1025 week 10 ch. 15 tb

Questioning religion was allowed, but guidance from religious authorities was expected.

Religious attitudes today

• Today, religion is much more ___ and flexible.

• Common modern attitudes toward religion include - People want to experiment with different religious traditions.

• Individuals seek spirituality that feels personally meaningful.

Many believe church is not necessary to connect with God.

individualized

growth of ___

people who report no religious affiliation on surveys or censuses.

religious nones

Three Major Religious Changes in Canada

1. Rise of the religious nones

• The __ religious group in Canada is now people with no religion

largest

2. Decline of _____

• Two historically dominant groups declined: Roman Catholics & Protestants and other Christian denominations

This is significant because: Canada was historically divided between French Catholic settlers and English Protestant settlers

christianity

3. Increasing religious ___

• Smaller religious groups are growing: Growth occurred among: Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Traditional Indigenous religions, Other religions

• Reasons include: Immigration from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

  • Earlier immigration restrictions based on racist ideologies prevented these groups from entering Canada.

Today immigration contributes to greater cultural and religious diversity.

diversity

Sociology and Religion

• Sociologists treat religion as a social ___ created by people.

Therefore religion: Changes as society changes and Appears in many forms and meanings

institution

Important: Sociology does not ___ the truth of religious beliefs.

Questions about whether religion is true belong to faith, not scientific study.

evaluate

Theoretical Approaches to Religion

Durkheim’s Functionalist Approach

• Durkheim believed religion strengthens social ___ and ___.

• To illustrate this, the textbook uses the example of Canadian hockey culture.

• Many people call hockey Canada’s “national religion.”

• The Stanley Cup playoffs attract huge audiences.

• Canadians feel strong emotional investment in teams.

unity, solidarity

Collective Effervescence

• Durkheim argued that shared social experiences create collective effervescence.

• Collective effervescence: A powerful feeling of ____ and unity people experience when they gather and share the same beliefs, emotions, and ____.

• Examples - Sporting events (____), Religious ceremonies, National celebrations

During these moments people feel part of something larger than themselves.

energy, activities, olympics

___comprises the common sentiments and values that people share as a result of ___ together.

The shared values and moral beliefs that unite members of a society. These shared values are greater than any single individual.

collective conscience, living

Durkheim argued religion separates life into two realms:

• ____ - The religious or transcendent world

  • Objects, ideas, and symbols treated with special reverence

____ - The ordinary/secular, everyday world

sacred, profane

__

• Objects that symbolize the sacred.

• Examples in hockey - The Stanley Cup trophy, Team logos and insignia

These represent: Group identity, Cultural values, Shared beliefs

totems

• ____public practices designed to connect people to the sacred, according to Durkheim.

• Religious ceremonies, Watching hockey games, Singing national anthems 

• Rituals- Temporarily suspend normal daily life, Strengthen social unity, Reinforce shared values

• Ex. remembrance day, singing national anthem at assembly

rituals

Durkheim’s Conclusion

• Religion functions to reinforce social ___ Through: Symbols, Rituals and Shared emotional experiences; religion binds society together.

Durkheim believed the Stanley Cup playoffs could be understood as a ___-religious event because they produce the same collective unity and symbolic meaning as religious rituals.

solidarity, quasi

Critiques of Durkheim (Conflict & Feminist Theory)

• Conflict and feminist theorists argue that Durkheim’s theory has two major weaknesses.

• Criticism 1: Religion can create ____

Durkheim focused on social cohesion, but religion can also produce: Religious wars, Political conflicts and Disputes between religious groups

Criticism 2: Religion can reinforce inequality

Even when religion creates unity, it can maintain social ____, including: Gender inequality, Class inequality, Caste systems, Political domination

conflict, hierarchies

judaism

• Originated about 4000 years ago in present-day iraq. Founded when Abraham proclaimed belief in one God. Later, Moses led Jews out of slavery in Egypt.

