Religion and Science – Definitions of Religion

INCLUSIVE OR FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS:

• Beliefs are religious if they have a positive social and psychological use for individuals and societies.

• Any belief system can be defined as religious if it functions to inspire individuals and to unite communities in terms of faith, devotion and commitment – perhaps by persuading people it can explain the purpose or meaning of existence.

• However, the definition may be too broad.

  • Aldridge (2013) argues science or philosophy would count in this definition.

  • Atheism under this definition is a distinct belief system that offers an explanation for the human condition.

  • They “allow any kind of enthusiastic purpose or strong loyalty, provided it is shared by a group, to count as a ‘religion’”.

  • Devotion to nationalistic causes such as Nazism, or fervent commitment to a football team would therefore count as religious.

  • Therefore too easy for something to qualify as a religion.

  • Term ‘civil religion’ is used to describe belief systems that aren’t religious in the conventional sense, but have a quasi-religious effect.

  • Aldridge therefore thinks this definition prevents sociologists from assessing whether religion is growing, stable or in decline, if virtually everything can be a religion, then it’s impossible to operationalise and measure religion’s impact empirically.

  • Not all religions believe they have the same purpose, even within religions there are different interpretations – e.g Protestantism vs Catholicism.

EXCLUSIVE OR SUBSTANTIVE DEFINITIONS:

• Refers to characteristics unique to religious belief systems, such as belief in a god or gods.

• Highlights actions and practices that assume the existence of superhuman, supernatural, mystical or magical beings and powers.

• These beings or powers transcend society and shape the past, present and future.

• All religions distinguish between the sacred and profane – keeping them separate, although profane things can become sacred in certain contexts.

• However, it’s unclear what can or cannot be defined as supernatural – e.g magic, UFOs, crystals.

• Many people are superstitious and have a belief in luck or fate – some sociologists classify these beliefs as ‘subterranean religions’ to differentiate them from mainstream religions.

• Giddens also points out that many religions don’t focus on the relationship between the supernatural and humanity.

  • Buddhism, Transcendental Meditation and Confucianism don’t include the idea of a divine power.

  • Many NRMs stress the ‘spiritual’ or psychological rather than the divine – they’re looking within rather than to an external supernatural being.

RELIGION AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION:

• Beckford (2003): it was important to understand that religious belief systems are social constructions. There are two ways of interpreting this:

  • Some sociologists like Durkheim and Marx believe there’s no such thing as a divine power, and that gods and therefore religions are the product of humans.

    • Religions are invented to explain the unexplainable, and to bring society together in a common cause or to justify power inequalities.

  • Some feminist sociologists believe religions have deliberately been created by men to justify patriarchy.

• Takes a relatively neutral approach to belief in God or a divine power.

• However, it acknowledges that recognising particular belief systems as religious may benefit particular groups, especially those with more power and influence than the majority.

  • Mass acceptance and legitimacy of a belief system as a religion depends where it is on the power continuum.

• EXAMPLES:

  • Roman Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity, it was a minority religion in danger of dying out. It then grew over the next 1,000 years; Romans began persecuting non-Christian believers who refused to convert. Consequently, the religions worshipping the ancient gods (dominant in Greece, Rome and Scandinavia) disappeared.

  • When a minority belief system is seen as threatening or dangerous to its followers or society, powerful groups (e.g government) can deny their religious status.

    • Aldridge states that several countries including Germany, Belgium, Finland and others refuse to recognise Scientology as a religion.

ALDRIDGE OVERALL DEFINITION:

• Argues that religion should be defined as a “cultural resource” that shapes and influences peoples’ everyday behaviour rather than a set of beliefs that result in slavish devotion and worship.

• Many participants in a religion may not be actively religious. “The experience of being a Jew, or a Hindu, or a Mormon is often more about doing things than believing things; about abstaining from pork, or tea, coffee and cola drinks”.

• Often too it’s the doing and not doing that provoke hostile social reactions to particular religions: Jehovah’s Witnesses rejecting blood transfusions, Quakers refusing to enlist in the armed services, 19th century Mormons practicing polygamy.

THE PURPOSE OF RELIGION:

1. Answering fundamental questions – the big questions about life and the world.

2. To give purpose and meaning to the world.

3. It continues to have great influence on the way many people view their moral obligations and responsibilities, and how they organise their daily lives.

4. An important aspect of peoples’ identity which marks its followers out as both similar to other followers and different from members of other groups.

5. It’s rarely personal or local, many world events are triggered and swept along by global religious belief systems.