Final Exam

What is religion

system of belief and practice that define what ppl consider to be sacred or spiritual

Sacred vs. Profane

Sacred: has spiritual meaning

ex. The devil is sacred because it has a spiritual significance, but not moral good

Profane: no spiritual meaning

ex. Eating a quick snack while scrolling on your phone

Functionalist perspective on religion (what kinds of questions do functionalists ask
about religion?)

They believe religion is about helping the community function. Gives us common worldview and shared norms.

Functionalists ask how religion functions to keep society stable, unified, and meaningful.

How does it help with social cohesion, control?

What is its meaning and purpose?

Functionalism: Durkheim’s view of religion for early civilizations

- Early civilizations used religion to create morality and social solidarity. Religion gave people shared beliefs and rituals that united them.

-This changes as society evolves

Conflict theory and religion and lifeboat theology (problems of religion)

sees religion as a power to certain people, and ppl will accept inequality if their religion calls for it.

ex. In the U.S., slaveholders used Bible verses to argue that slavery was natural or God-approved.

Lifeboat theology: a worldview that treats society like a lifeboat with limited space.

People in the lifeboat = the wealthy, privileged, saved

People outside the lifeboat = the poor, marginalized, “undeserving.”

People focus so heavily on the afterlife that they become less motivated to help themselves or others who are suffering in the present.

ex. church leaders focusing on preaching but not feeding the hungry

Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic - what are some of the beliefs he says
Protestants have about money?

protestants’ view is that all jobs are callings from God and that he calls us to be stewards of our money.

If people aren’t financially well off, it is a punishment or earned

Marx’s views on religion (the cons and the pros Marx sees for religion)

Pros:

-Capitalism is soul-crushing and religion is a way to cope for this

-gives meaning in a world of alienation

Religion helps people emotionally survive a painful, unequal world.

Cons:

-used to harm people

-if everyone focuses on heaven no one will take action to try to fix things on earth

Religion prevents social change by encouraging people to accept suffering rather than resist it.

Symbolic interactionism and religion (what do symbolic interactionists look at with
religion/ what kinds of questions do they ask about religion?)

Study how people create, share, and interpret religious meanings through interaction.

-Things become sacred through interactions

,ex, Holy water, through repeated interaction, people treat it as sacred.

-Religious symbols and practices differentiate religions

Would ask…

How do things become sacred?

How does wearing a cross influence daily interactions?

How religions start

All religions start as cults

Cults (how sociologists define them)

they're small, have a distinct identity, follower organize their lives around the group, and
They may have a charismatic leader

Denominations

A branch of a larger religion that has its own unique beliefs and practices that differ from the main group.

ex: Jehovah’s Witnesses are an offshoot of Christianity with unique teachings about the end times

Ecclesia (state churches)

An official state religion that has special power and control because it’s supported by the government.

ex. King charles, The Church of England in the United Kingdom

Polytheism, atheism, monotheism, animism, toteism

Polytheism: belief in many gods

Atheism: belief in no gods

Monotheism: belief in one god

Animism: worship of the nonhuman natural world

Example: Indigenous religions that believe spirits live in rivers, mountains, animals, and trees.

Toteism: worship of the connection between humans and natural beings

Another example: Native American tribes with clan animals (like bear, wolf, or turtle).

Social stratification (what it is and what it’s based on)

a society’s categorization of its people into rankings

based on factors like:
• Wealth
• Income
• Education
• Family Background
• Power

Socioeconomic status (SES)

where you fall in the stratification (what your rank is)

Wealth vs income

Wealth: net value of money and assets a person has

ex. savings, property (houses), investments, cars, businesses, stocks, retirement accounts

Income: person’s wages or invest dividends

ex. Salary, wages, tips, commissions, government benefits (like Social Security), or money earned from a business.

Systems of stratification (closed vs open)

Closed systems: you can’t really move

ex. caste system in India

• People inherit their caste at birth.

• Occupation, marriage, and social interactions are restricted by caste.

Open system: you can move up based on achievement

ex. class systems in the U.S

• Education and career success can improve social standing.

• People are not strictly limited by the family they were born into.

Social mobility (upward, downward, intergenerational)

Definition: The movement of individuals or groups within a social hierarchy.

Upward: ability to move up the ladder

ex. A first-generation college student earns a degree and gets a higher-paying job than their parents.

Downward: moving down the ladder

ex. Losing a job or business, resulting in a lower income or status than before.

Intergenerational: Changes in social status from one generation to the next.

ex. Children achieving higher education and careers than their parents, improving the family’s social standing.