• Key beliefs - One God (_____), Emphasis on freedom, justice, and equality

• Religious laws contained in 613 commandments (mitzvot) in the torah

• Major divisions - Orthodox ____, Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Reconstructionism, Chasidic sects

yahweh, judaism

christianity

• Began around 35 CE in present-day Israel. Founded on teachings of Jesus.

• Key teachings - Love God and Love your neighbour

• Jesus emphasized: Inner _____, not just outward ritual behavior.

• Historical development - Became a state religion of the Roman ___ in 312 CE.

• Split into major branches: Catholic, _____, Eastern orthodox

Protestantism later divided into many denominations.

conviction, empire, protestant

• ___

• Originated around 600 CE in Saudi Arabia. Founded by muhammad, who claimed to receive visions from God.

• Core duties of Muslims (Five Pillars) - Recite the Muslim creed, Pray five times daily, Fast during ramadan, Give charity to the poor, Make a pilgrimage to mecca

• Sacred text - The qur’an

• Major divisions - sunni (largest group) and Shi’a; additional sects include: Wahhabism, Sufism

islam

• ___

• Originated around 2000 BCE in ____. Has no single ____.

• Key beliefs - ____ gods representing aspects of one ultimate God, Belief in _____, Spiritual goal is nirvana, escaping the cycle of rebirth.

• Social implications - Traditional Hindu beliefs supported the ____ system. Social mobility was discouraged because one’s status was seen as spiritually determined.

Religious ____ - Hinduism often ____ other religious practices rather than rejecting them.

hinduism, india, founder, many, reincarnation, caste, tolerance, absorb

buddhism

• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (____) around 480–400 BCE.

• Buddha’s teachings: The Four Noble ___ - Life involves suffering. Suffering arises from ____ reality. Suffering ends when desire and ignorance end. The path to enlightenment involves moral living, ____, and wisdom.

• Key features - Does not emphasize belief in a single god. Anyone can achieve enlightenment. Spread widely throughout East and Southeast Asia.

Buddhism often ___ with other religious traditions.

buddha, truths, , misunderstanding, meditation, coexists

routinization of ____

• Weber’s term for the transformation of divine ____ into a permanent feature of everyday life. 

  • The process through which the inspiring leadership and spiritual message of a religious founder becomes _____ into an organized religion.

  • This means: The original divine inspiration becomes ____ and routine.

Religion becomes a permanent social institution.

charisma, enlightenment, institutionalized, structured

Institutionalization includes: Formal religious ____ - priests, teachers, interpreters of divine messages AND organized ____ structures, rules and doctrines, regularized practices

Consequences

Once charisma becomes routinized: Religion often becomes: less responsive to ordinary people, more bureaucratic, more supportive of existing inequalities

roles, membership

Religion and the Subordination of Women

Marx’s View

• Karl Marx argued religion can maintain inequality.

• Famous quote - Religion is “the opium of the people.”

Meaning: Religion can ____ the oppressed But also encourage people to accept injustice instead of challenging it.

comfort

___the extent to which religion is important to people

• Earlier research found: Women are more religious than men.

• Examples: Women pray more often. Women attend church more frequently

• Some scholars explained this through: 

  • Biological explanation - Women may be naturally more religious.

Socialization explanation - Women are socialized as caregivers, making them more open to religion.

religiosity

Most studies were conducted in Christian-majority societies (US and Europe).

Examples of Context-Specific Differences

• Israel (____ majority) - Men attend services more often. Men pray more frequently

• Muslim-majority countries - Men attend mosque services more frequently. Daily prayer rates are similar for men and women

• Sociological Explanation - Religions operate as _____ institutions.

  • This means: Religious organizations create different expectations for men and women.

  • Examples: Christian women may express religiosity through prayer and church attendance. Orthodox Jewish men are required to pray daily, while women are not.

Thus - Men and women practice religion in ways consistent with gender expectations in their communities.

jewish, gendered

Religion and Class Inequality

• After routinization, religions may also justify class inequality.

