SOC100 TEST 4 (Chapter 13) / UNFINISHED

What did Max Weber popularize and what does it mean? Did he advocate for it

“Disenchantment” describes the decline of religious and supernatural explanations for the world

- No, he did not. He felt the world is becoming less mystical, and scientific advancements have made our world more knowable and predictable.

What is the secularization and desecularization debate?

Some argue that the world is getting more secular and some argue that the world is getting less secular

What does secularization argue?

- The world is becoming more secular

- Religion is losing its importance in society

- Religious organizations are becoming less powerful and less relevant to public life.

How does the secular side know this? What is the world becoming and what does this mean?

- Less people are coming to religious places like church across Canada, the United States, and other countries

- People are less likely to affiliate themselves with religion in general meaning that religion is less important in their lives and more people have no belief in religion aka deaffiliation

- The world is becoming more rational, scientific, democratic, prosperous, and differentiated meaning that they need

What does the desecular side argue?

- That the world is as furiously as religious as ever

- Religion is becoming more important in people's lives

- The resurgence of the importance of religion in the public sphere and people’s private lives

- The separation between religion and public life was never as clear as once thought

What is the world becoming and what does this mean to the desecular side?

- How religions around the world are increasing in their political influence, economic prosperity, and industrial development occurring alongside strong growth in religion

- A massive resurgence of Christianity in lower-income countries, often referred to as the Global South

- Large segments of the Chinese population reporting that religion is important.

How would the desecular side argue against the secular side?

These scholars argue that any evidence of growing secularization, like in Canada, is the exception rather than the rule.

Can you define religion?

There is an immense variety of religions and spiritual beliefs that assume an equally immense variety of forms.

Efforts to develop a single definition that captures all of them have so far been unsatisfactory.

- Think of sports, how would you define sports? Many disagree that arm wrestling is a sport, but they are professionals in it or if sport is anything that involves physical exertion, wouldn't anything be a sport?

Were there efforts by sociologists to define religion?

Yes.

How did Weber (1920) define religion?

He did not define religion but instead suggested that sociologists focus on the conditions and effects of the social behaviour of religion.

How did Durkheim (1995) define religion in relation to Weber?

On the other hand, defined religion broadly as the beliefs and practices that distinguish sacred from everyday things.

How did Aldridge (2007) define religion in relation to Durkheim?

He thinks that Durkheim's definition is so broad that it could encompass nearly anything, and it excludes fundamental ideas like gods, the afterlife, or transcendence (experiences beyond the material world)

What is the contemporary definition of religion?

It tends to either focus on what religion does (shapes our struggles with the ultimate problems of life, for example), or what religion is (distinctions between natural and supernatural worlds, and the language and symbols used to convey that distinction).

How do we define religion now?

- In the end, scholars cannot agree on a single definition or on the different elements that should be present in a definition.

- Instead, like with sports, sociologists have realized that no single definition will capture all of the complexity and diversity of religious or spiritual beliefs. Like with sports, many people use the term “religion” in commonly understood ways, rendering a definition unnecessary (Martin 2012).

Are sociologists supposed to distinguish between and classify religious organization? How, if so?

- Yes
- Based on their size, power, and influence

What is the most significant typology in sociology?

The church-sect distinction

What is a church and what is it subdivided into?

- A church is a bureaucratic religious organization with a positive relationship to society and the state.

- Church is subdivided into ecclesia and denomination.

What is a ecclesia?

Ecclesia means In effect, refers to a religious organization that is a formal part of the state.
It is a state religion that may count most or all members of society as members.

Give an example of an ecclesia.

The Anglican Church in England is an example of ecclesia, where the reigning monarch is the supreme governor of the Church. Another example of the relationship between state and religion comes from Saudi Arabia, where Islam is the state religion.

What is a denomination?

A denomination is a subgroup within a religion. It is large, bureaucratically organized, and integrated into the wider society, though it is not an official state religion.