How America ranks compared to similar countries in terms of upward mobility (is it
better or worse than other countries?)

Worse

• The American “rags-to-riches” ideal is less attainable in practice than in many similar countries.

Standard of living

level of wealth available to acquire the material necessities and comforts to maintain a specific lifestyle

Absolute poverty

cannot afford basic necessities

Relative poverty

falls below 50% less income than the average median income

-basic needs sometimes met

Official poverty measure vs supplemental poverty measure (what are they? which
one accounts for taxes, housing costs, and location?)

Official poverty measure:

The traditional way the U.S. government measures poverty.

Based on: A set income threshold determined by pre-tax cash income needed to meet basic needs (food, shelter, clothing).

Limitations:

• Does not account for taxes, non-cash benefits (like food stamps), or regional differences in cost of living.

Supplemental poverty measure:

-based on post-tax income

Accounts for:

• Taxes paid and tax credits received

• Non-cash benefits (SNAP, housing assistance)

• Out-of-pocket medical expenses

• Differences in cost of living by location

Scarcity mindset (What is it? What’s an example?)

The negative psychological impact of obsessing over things you lack, whether its money, time, energy etc.

Ex. Someone constantly worries about money and refuses to spend on essentials or invest in opportunities because they fear running out, even if they have enough to manage

Feminization of poverty

women disproportionately make up the majority of individuals in
poverty across the globe and have a lower standard of living.

Class traits

aka class markers; the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class

ex. Upper middle class represents college education or higher

Davis-Moore thesis (what it is, what kinds of weaknesses does it have?)

which argued that the greater the functional importance of a social role, the greater must be the reward

ex. Being a surgeon is rewarded with high pay and prestige whereas being a cashier with not much pay or honor because education and sacrifices looks different for both

Weakness:

-not explains race and gender inequality

-not explain why essential workers don’t get paid well

Conflict perspective on social inequality/ social stratification

inequality and stratification benefit some people at the expense of others

– People are divided by those with wealth and power and those who don’t have it

Ex.

Wealthy elites influence policies, education, and job opportunities to protect their interests.

• Workers or lower-income groups often face barriers that make it hard to move up the social ladder.
  

Symbolic interactionist perspective on social inequality (what kinds of questions do
symbolic interactionists ask about social inequality)

our social class and status determine who we associate with and who we don’t

• How do people communicate status in everyday life?

• How does social inequality shape interactions, friendships, and dating?

• How do people perceive and react to others’ social class?

Conspicuous consumption

express our status through…

Conspicuous consumption: purchase and use of certain products to make a social statement about status.

Sex vs gender (ex. Which one are we talking about when we say “act like a man”?)

Sex: physical and biological differences in reproductive organs or differences in chromosomes

Gender: refers to behaviors, personal traits, and social positions that society associates with being feminine or masculine

-act like a man would fit here

Is what is considered feminine and masculine the same for all cultures and times?

No, it changes over time/ across cultures.

Sexuality

a person's capacity to experience sexual feelings and attraction

Sexual orientation

is a person's physical, mental, emotional, and sexual attraction to a particular sex/gender

Gender roles

society’s concept of how men and women are expected to look and how they should behave.

Gender identity

a person’s deeply held internal perception of one's gender.

Sexism

prejudiced beliefs that value one sex over another.prejudiced beliefs that value one sex
over another.

ex.This job is too demanding for a woman. We need a man who can handle pressure

Theoretical perspectives on gender (functionalist perspective, symbolic
interactionist perspective, conflict perspective)

Functionalist: differences in how the genders are treated shape how society functions

Symbolic: differences in how the genders are treated is because of differences in
meanings of interactions

Conflict: differences in how the genders are treated are because of imbalances of power

What does “doing gender” mean and what would be examples? Which perspective
does it belong to (functionalist, symbolic interactionist or conflict?)

Comes from a symbolic interactionist perspective
▪ Gender is socially constructed and performative
– We all perform our gender in specific ways

ex. A woman wearing makeup and dresses because society expects femininity.

ex. man being tough and not crying

Socialization (what is it, how do we learn it, what are institutions and what do they
do in relation to socialization?)

-learn what is normal and be proficient in society

learned through institutions (family, education, religion, economy, media, government and politics, and voluntary groups)

-shape us in significant ways

Race (is it real?)

way of categorizing people based on shared physical attributes or social characteristics

It is socially constructed so not real

Ethnicity

group of people who share a common cultural background

Ex. Asian is a race, but Han Chinese is an
ethnicity

Ex. race is latina but mexican is ethnicity instead of brazilian

Why we use language like “person of color”

used for people not considered “white”

Minority group

A group of people who are treated differently or unequally because of physical or cultural characteristics

Subordinate group

group getting discriminated against

Dominant group

group that has power and privilege in a society

Intersection theory

argues we cannot separate the effects of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other attribute

ex. A Black woman may experience discrimination differently than a white woman or a Black man because her race and her gender intersect.

you have to consider both at the same time.