• Christianity - The Bible promises rewards to the poor in the afterlife.

  • Example - “The meek shall inherit the earth.”

• Hinduism - Traditional beliefs support the caste system.

  • Caste origin myth: highest caste from creator’s ____, next from shoulders, next from thighs, lowest caste from feet

  • Trying to move upward risks reincarnation as an ____.

Islam - The Qur’an states social inequality reflects the will of ___

lips, animal, Allah

Religion and Social Conflict

• A ____ is defined as: bureaucratic religious organization that has accommodated itself to mainstream society and culture.

• Churches often: support social order, reinforce inequalities

But religion can also inspire social protest.

church

•  _____A set of values emphasizing - hard work, discipline, punctuality, frugality

• These values were associated with followers of John Calvin.

• Calvinists believed success might signal being chosen by God, so they worked intensely.

protestant ethic

Weber’s conclusion

• ____ developed most strongly where: Economic conditions were favorable And The Protestant ethic was influential

Later research shows the relationship is weaker than Weber suggested, but the theory still demonstrates how ___ ideas influence economic behaviour.

capitalism, religious

Religious Organization

• Sociologists classify religious groups using the

church-sect typology

large bureaucratic organization, integrated into mainstream society, formal leadership hierarchy, stable for centuries

church

____

• Formed when a group ___ away from a church because of ____ about church doctrine and are less integrated into society and less bureaucratized than churches are.

• A sect forms when a group breaks away from a church.

• Characteristics: high ____ with society, rejects mainstream culture, seeks a return to ___ religious principles, less ___

sect, breaks, disagreement, tension, original, bureaucratic

new religious movements (NRMs)

• Groups headed by ____ leaders with a unique religious vision that rejects mainstream ____ and society.

• NRMs are new religions that do not originate from a ___ within a church.

  • charismatic leadership, new religious vision, high tension with ___ culture

charismatic, culture, split, mainstream

Possible Outcomes for Sects and NRMs

1. ____

• Most movements fail and disappear.

disappearance

what can come out of sects and NRMs

2. Become a _____

• Somewhere between church and sect, does not seek to distance itself from the world, is bureaucratically organized, and generally maintains a tolerant relationship with other denominations.

• A religious organization that lies between church and sect.

• Bureaucratically organized, ___ in mainstream society, ___ of other denominations

• Examples - ____, Lutheran, United Church, presbyterian

denomiantion, accepted, tolerant, baptist

what can come out of sects and NRMs

_______

• Some groups remain ___ from society.

• ____ colonies, Hasidic Jewish communities

• They maintain ___ rules about: dress, diet, ____, interaction with ____

institutionalized isolation, separate, hutterite, strict, prayer, outsiders

example of institutionalized isolation

Example: scientology

• Scientology was founded in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard.

• Core belief: Humans are ____ beings who must undergo ___ to remove negative energy.

• Issues: highly bureaucratic, ____ membership process, declining membership

Many governments do not ___ it as a religion.

immortal, auditing, expensive, recognize

The _____ ____

• Predicts that ____ institutions, behaviour, and ____ are on the ____ worldwide and will one day likely ____ altogether.

• The secularization thesis argues that ____ leads to a decline in religion.

• Modern forces reducing religion include: ____, ____ thinking, modernization

Some theorists predicted religion would eventually disappear.

secularization thesis, religious, consciousness, decline, disappear, modernization, science, rational

Challenges to the Secularization Thesis

• Evidence contradicting the theory - religious revivals, continued religious influence worldwide

Some sociologists declared secularization a __ theory.

failed

New Perspectives on Religion

• _____ Theory - follows classic secularization thesis, by predicting a longstanding, progressive and generational ____ in religion over time.

Predicts long-term generational decline in religion.

secular transition, decline

_____ Theory

• Instead of being constrained to act according to traditional norms and values, people have greater _____ to decide who they are and what they want to be.

