AQA A-level Sociology (Beliefs in Society)

Substantive religion

•Focuses on the belief in a supernatural power or God

•Exclusive

-Western bias

Functional religion

•Focuses on social or psychological functions for an individual or society

•Inclusive

-Suggests a football chant is a religion

Social Constructionist

•Focuses on how members of society define religion

•Can not produce a universal definition

+ Deeper meaning

- Impossible to generalise

What is beliefs?

Belief in the supernatural and/or incomprehensible powers (e.g. God) or sacred symbols (e.g. the Cross)

What is theology?

a set of teachings and beliefs

What is practice?

rituals of ceremonies to express beliefs

Institutions

some form of organisation of worshippers (e.g. churches)

Consequences

a set of moral or ethical values to guide everyday behaviour

(Science) Open system

Popper: Scientific research is open to scrutiny, criticism and testing by others

(Science) Closed system

Kuhn: Science is based on a single paradigm which is ridiculed if challenged, unless undermined by evidence

(Religion) Open system

Able to adapt to social change

Herberg: May dilute beliefs to stay relevant - known as internal secularisation

(Religion) Closed system

Horton: It contains 'clauses' that prevent it from being disproved in the eyes of believers

Ideology

Religion focuses on a spiritual meaning, but ideology focuses on the political impact

Ideology Marxism

Marx: Revolution can not occur until the working class develop a class consciousness

Gramsci: Ideological domination prevents class consciousness

- Abercrombie: a fear of unemployment may prevent rebelling

Ideology Postmodernism

Lyotard: Religion and science are meta-narratives. Religious teachings are no longer accepted as 'truth' in postmodern society due to the growth of scientific fact

Ideology Feminism

Oakley: Bowlby's maternal deprivation is an example of science acting as an ideology, justifying gender inequality as children are damaged by working mothers

Science and religion - core principles

1.Pursuit of facts, supported by evidence

2.Objective

3.Studies the impact of cause-and-effect based on reliable data

Impact of science on religion

•Can cause conflicts, e.g. around medical treatments

•Can be seen as contributing to secularisation

•Disproved many religious beliefs about the beginning of the world

Science and Religion - Merton

Science thrives as an institution as it is governed by CUDOS norms

What is the CUDOS norms?

C

Communism - scientific knowledge must be shared to grow

U

Universalism - scientific knowledge is judged by universal, objective criteria

D

Disinterestedness - scientists should publish honest findings, with no fraud or subjective bias

OS

Organised Scepticism - all knowledge is open to scrutiny

Science and religion - Aldridge

transition from religious to scientific explanations

1.Theological stage - the world and human destiny are explained in terms of gods and spirits

2.Metaphysical stage - people see the world as being guided by an abstract power and is the combination of people having scientific views, but believing in a higher power

3.Scientific stage - scientific explanation based on observations and experiments which can be used to develop cause and effect relationships

Science and religion - Interpretivism

Scientific knowledge is socially constructed by social groups

Knorr-Cetina: laboratory experiments are highly constructed

Science and religion - Marxism

All ideologies are manipulated by the ruling class to maintain and reproduce inequality.

Most discoveries are fuelled by gaining mass profit.

Science and religion - Feminism

Ideologies promote patriarchy

Science and religion - Postmodernism

Lyotard: science is no different to other religions as they claim to know the truth about the world

Functionalist perspective - Durkheim

•There is a fundamental distinction between the sacred (special) and the profane (normal)

•Worshipping symbols = worshipping society

•Studied an Australian aboriginal clan who performed rituals involving a sacred totem

•Regular shared religious experiences strengthen collective conscience

Functionalist perspective - Parsons

•Helps people cope with unforeseen events and uncontrollable outcomes

•Promotes consensus and social stability

Functionalist perspective - Bellah

•Civil religion is a belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society itself