Give an example of a denomination.

- Judaism (in this example, a “church”) has distinct denominations, including Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform.

- In Islam, the two major denominations are Sunni and Shia. Sunnis believe that Abu Bakr, a friend of the Prophet Muhammad and father of his wife, Aisha, is the rightful successor of Islam, whereas Shia Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, is the rightful successor.

What are denominations characterized by?

Denominations are often characterized by differences in some of their core beliefs.

What is a sect?

A sect is a religious group that has broken away from a major religious organization. Typically, sects form when members break away from a larger denomination because they disagree with elements of the parent religion or because they wish to reassert what they believe are the original views of the religion.

What is an example of a sect?

For example, the Westboro Baptist Church is an American sect known for hate speech against members of the LGBTQ community, other religious groups, and the US government. While their name links them to Baptist denominations, they are not affiliated with any Christian groups.

Can a sect grow into a denomination or even a ecclesia? Give an example.

A sect may grow in popularity and transform into a larger denomination, or even ecclesia. For example, the Salafi movement (also known as Wahhabism) is a sect of Sunni Islam that advocates a return to conservative practices of Islam. Wahhabism later became the state religion of Saudi Arabia (ecclesia).

What is a cult?

A cult is a small, less organized religious group that emphasizes private, personal beliefs.

What new term do sociologists use for cult? Why do they use it and what does it mean?

- New Religious Movement

- Sociologists have argued that the word “cult” is a loaded term used to negatively label religious movements and dehumanize the members of religious communities so labelled

- New religious movements are modern religions or belief system that are made of converts (as opposed to being born into the religion), attract an atypical segment of the population, and have charismatic leaders that have more authority over members’ lives compared to more traditional religious leaders like priests or ministers (Barker 2014).

Are NRMs new religions? Are they misunderstood? Are they similar to older religions? How or how not?

- Yes.

- Like many young religions, they are often misunderstood and mistrusted and have beliefs and lifestyles that seem odd to the public.

- However, NRMs are not much different from more traditional religions. Secret teachings, strong bonds with charismatic leaders, and different lifestyles all characterize NRMs as much as they characterized traditional religions as they first emerged.

What is the unification church founded in South Korea? What is it about and what do people think about it?

The Unification Church founded in South Korea by self-proclaimed messiah Sun Myung Moon. Moon claimed to have been personally called upon by Jesus to complete his unfinished work.

- While largely Christian and conservative, the Unification Church has theological differences that distinguish it from traditional protestant Christian churches and, for a long time, was rejected as nothing more than a Christian cult

How is the Unification Church different from religions like Islam or
traditional Christianity? What did Christianity and Islam start out as?

It isn't

Since its modest founding in 1954, the Unification Church has become a worldwide religion with between one and three million adherents.

In this sense, the Unification Church is not much different from most major world religions.

Islam and Christianity, for example, both began as NRMs. Their teachings differed from the mainstream of their day, they drew suspicion and contempt, and they attracted small groups of people to a single charismatic leader

What was the name of the benign Quebec-based NRM? Who was it founded by?

The Raelians, was founded by Claude Vorilhon (called Rael) after he claimed to have been visited by aliens.

What is Raelianisism about and how is it similar to religions like Christianity or Buddhism?

Rael teaches that life was created by extraterrestrials called the Elohim using cloning technology. Among the Elohim were Moses, Jesus, Buddha, and others, who were sent to Earth to help guide humanity. Although it seems like a bizarre UFO cult, Raelianism has much in common with early traditional religions, including contempt from the wider public and borrowing from existing traditions.

Is Raelianisism supernatural? Is it falling outisde mainstream religion? How or how not?

Raelianism is not supernatural, but it does have its origins in interpretations of the Christian Bible (Gallagher 2010). While we often think of NRMs as falling outside of mainstream religion, sociological research has shown that little distinguishes the two (Zeller 2015).