Loving v Virginia (what it was about and what the results of the case were)

Richard Loving (a white man) and Mildred Loving (a Black woman) got married legally in Washington, D.C. When they returned to Virginia, they were arrested because Virginia had laws banning interracial marriage.

Lovings argued that these laws violated their 14th Amendment rights.

Resulted in…

Supreme Court Case that made interracial marriage legal (1967)

Stereotypes

oversimplified generalizations about people

ex. All Asian students are good at math.

Discrimination

actions against a group of people

ex. qualified woman being denied a promotion just because she is female.

Prejudice

beliefs, thoughts, or ideas someone holds about a group

– It's NOT based on experience, it's a prejudgment

ex. Feeling distrust or dislike toward immigrants without knowing them personally.

Racism

stronger type of prejudice and discrimination that claims one race is better or worse than others and uses that idea to justify unfair treatment.

ex. White people believed they were superior to Black people. This belief was used to justify laws that kept Black people from attending the same schools, eating in the same restaurants, or living in the same neighborhoods.

Individual vs systemic racism

Individual: racism between individuals

Systemic: When prejudice and discrimination are built into laws, policies, or institutions, giving some racial groups more power and opportunities than others.

White privilege (what it doesn’t mean and what it means, invisible knapsack)

Doesn’t mean: your life is problem-free if You're White.

What it means: you don't have the added issues of racial discrimination

invisible knapsack: white people
don't ask for it, aren't necessarily aware of it, but still
benefit from it

• Example: Walking into a store and knowing you are unlikely to be followed or harassed because of your skin color.

Historical racism

economic inequality or social disparity caused by past racism

ex. Black Americans having less wealth today because their ancestors were enslaved and denied opportunities

Cultural racism

when racism is built into the culture

ex. Media often promotes white beauty standards as “ideal,” making other races seem less valued.

Colorism

Form of racism within racial groups that discriminates based on how light or dark one's skin tone is

ex. In some communities, lighter-skinned people are treated as prettier or given better opportunities than darker-skinned people, even within the same racial group.

Colorblindness/ color-avoidance racism

avoiding talking about race and ignoring it as an issue

ex. Saying "I don't see color", "Or we're all the same which ignores real racial issues.

ex. A teacher refuses to acknowledge a student’s experience with racism, saying, “We treat everyone the same here,” instead of addressing the discrimination the student faced.

Pluralism (and why it’s difficult)

When all cultures, big and small, are respected and celebrated, mixing together like a “salad bowl.”

difficult:

It’s hard because people must respect different cultures even when beliefs or values clash.

Assimilation

process by which a minority individual or group gives up its own identity by taking on the characteristics of the dominant culture

ex. Immigrant families in the U.S. may stop speaking their native language at home and adopt English, celebrate American holidays, and dress like Americans so they fit in with the dominant culture.

Genocide

Intention to exterminate a group and the function of exterminating of a group, intentional or not

Expulsion

subordinate group being forced, by a dominant group, to leave a certain area or
country

ex. Japanese people removed after Pearl Harbor

Segregation (de jure and de facto)

De Jure: segregation (physical and spatial separation) supported by law

ex laws required Black and white people to use separate schools, bathrooms, and public spaces

De Facto: segregation supported by culture or through other legal loopholes

ex. Teacher’s husband at bowling alley

Redlining

Practice of denying services, like loans and mortgages, to residents of certain areas based on their race or ethnicity

ex. Banks in the U.S. often refused to give mortgages to Black families trying to buy homes in certain neighborhoods, even if they could afford them, making it hard for those communities to build wealth.

What does the Bible say about the things we do and our faith? (do our actions
matter? Does justice matter?)

Faith and action cannot be separated

Justice is a core expression of genuine faith.

Worship without justice is empty.

God identifies with the vulnerable and calls His people to do the same

Emmett Till and the results of the case against his murderers (and how it
demonstrates systemic racism)

Results:

• The killers were found “not guilty.”

• Later, they admitted to the murder in a magazine interview.

• They still were never punished.

How it demonstrates systemic racism:

• The justice system protected white men over Black victims.

• Racist laws and practices kept Black people off juries.