•Creates stability in a multi-religion society

Functionalist perspective - Malinowski

•Provides psychological functions to cope with stress in two situations

1.Where the outcome is important but uncertain

2.At times of crises

Functionalist perspectives - evalutation

+ Emphasises positive functions

-Worsley: no sharp division between the sacred and profane

-Hard to generalise to societies with 2+ religions

-Neglects negative functions e.g. oppression of women

Religion as an ideology (Marxism perspective)

•Justifies suffering as inevitable and God-given, so will be favoured in the afterlife

•Acts as an ideological state apparatus to legitimise the power of the ruling class

•Lenin: it is a 'spiritual gin' as it doles out the masses to keep them in their societal position - a mystical fog that obscures reality

Religion as a product of alienation (Marxism perspective)

•Religion is an opiate of the masses, as it cushions the pain of oppression and exploitation. It does this in three ways:

1.Promises an eventual escape from suffering with a good afterlife

2.Offers hope of supernatural intervention to solve problems on Earth, encouraging people to accept their position

3.Provides a religious explanation and justification for inequality

•Existential security also causes people to become alienated as those with less security (e.g. in LEDC's) have greater demand for religion

Marxism perspective - evaluation

+Supported by Hinduism and caste system

-Ignores positive functions

-Increasing secularisation - how much influence can it have in contemporary society?

Neo-marxist perspective

Neo-Marxists agree with Marxism that religion exploits the poor, but they criticise Marxism as religion is not always part of the superstructure so the working class don't always go along with the ruling class system.

Dual nature of religion (neo-marxist perspective)

•Bloch: religion is an expression of 'the principle of hope' - our dreams of a better life that contain images of Utopia, deceiving people with false promises of rewards in heaven

•Gramsci: the ruling class use hegemony to establish popular consent but the vision of a better world may motivate people to challenge the powerful

Religion as a force for social change (neo-marxist perspective)

•Maduro: in societies where religion is dominant, the ruling class can only be overpowered with the support of the churches

•Liberation theology: a movement in Christian theology which attempts to address the problems of poverty and social justice. E.g. overthrowing the communist regime in 1980's Poland

Neo-marxist perspective - evaluation

+ Explains how religion can lead to social change

- Feminists argue gender is a larger factor than social class

Maintaining patriarchy - feminist perspective (with evaluation)

•Sacred texts mainly consist of strong, powerful males

•Religious laws restrict female rights, such as dress codes

•In Islam, menstruating women can not touch the Qur'an

•Orthodox Judaism forbid women becoming priests

+ Armstrong: women's exclusion from priesthood is evidence for marginalisation

-Woodhead: the hijab symbolises resistance to oppression

Second class believers - feminist perspective

•De Beauvoir: religion maintains gender inequality by making women think they are equal to men in the eyes of God and will be compensated in the after life so they don't challenge their position

Stained glass ceiling - feminist perspective (with evaluation)

•Women are often found at the bottom of the religious career ladder

•There was no female priests in the Church of England until 2015, and still was only an 'assistant' priest

- Assumes all religions are patriarchal, the Greek believe in many goddesses

Postmodernist perspective - Lyotard

Many religions see themselves as the true representative of God and do not tolerate challenges from rivals, so are usually conservative and inflexible

Postmodernist perspective - Lyon

Religious leaders turn to the media to publicise their belief system, which has created a spiritual marketplace for people to move around religions to find which one suits their identity

Religious ideas have been disembedded as the media lifts them from their original context

Postmodernist perspective - NAMs

These focus on spirituality rather than devotion to God so are preferred in a postmodern society

Postmodernist perspective - Hervieu-Leger

There has been a dramatic decline in institutional religion as people become spiritual shoppers

Postmodernist perspective - Pick 'n' mix

People pick and mix beliefs and buy into, or reject, beliefs that most suit their lifestyle choices and the identity they want to project

Postmodernist perspective - evaluation

- Bruce: they have over exaggerated the demise of traditional religions

Religion as a conservative force - functionalist

Durkheim: all societies divide the world into the 'sacred' and the 'profane', helping with value consensus that promotes social order and stability

Malinowski: religion provides explanation for events that would otherwise be unexplainable and provide security in the face of uncertainty

