Studied by 0 peoplesubstantive definitions
focus on the content or substance of religious belief, such as belief in God or the supernatural
disadvantages of substantive definitions
leaves no room for beliefs and practices that perform similar functions to religion but do not involve a belief in God, Western bias
functional definitions
Define religion in terms of the social or psychological functions it performs for individuals or society
advantages of functional definitions
inclusive - allowing us to include a wide range of beliefs and practices that perform functions such as integration, non-Western bias
disadvantages of functional definitions
just because an institution helps integrate individuals into groups, does not make it a religion, such as football matches
constructionist definitions
focuses on how members of society themselves define religion
why are substantive definitions exclusive?
the draw a clear line between religious and non-religious beliefs. To be a religion a set of beliefs must include a belief in God or the supernatural
advantages of constructionist’s approach
approach allows them to get close to the meanings of people themselves give to religion
disadvantages of constructionist’s approach
impossible to generalise about the nature of religion, since people may have widely differing views
Max Weber (1905) - Definition of religion
defines religion as belief in a superior or supernatural power that is above nature and cannot be explained scientifically
Émile Durkheim (1915)
defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration
Milton Yinger (1970)
identifies functions that religion performs for individuals, such as answering the meaning of life
Alan Aldridge (2013)
For its followers, Scientology is a religion, whereas several governments have denied it legal status as a religion and sought to ban it. Shows that definitions of religion can be contested and are influences by those in power
Who came up with ‘the sacred and the profane’ ?
Émile Durkheim (1915; 1962)
Durkheim - sacred
things set apart and forbidden, that inspire fear, awe and wonder, and are surrounded by taboos and prohibitions
Durkheim - profane
things that have no special significance - things that are ordinary and mundane
Durkheim - What do sacred things represent?
they are symbols representing something of great power
What did Durkheim belief the sacred represented
Society, since it is the only thing powerful enough to command such feelings
When people worship sacred symbols what did Durkheim believe they were worshipping?
Society
Durkheim - What function do sacred symbols perform
Uniting beliefs into a single moral community
What society did Durkheim study to support his totemism thoery?
Arunta, an Aboriginal Australian tribe with a clan system
How did Arunta society function according to Durkheim
Clans consist of bands of kin who come together periodically to perform rituals involving worship of a sacred totem. This totem is their emblem that symbolises the clan’s origins and indentity.
What did the Arunta clan’s worshipping of their totem reinforce?
The group’s solidarity and sense of belonging
What are the Arunta clan’s actually worshipping when worshipping their totem
Society, although they are not aware.
Why does the totem inspire awe in the Arunta clan members?
it represents the power of the group on which the individual is ‘utterly dependent’
Who coined the term ‘collective conscience’
Émile Durkheim
collective conscience
shared norms, values, beliefs and knowledge that make social life and cooperiation between individuals possible
Durkheim - How do regular shared religious rituals reinforce the collective consicence and social intergration?
Participating in shared rituals binds individuals together, reminding them that they are part of a single moral community to which they owe their loyalty to. They also remind individuals of the power of the society
Durkheim - In what way does religion perform an important function for the individual
Making us feel part of something greater than ourselves, religion reinvigorates and strengthens us to face life’s trials
What book did Durkheim and Mauss write that was published in 1903
Primitive Classification
What did Durkheim and Mauss argue that religion provides in Primitive Classification
Basic categories such as, space and time. Similiarily, the division of tribes into clans gives humans their first notion of classification. For Durkheim and Mauss religion is the origin of human though, reason and science
Criticism of Totemism - Worsley (1956) - sacred and profane
There is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane, clans share the same totems and this does not prove that he has discovered the essence of all religion.
Criticism of Totemism - Worsley (1956) What may Durkheim’s theory apply better to
small-scale societies with a single religion. It is harder to apply to a large-scale societies where two or more religious communities may be in conflict.
Criticism of Totemism - Worsley (1956) What may Durkheim’s theory explain
the societal intergration within communities, but not the conflicts between them
Criticism of Totemism - Stjepan Mestrovic (2011)
Durkheim’s ideas cannot be applied to contemporary society, increasing diversity has fragmented the collective conscience, there is no longer a single shared value system for religion to reinforce
How does religion promote solidarity according to Bronislaw Malinowski (1954)
By performing psychologyical functions for individuals, helping them cope with emotional stress that would undermine social solidarity
What group did Malinowski study in 1954
Trobrian Islanders of the Western Pacific
What two types of Trobrian Islanders’ fishing did Malinowski study?