13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, 15th Amendment

13th:

-abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, except for those convicted of a crime

14th:

-grants citizenship to ppl born in US

-gives those born into slavery the right of citizenship and protections of being a citizen

– difficult to enforce at the state level

15th:

-right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by U.S or any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

-Poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy testing prevented many freed slaves from voting

What was Reconstruction and when did it end?

Period when the U.S. government tried to help African Americans gain equality by supporting education, voting rights, and building schools and other institutions for people who had been enslaved.

Ended in 1865 -1877

Jim Crow Laws

a legal system in the Southern States to reinforce separation of races through segregation

justified under “separate but equal”, though resources for African Americans
were often significantly under-funded

Sharecropping

landowner let a farmer use the land, and in return the farmer had to give the landowner part of the crops they grew

kept many in debt

Differences between Christians and non-Christians and believing the U.S. has been
oppressive to minorities

Christians: disagreed

Non Christians: agreed

in reality the U.S has been very opressive

Differences between Christians and non-Christians in their motivation to deal with
racial injustice

Christians: lower motivation

• Black Christians stand out as the group most motivated to address racial injustice.

• White Christians are the least motivated.

Non Christians: higher motivation

Differences between Christians and non-Christians in their beliefs about racial
wealth disparities

Christians:

White Christians: more likely to blame individuals for racial wealth gaps.

Black Christians: strongest recognition of structural racism.

Christians of color: more likely to blame systems and history.

Non Christians:

Non-Christians: more likely to blame systems and history.

Data sources used in Faithful Anti-Racism

1) Race, Religion, and Justice Project (2019-2020)- the RRJP was a two-year, national research project

2) Renew Partnerships Campus Climate Survey (2016-2020)

3) Barna Group research

Structural vs non-structural explanations for racial inequalities (what do structural
arguments look at and what do non-structural arguments blame for inequality?)

Structural: focused on how society is structured and functions

The system creates inequality.

Non-structural: points to individuals or relies on assumptions about groups of people’s behavior and values

People’s behavior creates inequality.

Cultural Toolkit (what it is, what are some problems with it?)

What is it:

Culture gives people a set of tools—values, beliefs, habits, stories, symbols, and ways of thinking—that they draw on to make sense of the world and to guide their actions.

Problems:

-Christians put a strong emphasis on just addressing race with being kind to others and being friends

Influences of organizations and institutions
– We are constantly socialized by the media, our political system, etc. and those often provide inaccurate information about racial groups

Two types of justice in the Bible (vertical and horizontal)

Vertical: Justice between God and humanity

Horizontal: Justice between humans and humans

Christian views on following the Bible to determine right from wrong (do most
Christians agree we should use the Bible to determine right from wrong or not?)

Yes, most of them agreed always or sometimes should

Christian views on laws protecting immigrants (is this different when people read
scriptures about protecting immigrants?)

Mostly all disagreed the amount of people that agreed decreased but when presented with scriputed the amount of people that agreed increased again

Why is it important to talk about the past?

-helps us understand the present,

-prevents repeated harm,

-exposes injustice, honors those who came before us, and

-creates the possibility for healing and change.

We have to understand the past if we want to learn from it

How have Christians played a role historically in issues of race?

it's complicated- Christians have done a lot to try to address racial injustice, but they've also done a lot to create and support injustices!

Colorblind racism/ colorblindness

belief that the best way to treat everyone equally is to “not see race.”

-racial conversations and practices are hidden
▪ Racial terms are avoided
▪ White people say they are experiencing reverse racism
▪ Race and politics are connected in hidden or coded ways
▪ New terminology is used for Jim-Crow like practices

Tokenism

Symbolic gestures that make it look like progress is happening, but nothing truly changes. People from a certain group are put in positions that seem like they have power, but they don’t actually have real authority

ex. The company hires one person of color for a high-visibility role and calls it “diversity,”
but that person isn’t given real decision-making power and can’t influence policies

Are most people more dedicated to their religious beliefs or their political ones?

Mostly dedicated to political belief

What is racial trauma? What kinds of impact does it have?

cumulative effects of personal and systemic racism.

impacts…

mental, physical, and spirtual wellbeing and health

What did the early church do in terms of caring for one another’s needs?

-prayed for one another and relied on God’s power

-oppressed spoke and an opressers listened

-shared leadership and financial resources

-prioritized social justice

-practiced accomodation not assimilation presso

What are things the authors’ give that they say will disrupt religious forces that
perpetuate racial injustice (chapter 11)?

-pray for grace,humility, patience and love

-focus on teachings in the bible

-avoid being part of religious organizations that support injustice