Parsons: Provides and underpins core values of culture and norms, while providing a 'mechanism of adjustment'

Religion as a conservative force - marxist

Religion acts as an 'opium of the people' by cushioning the pain of oppression by promising an eventual escape, offering solutions to problems on Earth and explaining inequalities

It legitimises the power of the ruling class by suggesting inequalities are God-given and can not be challenged without challenging God

Religion as a conservative force - Interpretivist

Berger: provides a universe of meaning which helps people make more sense of the world, creating a theodicy, but religion is now losing its role as a provider of a universe of meaning in modern society

Religion as a conservative force - feminist

Many religions serve male interests, with beliefs that justify, reinforce and reproduce inequalities

This is achieved via subordinate roles in sacred texts, exclusion or restriction from higher levels of religious hierarchy and religious laws that give women fewer rights

Religion as a conservative force - religion as a compensator

Stark and Bainbridge:

Religions meets the needs of individuals when their sense of social order is disrupted by hardship e.g. death

Religion is a general compensator - a belief that if individuals act in a certain way, they will eventually be rewarded - which inevitably contributes to social order

Religion as a force for social change - calvinist beliefs

•Predestination - God has already decided who will be going to heaven or hell, and those selected to go to heaven are called 'the elect'

•Devine transcendence - God is so above and beyond this world that there is no way to understand what he is thinking or has decided

•Worldly asceticism - a calling to a career path as a religious duty

•Calvinism led to capitalism as Calvinists were ascetic so saved all of their wealth, and so they used this money to invest and became richer and so on - they carried this on as they felt that this wealth was God's way of saying He was happy with their hard work

Calvinist belief - evaluation

- Kautsky - Weber underestimates economic factors as capitalism precedes Calvinism

Is religion a force for social change, or a conservative force?

McGuire/Robinson - factors that determine if religion is a conservative force or a force for social change:

1.The nature and extent of religious beliefs - if most people hold religious beliefs and it has strong moral codes that conflict the rest of society, it is more likely to lead to social change

2.Significance of religion in a culture - if religion is central to society it is more likely to be used to justify behaviour and act as a conservative force

3.Extent of the social involvement of religion - if religious figures play a role in political and economic life, it is more likely to influence social change

4.Degree of central authority in religious organisations - if it is at the centre of society, it has the power to promote or prevent change

Religion and social protest - American civil rights movement

•1960-70s

•Led by Dr Martin Luther King

•Used religion as an ideological resource, appealing to all Christians

•Why it worked: peaceful protest, achieved public support, negotiated with opposition, shamed those who had conflicting prejudicial values

Religion and social protest - New Christian right

•1960s

•Believed certain behaviours are immoral and should be illegal

•E.g. homosexuality, divorce, abortion, teaching sex education and evolution in school

•Reasons for failure: negative message tone led to criticism by the media, lack of corporation

Religion and social protest - Liberation theology

•1960-70s

•Catholics created a liberation theology movement as a response of the failure of the Vatican to help followers facing poverty and exploitation

•Nicaraguan dictator Somoza was overthrown by the Sandinista revolution

•Priests involved were excommunicated

Religion and social protest - Millenarian movements

•Melanesia

•Cargo cults combined Christian teaching of Jesus' eventual resurrection with Melanesia's mythical ancestors who would become powerful beings and bring the dead back to life

•Millennium occurred when the ancestors would return in steamships bringing European goods and initiating a social order reversal

Religious organisation - Church

Size:

Large and worldwide with inclusive members (born into it)

Characteristics:

•Multi-layered hierarchal structure

•Professional clergy

•Long life spans

•Few demands on members

Attitude to wider society:

Do not agree with new legalisations, e.g. abortion

Examples:

Roman catholic church

Church of England

Religious organisation - denomination

Size:

Usually international, national or regional - appeal to those who are poorer in society

Characteristics:

•Tend to originate as a sect

•Professional clergy, but require assistance from volunteers

•Some have long lifespans (Methodist church) or are more recent (Pentecostal)