Lagoon Fishing and Ocean Fishing
Malinowski (1954) - Lagoon Fishing
Safe and uses the predictable and succeseful method of poisoning. When the islanders fish in the lagoon, there is no ritual
Malinowski (1954) - Ocean Fishing
Dangerous and uncertain, always accompanied by ‘canoe magic’ - ritual to ensure safety and successful expedition
Malinowski (1954) - What does the ‘canoe magic’ give the Trobrian Islanders?
A sense of control, which eases tension, gives them confidence to undertake hazardous tasks and reinforces group solidarity
What does Malinowski see religious rituals serving as?
‘god of the gaps’ - fills the gaps in human beings’ control over the world, such as not being able to control the outcome of a fishing trip
What events did Malinowski believe marked major and disruptive changes in social groups?
Birth, puberty, marriage and especially death
Malinowski (1954) - How does religion help to minimise disruption whem major events occur?
for example, funeral rituals reinforce a feeling of solidarity among the survivors, while the notion of immortality gives comfort to the bereaved by denying the fact of death.
Malinowski (1954) - What is the main reason for the existence of religious belief
Death
Talcott Parsons (1967) - two essential functions that religion performs in modern society
Creates and legitimates society’s central values, is the primary source of meaning
Talcott Parsons (1967) - how has religion created and legitimatised society’s basic norms and values?
By sacralasing them (making them sacred)
Parsons (1967) - Protestantism in the USA
Sacralised the core American values of individualism, meritocracy, and self-discipline. This serves to promote value consensus and thus social stability
Parsons (1967) - How does religion provide a source of meaning?
answers ‘ultimate’ questions about the human condition, such as why the good suffer and why some die young. These events defy our sense of justice and make life appear meaningless, which may undermine our commitment to society’s values
Parsons (1967) - How does religion provide answers to ‘ultimate’ questions and what does this achieve?
By explaining suffering as a test of faith that will be rewarded in heaven. By doing so, religion enables people to adjust to adverse events or circumstances and helps maintain stability
Who believed that religion provides a source of meaning and creates and legitimates society’s central values?
Talcott Parons (1967)
Who is interested in how religion unifies society, especially a multi-faith one like USA
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013)
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - What unifies American society?
An overarching civl religion
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - What is a civil religion?
A belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society itself, in the American case, civil religion is a faith in Americanism.
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - How does civil religion differ to different churches and denominations
It intergrates society in a way that they cannot. Civil religion can claim the loyalty of all Americans whilst different churches cannot.
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - What does American civil religion involve?
loyalty to nation-state and a belief in God, both of which are equated with being a true American
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - How is American civil religion expressed
Through various ritual, symbols and beliefs: Pledge of allegiance to the flag, national anthem, the Lincoln Memorial, phrases such as ‘One nation under God’
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - How can American civil religion unite different ethnic and religious backgrounds?
Rather than being a Catholic, Protestant or Jewish God, civil religion creates an ‘American’ God and sacralises the American way fo life
Who coined the term ‘civil religion’
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013)
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - What are functional alternatives to religion
non-religious practices that perform functions similar to those of organised religion, such as reinforcing shared values or maintaining social cohesion
Robert Bellah (1991; 2013) - what is an example of functional alternative to religion
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had secular politcal beliefs and rituals around which they sought to unite society
Disadvantage of functional alternatives
Same as functional definition, it ignores what makes religion distinctive and different - namely, its belief in the supernatural
disadvantages of functionalism - negative aspects
it emphasises the social nature of religion and the positive functions it performs, neglecting the negative aspects, such as religion as a source of oppression of the poor or women
disadvantages of functionalism - division
ignores religion as source of division and conflict, especially in complex modern, multi-religious societies - e.g. Northern Ireland where it is hard to see how it can unite and promote integration
disadvantages of functionalism - civil religion
is civil religion really a religion - especially if it is not based on belief in the supernatural?
How do marxists view society?
divided into two classes, the bourgeoisie which exploits the labour of the proletariat
What did Marx predict would happen?
