Module 11 - Interrogating Religious institution

Religion (Emilie Durkheim)

Unified system of beliefs, rituals, and practices that define/express the nature of sacred things in relationship to the profane things of the world

Religion (Weberian)

Religion is any set of coherent answers to human existential dilemmas which make the world meaningful

Religion (Steve Bruce)

Consists of belief, action, and institution which assumes existence of supernatural entities with powers of action or impersonal powers or processes possessed of moral purpose

Theism

Belief in god(s). Three types are Monotheism, Polytheistic religion, and Animism

Monotheism

Belief in one divine power/god

Polytheistic Religion

Belief in many gods

Animism

Belief in spiritual forces within an object

Atheism

Lack of belief in god(s). Three types are Agnosticism,

Agnosticism

Advocates that humans cannot know of the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of their experience

Advocating that humans cannot know of the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of their experience

Sacredness

The things society treats as special, protected, or meaningful

Secularization

Religion becoming less influential in society; people relying more on non-religious ideas/institutions

How is religion powerful, and deeply influential in human society?

Shapes peoples relationships with each other, motivates human action

Totemism

Belief in Totems

Totem

Animals/plants that are believed to possess supernatural powers of some kind

Beliefs

Strongly held opinion by people who are devoted to a religion that their object of worship can solve their problems

Ritual

Religious acts, ceremonial practices and customs that are geared toward the worship of the sacred

Emotions

Spirit of reverence, humility, ecstasy, frenzy, and even terror that is evoked in the believers as they present themselves in the presence of the sacred

Organizations

All religions are characterized by some form of organization. Theres 4 types, Church, Denomination, Secs, and Cults

Church

Big, organized religion with leaders, many roles, and easy membership

Denominations

Come into existence when churches lose their religious monopoly in a society. Usually membership is by birth.

Sects

Smaller, less organized religious bodies of committed members. Typically arise in protest to larger denominations.

Cults

Service-based and organized around supernatural or mystical ideas rather than exclusive set of religious beliefs that must be rigidly followed

Social Fact

Religion serves as a form of external constraint

Order/Social Control

Religions promote a standard of behaviour in keeping with the tenets of their system of belief

Karl Marx's Perspective of Religion

Opiate of the masses, serves the interests of the elite by pacifying the oppressed proletariat

Conflict Perspective on Religion

Creates illusion that eases pain produced by exploitation and oppression, is opium of the poor

Postmodernist Perspective on Religion

Religion is losing its traditional power to impose religious beliefs on people

Feminists Perspective on Religion

Regard it as a patriarchal institution, creating inequality between male and female through segregation and male-dominance

Liberation Theology

A progressive thought that advocates social justice for the poor; exclusively in the Catholic Church in Latin America