs based only on the present and visible world without any reference to the supernatural; focus is to celebrate the “human potential and empirical science to explain and understand all thing”

• A value-oriented, interpretive approach that places human experience, agency, and subjective meaning at the center of study, rather than treating individuals as mere objects of social structures

Max Weber

• Protestant nations had greater industrial output than Catholic nations because the Protestant Church had less control over the actions of its members

• Religious ideas (specifically the Protestant work ethic) played a key role in the rise of modern capitalism, proposing that belief systems can drive massive structural social changes

Social Adaptation

• Religion can be an agent of socialization

• Religious beliefs help individuals adjust to changes in their social, cultural, or physical environments

Supernaturalism

• A belief in the existence of spiritual entities not explainable by the known forces or laws of nature; believing in ghosts or “the paranormal” is considered to be outside the parameters of traditional faith

• The belief in forces, entities, or beings (e.g., gods, spirits, mana) operating outside the known laws of nature and science

Cult (or New Religious Movement NRM)

• An entirely new religious organization with beliefs outside the parameters of traditional faith; often exist in a “state of tension” with the rest of society

• A modern, often marginal, religious or spiritual group that deviates from dominant, mainstream religious traditions

Heresy

• Considered to be an “invalid conclusion” to a spiritual belief; to believe in any variation of a “dogma” would constitute a heresy

• Any belief, theory, or practice that strongly deviates from the established, accepted doctrines of a specific religious organization

Animism

• The belief that all living things on the planet are spiritually connected; according to this belief, there is a “life force” that bonds all things together

• The belief that all natural phenomena (including animals, plants, rocks, rivers, and weather) possess a spiritual essence, soul, or conscious life

Religion

• A social institution that involves a set of shared beliefs, values, and practices related to the supernatural

• A social institution that involves shared beliefs, values, and practices related to the supernatural