•Rely on members for active involvement

Examples:

Pentecostalism

Religious organisation - sect

Size:

Small memberships

Characteristics:

•Charismatic leader who claims he was chosen by a supernatural power

•Short lifespan

•Often demand total dedication

Examples:

ISIS

Moonies

Religious organisation - New age movement

Characteristics: •Promote self spirituality

•No hierarchy as everyone customises their own experiences

•Used to fill a spiritual void

Attitude to wider society:

Audience cults e.g. UFOs

Client cults e.g. Feng Shui

Examples:

Yoga

Feng Shui

Religious organisation- cult

Size:

Small memberships who buy into a service but rarely meet as a group

Characteristics:

•Loose structure

•Wrongly confused with sects by the media

•Lifespan varies on market demand

•Rarely demand strong commitments

•Attract those looking for spiritual fulfilment

•

Stark and Bainbridge:

Audience - transmit ideas through the media e.g. astrology

Client - personal connection between leader and followers

Cultic movements - specific commitments e.g. paying for courses

Examples:

Scientology

Religious organisation - new religious movement

Size:

Varies from small to large depending on type

Characteristics:

World-affirming:

•Cults

•Charge fees

•Optimistic and enhance lives

•Attractive to professionals

World-accommodating:

•Denominations

•Focus on improving lives while conforming to society

•Popular with the vulnerable and those unhappy with societal change

World-rejecting:

•Sects

•Leave old lives behind and create new identities

•Millenarian - use divine power to judge those who sin

•Focus on literal truth of text

Attitude to wider society:

W-aff: accept the world in its current state

W-acc: do not like current state but make the most of it to achieve salvation

W-rej: demand social change

Examples:

W-aff: scientology W-acc: Pentecostalism W-rej: Moonies

Growth of religious new movements - practical and pragmatic reasons

Wallis: offer knowledge, techniques and therapies to unlock potential, reduce stress and find career success

Growth of religious new movements - secularisation

Herberg: NRMs benefit from internal secularisation

Growth of religious new movements - postmodernism

Drane: it is part of a shift towards a postmodern society, which comes with a loss of faith in metanarratives

Growth of religious new movements - globalisation and media

Bauman: increasing globalisation and pressure to accept a cosmopolitan culture is pushing people to join radical NRMs

Growth of religious new movements - Marginalisation

Weber: attract individuals who do not belong to the majority as they provide reasons for unfortunate situations and give access to communities with similar experiences

Growth of religious new movements - Protest

Glock and stark: NRMs emerge as a form of religious or social protest, used to search for new alternative beliefs and lifestyles

Growth of religious new movements - Anomie and social change

Wilson: in times of rapid social change, people may feel a sense of anomie and anxiety but NRMs relieve this anxiety

Growth of religious new movements - relative deprivation

Barker: middle-class children feel neglected by career-orientated parents so suffer relative deprivation so NRMs provide an alternative family

Growth of religious new movements - Status frustration

Wallis: NRMS provide support for an identity and status to relieve status frustration

Types of sects (Wilson)

1.Conversionist - seek to save those in the outside world by converting them to their movement

2.Introversionist - cut themselves off from wider society and are often viewed as threatening

3.Advent - hold millenarian beliefs that only those within the sect are rewarded in the afterlife

Why are sects short lived? (Neibuhr)

•The movement loses momentum when the leader dies

•The children of sect members do not have the same intensity of belief as their parents so the movement dies out with the second generation

•The movement becomes a denomination by developing a professional hierarchy instead of relying on a charismatic individual

•It begins to compromise with the outside world and so dilutes its beliefs

Are all sects necessarily short lived? (Aldridge)

•Many sects have existed for a long time while keeping their features

•Not all sects rely on charismatic leadership

•Many sects are successful at socialising children to accept their beliefs

•Case study 1 - Jehovah's witnesses:

•World-rejecting, Christian Adventist millenarian sect

•Maintained religious intensity whilst not isolating members or being lead by charismatic leaders