Marx predicted that the proletariat would ultimately become conscious of their exploitation and unite to overthrow exploitation
What would the overthrowing of the bourgeoisie bring about?
A classless society in which there would no longer be exploitation
How do marxists view religion
as a feature of class-divided society. As such, there will be no need for religion in classless society and it will disappear
What did marx think about idealogy?
he thought it was a belief system that distorts people’s perception of reality in ways that serve the ineterests of the ruling class
What do the bourgeoisie control?
Economic production and the production and distribution of ideas in society
How do the bourgeoisie produce and distribute ideas in society
Through institutions such as the church, the education system and the media
How does religion operate in Marx’s view?
it operates as an ideological weapon used by the bourgeoisie to legitimate the suffering of the proletariat as something inevitable and god-given
Marx - How does religion mislead the proletariat?
misleads the proletariat into believing that their suffering is virtuous and that they will be favoured in the afterlife
Quote from Matthew 19:24
‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven
Marx - false consciousness
a distorded view of reality that prevents the poor from acting to change their situation
How did Lenin (1870-1924) describe religion?
‘spiritual gin’ an intoxicant doled out to the masses by the ruling class to confuse them and keep them in their place
How did Lenin think the ruling class used religion
cynically to manipulate the masses and keep them from attempting to overthrow the ruling class by creating a ‘mystical fog’ that obscures reality
Example of religion legitimising the power and privelage of the dominant class
16th century idea of the Divine Right of Kings by making king’s position appear to ebe divinely ordained
Divine Right of Kings
16th century idea that the king is God’s representative on earth and i s owed total obedience. Disobedience is not just illegal, but a sinful challenge to God’s authority
Alienation
involves becoming separated from or losing control over something that one has produce or created
Marx - Alienation under capitalism
workers are alienated because they do not own what they produce and have no control over the production process and thus no freedom to express their nature as creative beings
Marx - Alienation at its peak
detailed division of labour in the capitalist factory, where the worker endlessly repeats the same minute task, devoid of all meaning or skill
Marx - How does alienation under capitalism lead to the pursuit of religion?
In such dehumanising, alienated conditions, the exploited turn to religion as aform of consolation
Marx - quote to do with alienation and religion
‘religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, the soul of the soulless conditions. the spirit of a spiritless situation’
Marx- Religion is a product of…
Alienation
Criticisms of Marx’s view of religion - positives
Ignore positive functions of religion, such as psychologyical adjustment to misfortune
Criticisms of Marx’s view of religion - Alienation
Some Marxists, such as Althusser (1971) reject the concept of alienation as unscientific and based on a romantic idea that human beings have a ‘true self’ making it an inadequate base for a theory of religion
Criticisms of Marx’s view of religion - Control
Religion does not necessarily function effectively as an ideology to control the population - Abercrombie etc.
Criticisms of Marx’s view of religion - Abercrombie, Hill and Turner (2015)
argue that in pre-capitalist society, while Christianity was a major elemenet of ruling-class ideology, it had only limited impact on the peasantry
How do Feminists see society
Patriarchal
Patriarchy
based on male domination
How do many feminists regard religion
a patriarchal institution that reflects and perpetuates sexist inequality, religious beliefs function as a patriarchal ideology that legititmates female subordonation
Evidence of patriarchy in religious institutions - Religious organisations
mainly male-dominated despite the fact that women often participate more than men in these organisations. Orthodox Judaism and Catholicism forbid women to become priests
Karen Armstrong (1993) - female exclusion
sees female exclusion from the preisthood as evidence of women’s marginalisation
Evidence of patriarchy in religious institutions - Places of worship
often segregate the sexes and marginalise women, women’s participation may be restricted, taboos that regard menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth as polluting may also effect participation
Evidence of patriarchy in religious institutions -example of how places of worship marginalise women?
seating women behind screens while the men occupy the central and more sacred spaces
Evidence of patriarchy in religious institutions -example of how women’s participation may be restricted in places of worship
not being allowed to preach or to read from sacred texts
Evidence of patriarchy in religious institutions - example of taboos against women
In Islam, menstruating women are not allowed to touch the Qur’an
Jean Holm (2001) - menstruating women
describes menstruating women not being allowed to touch the Qur’an in Islamd as the devaluation of women in religion
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