What are two cults that are connected to Canada? Do they fit the description of what most think is a cult (brainwashing manipulative leaders, sexual deviance, abuse, financial rackets, bizarre beliefs, violence, crime, and sometimes suicide)?

- NXIVM and The Order of the Solar Temple

- Yes

What is the NXIVM? What did it look like and what was it really?

NXIVM (Nexium) looked like a marketing company offering executive and personal development seminars.

However, NXIVM and its leader, Keith Raniere, were brainwashing recruits and grooming them for sex (Chavez 2019).

Raniere recruited women into a secret sorority within NXIVM for his own sexual pleasure; had sexual relations with girls as young as 15; demanded “collateral” in the form of nude photos, access to bank accounts, or damaging admissions in order to secure loyalty; held people against their will; and cut off access to the outside world. He even had the women who were part of this secret sorority branded with his initials.

How was NXIVM connected to Canada?

NXIVM’s Canadian connection was that the Vancouver branch of NXIVM had recruited Canadian actors Kristin Kruek, Sarah Edmondson, and Allison Mack. Mack later became an enthusiastic NXIVM recruiter who was eventually charged with sex trafficking and forced labour (CBC 2019).

What was the Order of the Solar Temple? When and where was it active?

The Order of the Solar Temple was a Christian-based doomsday cult with ties to Quebec. Active from 1984 to the 1990s, this cult is most famous for a series of murders and suicides that saw the death of several dozen people in Canada, France, and Switzerland.

What were the gruesome deaths due to the Order of the Solar Temple?

One of the most gruesome murders was of an infant, Emmanuel Dutoit, who was ritually stabbed to death when cult leader Joseph Di Mambro declared him to be the antichrist.

Among those who died were Robert Ostiguy, the mayor of Richelieu, Quebec, his wife Francoise, and Quebec Ministry of Finance accountant Robert Falardeau, who assumed a leadership position in the cult.

Who were the Order of the Solar Temple threatening?

The cult was involved in threatening Quebec politicians, bombing Hydro Quebec transmission towers, and plotting to obliterate Indigenous reserves (Hunter 2019).

What type of people are drawn into cults and how? What do cult leaders do to draw them in?

Most cult members are of above-average intelligence and come from stable backgrounds.

Despite their backgrounds, however, many who join cults are searching for community, are more impressionable or have experienced recent stress in their lives.

Cult leaders and recruiters offer persuasive messages that seem to fill a void in people’s lives

What do cult leaders capitalize on in regards to wealthy cult members? Who usually invites cult members?

Cult recruiters capitalize on feelings of guilt and self-doubt to lure them in.

Most people, according to Lalich, are recruited by friends, family, or co-workers.

What are some of the reasons why people want to stay in cults?

- Cults have charming, charismatic leaders who are expert manipulators

- They have strong indoctrination programs that brainwash members

- They have a system of control that includes cutting off ties to a previous life

- They have systems of influence based on peer pressure from within the cult

What psychological barriers do cults use, instead of physical ones? What people group does it usually exploit and how?

- Brainwashing, persuasion, spiritual beliefs, and peer pressure

- Women: some cult teachings and peer pressure from within the cult normalize the sexual exploitation of female cult members

What was the old way of getting people out of cults and why did they stop doing it?

In the past, distraught families would hire “deprogrammers” to kidnap cult members and deprogram or undo the cult’s influence over them. This practice was abandoned because kidnapping and forcible confinement violated the law and subjected deprogrammers to lawsuits, and because of its questionable effectiveness.

What is Lalich's better way of getting people out of cults?

Lalich’s research suggests the following: stay in touch and remind the person of the world beyond the cult:

- Through email, calls, letters, texts, photos, and so on

- Use exit counselling: involving therapists and family rather than removing them forcibly

- Get one-on-one time where you can, and present anti-cult evidence (video testimony from ex-cult members is especially effective)

- Finally, try to set up a good-cop, bad-cop dynamic with friends or family, where one person is more forceful while another is warmer, willing to listen, and non-judgemental

What is the description for Christianity?