• Post-secular the co-existence and ____ of religious and ____ tendencies in society.

• Religion is not disappearing but _____ form.

People replace organized religion with personal ____.

individualization, freedom, co-mingling, secular, changing, spirituality

Post-Secular Era

Society may be entering a post-secular era, where religion declines in some ways but ___ in new forms.

reappears

______

• People who identify with no religion on surveys or censuses.

• They are a socially constructed category because they exist only through ____ classification.

Nones are now the largest religious group in Canada, the US, and the UK.

religious nones, survey

Why religious Nones Are Increasing

1. Religion has become ____ from other social institutions

2. Social pressure to be religious has ____

3. Children raised without religion usually remain non-religious

Religion is partly ____ behaviour.

separate, declined, learned

Demographics of Religious Nones

• Nones are more likely to be ____, under 35, unmarried, Canadian-born, politically ____

• Highest concentration: _____

Lowest concentration: Newfoundland and Labrador

male, liberal, BC

Diversity Among Nones

Religiosity is measured using three Bs:

1. ___ - Religious affiliation.

2. ____ - Belief in God or religious teachings.

3. ____ - Participation in religious practices.

belonging, belief, behaviour

Types of Nones

• ____ - Reject belief in God.

Example: New Atheist movement

atheists

types of nones

• ______ - Sunday Assembly

  • Provides: inspirational talks, community gatherings, no references to God

secular communities

types of nones

• _____ (SBNR)

  • People who: reject religious institutions, pursue personal spiritual practices

  • Common practices: meditation, prayer, ___ spirituality

spiritual but not religious, self-guided

Evidence: rise of religious nones, declining church attendance

retreat of religion

• Religion is changing forms.

  • religious apps (IConfess, Buddhify), online religious identities, mixing beliefs from multiple traditions

reinvention of religion

• Some believers become more committed and politically active.

  • Moral Majority movement in the US

resurgence of religion

• An ideology that advocates civic life be melded to a particular type of Christian identity and culture.

• An ideology arguing that national identity should be based on Christianity.

It has influenced - American politics and Supreme Court decisions such as overturning abortion rights (2022).

christian nationalism

Religious _____ (____) 

• Occurs when a population becomes increasingly split between the two poles of the unaffiliated and religiously committed.

• Society becomes divided between - strongly religious and strongly non-religious groups

This leads to political conflicts over religion.

polarization, dispersion

• The law bans public workers from wearing religious symbols.

  • Hijabs, turbans, crosses (me in Quebec as a construction worker wouldn’t be able to wear a cross) 

• Supporters argue it promotes: secular government, equality, neutrality
  
  

• Critics argue it violates: freedom of religion and minority rights

The law disproportionately affects Muslim women.

quebec religious symbols law

• Market theory treats religion like a marketplace.

• Religious organizations are suppliers, offering services such as: counselling, youth programs, social groups, religious guidance

People choose religions like consumers.

market theory of religion

market predictions

• Religious ____ - One dominant religion → low religiosity.

  • Sweden’s state church.

monopolies

market predictions

• ____ - Multiple religions competing → higher religiosity.

  • Canada and the United States.

religious competitions

Criticisms of Market Theory

• Religion is not simply a consumer choice.

• Other factors matter, such as - ___, cultural identity, personal meaning

• Therefore many sociologists ____ the theory.

immigration, reject

Research from Pew shows:

• Government restrictions on religion ___ from 2007–2020

• Social hostility fluctuates but remains high

increased

the diverse array of religions and religious beliefs in a given area.

religious pluaralism

Durkheim argued that the main function of religion is to increase social cohesion by providing ritualized opportunities for people to experience the

collective conscience

new-post secular era three tendencies

retreat, reinvention, resurgence of religion

1.  Government restrictions on religious minorities and social hostilities between religious groups have fluctuated over the short-term but are largely ___.

stable