•Protect members from 'evil', including birthdays and Christmas

•Encourage friendship with other members but still go to ordinary state schools

•Knock on doors in the hope of converting people

•Case study 2 - Amish:

•Christian introversionist sect based in Pennsylvania, USA

•They do not try to convert others and are totally cut from society

•They live in communities modelled on the past e.g. use horse drawn carriages

Ways religion is patriarchal

•Women are portrayed in subordinate positions in sacred texts

•Women are often barred from priesthoods

•Stained glass ceiling

•Many religious doctrines contain ideology that focus on traditional roles

•The veiling of women can be seen as making women invisible and anonymous

•Women are portrayed to not have sexual desires and sex should only take place for reproduction

•Women have fewer rights e.g. men can have multiple wives but women can only have one husband

Gender and religion - facts

Women are more likely to:

•Express greater interest in religion and have a firmer belief in God

•Have a stronger personal faith in life after death

•Involve themselves in rituals and worship

•Practice private prayer

•Join NRMs and NAMs (Bruce)

Reasons for gender and religiosity:

•Greater life expectancy - women are more likely to be widowed and live on their own as they get older

•Social deprivation - women are more likely to experience poverty, marginalisation and personal problems

•Status frustration - women may lack status due to being confined to the home or having an unsatisfying lower-middle class job

•Motherhood - women are expected to help with the socialisation of children, including their religious beliefs

•Femininity - women see religion as being linked to traditional femininity e.g. love and comfort

•Socialisation - women are less confrontational and more caring, and are more tuned to the spiritual dimensions of human existence

Gender and religion - evaluation

-Many ancient religions were polythetic and worshipped many Goddesses

-Some use the veil as a symbol of identity and resists patriarchy

-Woodhead: the changing position of women in society changes how they engage with religion

1.Home centred - those who stay at home have conservative values and focus on traditional religions

2.Work centred - more likely to be secular as they don't have time and can't relate to women in scriptures

3.Jugglers - balance work with family life so use religion for guidance, but engage mostly with NAMs that don't require much commitment

-Aune et al: many factors could be causing a decline in female participant

•Feminism has caused more women to question traditional female roles in religion

•Women are now in paid work so don't have as much time, and gain status from working

•Family diversity is disapproved of by many religions so are alienated

Ethnicity and religion

•African-Caribbean groups focus on Christianity, and set up Pentecostalism (Christian denomination) as a response to the racism they faced in traditional Christian churches, with services involving exorcism, clapping and dancing

•Those from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India focus on Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism

Ethnicity and religion - facts

•African-Caribbean people made up 17% of church-goers on an average Sunday in 2007, which is 5x their proportion is society

•79% of Muslims, 74% of Sikhs and 70% of Hindus practiced their religion in 2010 compared to 33% of Christians

•In 1961, there were 7 mosques, 3 Sikh temples, 1 Hindu temple and 55,000 Christian temples

•In 2005, there were 1700 mosques and 47,600 Christian churches

Reasons for ethnic minority religiosity

•Cultural defence (Bruce): used to unite a community in the face of hostility from wider society

•Culture transition (Bruce): used as a form of cultural transition as it helps to integrate people into society but as they integrate they may leave religion behind

•Social deprivation and marginality (Weber): NRMs are attractive to minorities as they feel marginalised so provides guidance on how to overcome this and develop a 'protestant work ethic' which could lead to their economic success

•Social identity: provides people with many markers of identity which helps prevent the devaluing of their own culture due to racism

Age and religion - trends (Brierley)

•Only those aged 65+ have shown a rise in church attendance

•Since the 1980s, the number of under-15s regularly attending church has halved

•By 2025, only 2.5% of church attendees with be aged 15-19

•50% of English churches have no one younger than 20 in their congregation

Why are elderly more religious?

Ageing effect - as people come closer to the end of their life, they are more likely to attend church as they are concerned about the afterlife and desire forgiveness for sins

Generational effect - the current elderly generation grew up during WW2 so use religion as a source of support and security.