Originated about 2,000 years ago. Believe in one God, and that salvation is reached by following the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is the son of god. Their core religious text is the Bible. Christianity is one of the Abrahamic religions.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Christianity?

2,300

What is the percent of the Global population for Christianity?

31.2

What is the description for Islam?

Originated about 1,400 years ago. Believe in one God (Allah) and god’s prophets, the last of which is Prophet Muhammed. Their core religious text is the Quran. Islam is one of the Abrahamic religions.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Islam?

1,800

What is the percent of the Global population for Islam?

24.1

What is the description for Unaffiliated?

A broad category consisting of atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, non-believers, and those who do not identify with any religious group.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Unaffiliated?

1,200

What is the percent of the Global population for Unaffiliated?

16

What is the description for Hinduism?

Origin is uncertain, but it is believed that some elements of Hinduism are 3,500 years old. It is a fusion of various Indian cultures, beliefs, and traditions, with no single founder and no single core text. Believe in a supreme God (Brahman), which has various aspects that manifest as other deities, like Vishnu and Ganesh. Some important texts include the Vedas and Upanishads.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Hinduism?

1,100

What is the percent of the Global population for Hinduism?

15.1

What is the description for Buddhism?

Originated about 2,500 years ago. It is a fusion of various Indian practices, beliefs, and traditions based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Buddhists seek enlightenment through spiritual development. They do not worship gods. Their core texts are known as the Tripitaka.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Buddhism?

50

What is the percent of the Global population for Buddhism?

6.9

What is the description for Folk Religions?

A mix of local beliefs, traditions, customs, and mythologies. These include a wide range of folk and traditional religions such as African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Japanese Shinto, and Indigenous religious. It also includes local variations of world religions, such as folk Islam or folk Christianity.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Folk Religions?

400

What is the percent of the Global population for Folk Religions?

5.7

What is the description for Other Religions?

A catchall category for countless other religions, such as Jainism, Wicca, Zoroastrianism, Rastafarianism, and Paganism. Some, like Sikhism with nearly 30 million followers, are quite prominent.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Other Religions?

100

What is the percent of the Global population for Other Religions?

0.8

What is the description for Judaism?

Originated about 3,500 years ago. Believe in one God (Yahweh) and god’s prophets, especially Moses. Believe that they have a covenant with God as God’s chosen people. Their core religious text is the Torah. Judaism is the original Abrahamic religion.

What is the estimated number of adherents (in Millions) for Judaism?

1

What is the percent of the Global population for Judaism?

0.2

Is there significant variation in the distribution of religious groups across the world?

Yes.
Some, like Hindus and Buddhists, are concentrated almost entirely in the Asia-Pacific region, along with most folk religions, three-quarters of the world’s religiously unaffiliated, two-third of the world's Muslims, and the majority of other world religions (Pew Research Center 2017a).

What is the most evenly dispersed religion in the world?

Christianity with nearly equal numbers found in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Is Canada majority Christian?

Yes, but it is home to a multitude of beliefs and religion like Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Wicca, Shamanism, and others.

Many of these religions have complex and interconnected histories in Canada.

Give an example of how categorization in charts isn't really accurate in regard to the Indigenous people.

Indigenous belief systems, for example, would be classified as “folk religions” in the above table, with their own distinct sets of beliefs and practices.

This categorization, however, fails to capture the complexity of Indigenous religion and spirituality.

Can you define spirituality? What is the "definition" we have for spirituality?

Like religion, spirituality is nearly impossible to define

But often includes a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than oneself, and often refers to efforts to find meaning for existence within or outside of organized religions.

What is indigenous spirituality conceptualized as? What does it give meaning to?

