Religion Midterm

Max Weber: Charisma Definition

An extraordinary personal quality attributed to an individual, setting them apart as supernatural, superhuman, or exceptional.[cite: 1]

Max Weber: Interactive Requirement

Charisma is not static; it exists only when demonstrated through an extraordinary feat ("miracle") and validated by followers.[cite: 1]

Max Weber: Obligation vs. Persuasion

Recognition of charismatic authority creates a binary, duty-bound "yes/no" moment rather than a rational debate.[cite: 1]

Max Weber: Routinization

Because charisma is unstable, it must be transferred into everyday institutions, offices, and rules of succession to survive long-term.[cite: 1]

Max Weber: Revolutionary Force

Pure charisma is an internal transformation that alters followers' attitudes and changes society from the inside out.[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Impression Management

The everyday practice of controlling how one is perceived by others during social interactions.[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Line

The pattern of verbal and non-verbal acts by which a person expresses their view of the situation and participants.[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Face

The positive social value a person claims for themselves through the line they take.[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Social States of Face

In face (line supported), in wrong face (line rejected), or out of face (no line prepared).[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Face-Work

Habitual actions and protective strategies used to prevent social disruptions, repair embarrassment, and maintain face.[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Cooling the Mark Out

The process of soothing someone who lost status/face, helping them quietly accept failure and fit back into social order.[cite: 1]

Erving Goffman: Social Order as Ritual

Society built on "working acceptance"—a shared agreement where individuals support each other's faces to keep interactions smooth.[cite: 1]

Kathryn Lofton: Performing vs. Faking

Performance is a universal fact, not deception; it means intentionally embodying who an individual actively aspires to be.[cite: 2]

Kathryn Lofton: Performativity

Concept (via Judith Butler) that identity is constructed through continuous action, meaning social reality can change when actions change.[cite: 2]

Kathryn Lofton: Choreographed Dissent

Using Goffman's mechanics as a guide for resistance (e.g., sit-ins, anthem protests) to intentionally disrupt unjust social structures.[cite: 2]

Hugh B. Urban: Commodification of Charisma

Rejects Weber's anti-economic claim; argues modern charisma can be packaged, marketed, and sold as a consumer commodity.[cite: 2]

Hugh B. Urban: Zorba the Buddha

Rajneesh ideology synthesizing spiritual enlightenment ("Buddha") with material indulgence ("Zorba"); wealth proved spiritual freedom.[cite: 2]

Hugh B. Urban: Charismatic-Corporate Structure

Movement operating as a fluid multinational corporate enterprise using interlocking non-profit and for-profit trusts.[cite: 2]

Hugh B. Urban: Deferred Promise

Disciples paid thousands for absolute freedom while total obedience was demanded and authority was never shared.[cite: 2]

Warren Susman: Culture of Character (19th C.)

Focused on moral development, duty, self-mastery over internal impulses, and doing good according to moral laws.[cite: 2]

Warren Susman: Culture of Personality (20th C.)

Focused on charm, likeability, external self-presentation, and pleasing a crowd to stand out as "Somebody".[cite: 2]

Dale Carnegie: Practical Self-Help

Framed charisma, charm, and face-work as learnable, strategic skills for career advancement rather than a religious pulpit trait.[cite: 2]

New Thought & Metaphysical Religion

Grounded in 19th-century movements asserting mind as reality; reframed charisma as a magnetic force used to attract success/wealth.[cite: 2]

W.E.B. Du Bois: Triad of Black Religion

The three core components of traditional African American worship: the Preacher, the Music, and the Frenzy.[cite: 3]

Lerone Martin: Phonograph Preachers

1920s COGIC Pentecostal preachers (e.g., Rev. F.W. McGee) who recorded sermons on phonographs, blending sacred music with blues

Dana Logan: Civil Society & Associationalism

The "third domain" outside the state and market consisting of clubs, lodges, and societies (e.g., Freemasons, Greek life).

Dana Logan: Masonic Order Structure

Fraternity with secret initiations, ranked degrees, symbolic aprons (representing honorable labor), and a network for white, middle-class gentlemen.

Dana Logan: Timeline of Masonic Secrets

1600s (stonemason guilds in Scotland), 1776 (Phi Beta Kappa founded), 1790-1820 (monarchical titles/crowns added), 1826 (Morgan affair murder), 1831 (PBK drops secrecy).

Dana Logan: The Morgan Affair (1826)

The kidnapping and murder of an ex-Mason for publishing secrets; created public outrage and put pressure on the "symbolic" nature of rites.

Dana Logan: The King Question

Tension over bowing to "Kings" in early American democracy; Masons argued it was purely symbolic, but Logan notes royal glamour migrated to private domains.

Dana Logan: The Religion Question

Tension with Protestant focus on inner belief; Masons argued rites were temporary, removable lessons in feeling rather than real spiritual acts.

Dana Logan: Purpose of Masonic Rites

Teaching men "civility" (well-manneredness and self-control) by requiring them to act out their part even when uncomfortable.

Dana Logan: Performance as Reality

Goffman/Lofton/Logan consensus that acting a part in society is not faking, but the actual mechanism by which social reality is made.

Dana Logan: Symbolic Mimesis

Using controlled, choreographed pain in initiations (e.g., daggers, heated rods) to simulate violence enough to teach composure without real injury.

Dana Logan: Ritual Framing

Inside the frame, rites teach civility or offer buddy bonding; outside the frame, they look like dangerous armed conspiracies or cringey, ridiculous play.

Dana Logan: Ritual Misfires & Cringe

The vulnerability of staged rituals to fall flat or resemble comedy when changing cultural moods make serious symbolic acts look ridiculous.