Why are the young less religious?

Socialisation (Arweck and Beckford) - parents are now less likely to pass religious beliefs onto children, whilst Sunday schools are also now very rare

Ritualism and tradition (Brierley) - 87% of 10-14 year olds found church boring and old fashioned, with traditional teachings not relating to their life

Individualisation (Collins-Mayo) - religion is now a personal choice rather than an expectation in postmodern society, whilst faith-based schools focus on moral messages rather than sacred fundamentals

Social class and religion - overview

In theory, religious participation is highest in in the most deprived classes to help cope with poverty and oppression, while the dominant class use it to establish hegemony and justify their power and control

In practice, religion is usually inclusive as it is experienced by all classes

Social class and religion - churches and denominations

•Upper, upper-middle class and women are all over-represented in churches

•YouGov (2015) found >60% of those attending church are middle class, whilst 38% are working class

•CofE leaders come from privileged backgrounds

•The working class had the lowest proportion of regular church goers

•Denominations appeal to higher and lower-middle classes

Social class and religion - sects, cults and new age

•Sects are most supported by the deprived and marginalised groups

•New age client cults and world-affirming NRMs appeal to affluent members of the middle class as they have to buy products to gain access in the hope of filling a spiritual void

•New age ideas, such as yoga, appeal mostly to middle class women whilst astrology appeal to the working class women

Evidence of secularisation UK

Long term:

1841 census - 40% attended church

2006 church census - 6%

Religious practice:

Less people now attend church, and less people go to church ceremonies such as baptisms

Religious influence:

Religion now has little influence on politics so our lives no longer revolve around it

Arguments against secularisation UK

Believing without belonging:

Davie: religious belief has become privatised but this does not necessarily mean a decline in personal religious belief. Vicarious religion is now the norm, in which the active minority pray on behalf of the community

Online religion:

Helland: globalisation and the media means many people now express religious beliefs online, and attendance can no longer measure religiosity

Religion online - movements communicate with followers

Online religion - online communities where people discuss beliefs

Evidence of secularisation USA

Wilson 1962:

45% americans attended church on sundays, possibly due to just following the way of American life rather than strong religious beliefs - it is secular as it is now superficial

Declining church attendance:

Hadaway et al: head counts and interviews suggested attendance was 83% higher than estimated but people have exaggerated church attendance since 1970s

Secularisation from within:

Bruce: religions go through a process of internal secularisation in order to stay relevant in modern society and remain popular

Religious diversity:

Bruce: found a trend of practical relativism - acceptance that others can hold different beliefs

Lynd and Lynd: in 1924, 94% of young churchgoers believed Christianity was the one true religion, but this dropped to 41% in 1977

Religion market theory: Stark and Bainbridge

Eurocentric secularisation:

The study of secularisation is Eurocentric so the research can not be applied to America

Religion tends to flow through cycles, temporary periods of secularisation and then a revival due to new religions and NAMs, rather than a golden age and gradually fading

Religious market theory:

Two assumptions about human nature and its influence on how people interact with religion: people are naturally religious so there is always a demand, and all humans want the biggest rewards for the smallest costs

Supply led religion:

European countries have one dominant religion but America has a supply-led religious market so have to compete for survival e.g. televangelism

Arguments for secularisation

•A decline in religious thinking and belief - internal secularisation

•A decline in religious belief - census show an attendance drop from 40% (1851) to 6% (2006)

•Wilson argues that a reduction in marriage, and increasing divorce and cohabitation are signs of secularisation

•Decline of power and influence - Wilson states that church is no longer involved in politics and politicians no longer aim to make policies suit religious beliefs

•Religion only has a symbolic meaning now as we take guidance from the mass media

Arguments against secularisation

•Religious thinking is not in decline - davie says religion is just taking a more privatised form

•Religious practice is not in decline - Roof and McKinney members of conservative protestant groups in the USA are more likely than other groups to attend church and strongly support traditional morality

•Institutions are not in decline - Televangelism has become so popular they are having to build megachurches