- Indigenous spirituality is conceptualized as part of life and community, as connected to the land and daily rituals and routines (Neeganagwedgin 2013).

- It provides meaning, understanding, values, and ways of living.

Is indigenous spirituality different than general spirituality? Give an example.

- Indigenous spirituality is often more complex and more closely integrated with culture and ways of living than the general concept of spirituality denotes

- It often requires a more comprehensive and holistic approach to understand (Fleming and Ledogar 2008).

- For example, the degree of enculturation—how spirituality is integrated with culture—can have profoundly beneficial effects on the lives of young Indigenous Peoples.

What did colonial efforts do to Indigenous beliefs? Could it be wholly suppressed? How or how not?

- Indigenous spirituality was significantly undermined by colonialist efforts to eradicate Indigenous culture and religion.

- Despite this, Indigenous spirituality could not be wholly suppressed.

- Indeed, beliefs have been transformed over time due to colonization efforts, and due to the intermixing of Indigenous spirituality with colonizer faiths that were forced upon Indigenous people.

What is the first example of colonization affected Indigenous beliefs? What did it lead to?

- It also had the effect of spreading ideas, practices, and beliefs across many different Indigenous nations, especially through the establishment of the reserve and residential school systems.

- This diffusion of spiritual practices was also a reaction to how Europeans lumped the many Indigenous groups together as simply “Indians.”

- This led to a unification of identity as “Indian” in opposition to Europeans and to some extent a unification of spirituality across the country as a form of resistance against colonialism (Fonda 2016).

What are some examples of ideas that became more common amongst the Indigenous due to colonization?

Some ideas became more commonplace among the various tribes, such as the presence of creation stories, the role of tricksters or other supernatural beings in culture or folklore, the connection with the land and the natural world, the use of sacred medicines in spiritual rituals, and ceremonies like powwows, sweat lodges, smudging, and songs and dances (Smith 2018).

While many Indigenous groups share these commonalities, some continue to have their own distinct practices and ceremonies that have survived colonization.

What are some more specific examples of ideas that became more common amongst the Indigenous due to colonization?

Plains Indigenous people, for example, practise the Sun Dance, while the Cree have a spiritual tradition of medicine bundles, and the Ojibwe maintain the Medewiwin, a spiritual society made up of advisors and healers (the Mide) who serve as leaders in the community.

What was the second effect of colonization on the Indigenous religion? Give an example.

- Second, one of the effects of colonization was to establish hybrid systems of belief that blend Indigenous spiritual traditions with colonizer faiths, particularly Christianity. Many Indigenous people blend their spirituality with Christianity, adhering to Christian traditions but integrating spiritual beliefs and practices into their faith.

- Indeed, Christian missionaries often blended Christian traditions with Indigenous language and imagery, such as in the Huron Carol, a 17th-century song that recasts the story of Jesus’ birth but substitutes the manger with a lodge of broken bark, the cloth with a robe of rabbit skin, and the wise men with chiefs (Smith 2018).

Do the Indigenous try to focus on reclaiming their lost traditions? Is it an easy task?

- Today, while some have blended Christian traditions with their Indigenous spirituality, others focus on reclaiming their lost traditions and overcoming indoctrination and their subsequent feelings of guilt for exploring their spiritual heritage and pre-colonial identity (Neeganagwedgin 2013).

- While this is no easy task for anyone who struggles with faith, it continues to meet resistance even today.

Give an example of the Indigenous people trying to reclaim their faith?

For example, the Cree of Ouje-Bougoumou, Quebec, led by an evangelical Christian council, outlawed all expressions of Indigenous spirituality in their community in 2011 after a family built a sweat lodge in their backyard (Francis 2011).

Despite such resistance, spirituality has continued to spread across Indigenous Peoples in Canada, in part because of a political climate focusing on reparation and recognizing (if not always undoing) past harms.

Do small pockets of Indigenous faith still shine through? Does this show how complex and variable broad categories can be?

While the diversity of Indigenous spiritual traditions was suppressed by colonizer faiths, small pockets of rituals, traditions, and practices carried on and are being collected and disseminated to Indigenous groups across the country.

Yes.
- This dissemination of spirituality, combined with local practices and hybrid faiths, shows just how complex and variable broad categories like “folk religions” can be.

What are the 5 perspectives on religion aka why people are religious?

Conflict, Structural Functionalist, Symbolic Interactionist, Feminist and Queer, Rational Choice

What are some arguments for why people are religious? What are contemporary arguments for why people are religious?

Some have argued that religion is widespread because it must be instinctive or genetic (Trigg and Barrett 2014).

Contemporary studies suggest that genes explain behaviours like conservative religious beliefs, spiritual commitments, and attending religious services (Bradshaw and Ellison 2008).

Why are people religious according to sociologists?

Because it provides solidarity and shared values.

Religion may also be pervasive because ruling elites make use of it to maintain the status quo.

Is there a range of factors for why people would be religious? What do sociological efforts represent?

- Like all complex behaviour, it appears that a range of factors are important to consider when explaining religion.

- The following sociological perspectives represent efforts to explain the pervasiveness of religion. In addition, this section also explores how religion is interpreted and how it affects society.

What did Marx say about religion and what does it mean? What was he signaling the importance of?

“Religion is the opium of the people,”

- By calling it an opium, Marx was arguing that religion is both an expression of class interest and a form of protest against real suffering (McKinnon 2010).

- He was signaling the importance of religion in the wider social, economic, and political reality.

What is religion according to conflict scholars?

- An expression of class interests

- Religion is painted as a source of solace for the oppressed and marginalized working class

- Religion is painted as a tool of the ruling elites to ensure class domination (McKinnon 2005).

What does opium mean in correlation to the lower class system?

Like a drug, religion was a means by which the oppressed in society could be stupefied and deceived into focusing on other-worldly rewards rather than on their depressing material and worldly circumstances.

How was religion used as a tool of the ruling elite?

Religion is used to camouflage personal interests, strengthen authority, and justify the political and economic status quo (Nadeau 2002b, Herbert 2013).

What do conflict perspectives show about religion?

- How religion provides people with a worldview for understanding their social reality, including social inequalities.

- Religion justifies these inequalities and interprets them as vital components of a divine plan.

What does religion do according to conflict theorists, in summary?

Powerful ideologies and moral codes offered by religion give meaning to people’s lifestyles and behavioural patterns, but can also reinforce social status and social division, especially where there are existing divisions between dominant and subordinate religious groups

To conflict theory scholars, is religion a protest against real suffering? How or how not?

- Yes

- While religion may reinforce class interests, it has also been mobilized by the oppressed for revolution and social change.

What is Liberation theology?

A blend of Christian theology and Marxist notions of social conflict and class struggle, stands as a contemporary example of the synthesis of religion and conflict theory.

- Emphasizes liberation from social, political, and economic oppression as an anticipation of ultimate salvation.

Where did Liberation theology originate from? Why did it originate?

- Liberation theology originated in Latin America

- As a reaction to widespread poverty, social inequality, and political repression.

What did the theologians do as a response to the concern of repression?

Theologians sought to put into practice and politicize Christian notions of social justice to improve the social, economic, and environmental conditions of poor communities while eliminating the structural causes of poverty (Nadeau 2002b).

Did theologians reject or accept the separation between spirituality and worldliness?

Reject

To them, people do not have to wait for an afterlife to experience eternal reward when a just and equal world for all can be crafted in the here and now.

Have Liberation Theologian ideology spread geographically?

Yes.

- Influenced significant changes in the political landscape:
- The role of the Catholic church in the development of democratic systems in Malawi
- Through the mobilization of folk Christian beliefs, values, and hopes to resist colonial oppression in the Philippines (Mitchell 2002; Nadeau 2002a).