Religion is defined as a system of roles and norms that is organized around the sacred realm that binds people together in social groups.
Emile Durkheim focused on the beliefs and practices that seperate the profane from the sacred. The profane are common elements in everyday life, while the sacred is anything considered to be part of the supernatural world and that inspires awe, respect and reverence.
Babe Ruth's bat: profane or sacred?
According to sociologists, religion is a social creation. Things take on sacred meaning only when they are socially defined as such by a group of believers. An example would be the Aborigine Kakadu who believe Inguangua (God) lives in a rock on their land. This rock is revered as holy, but to us its just another rock to sit upon or blow up if in our way.
Two-thirds of the world's pop. belongs to just three major religions-Christianity (33.7%), Hinduism (13.7%) and Islam (19.4%).
All religions contain certain shared elements. These include ritual and prayer, emotion and belief. Religion meets eight basic human needs: 1. questions about ultimate authority 2. emotional comfort 3. social solidarity 4. guidlines for everyday life 5. social control 6. adaptation 7. support for government 8. social change
A functional equivalent is a substitute that serves the same functions as religion.
There are also unfortunately some dysfunctions of religion, such as was and justification for persecution.
Forms of Religious Organization
The simplist form of religious organization, a cult, consits of a small group of followers surrounding a charismatic religious leader.
A sect is a small group that adheres strictly to religious doctrine that often includes unconventional beliefs or forms of worship.
A church is a life encompassing religious organization to which all members of society belong. Except of course for the 15% of the worlds population who are nonreligious.
Many scholars have noted that modern society is becomeing more secularized, that is, less influenced by religion. An example would be formal education; formally a function of religion where teachers and professors were church members. Over time this function was overtaken by the state. Is secularization destroying religion? The Princeton Religion Index reports that in 2001 57% of the population believes religion to be very important, down from 75% in 1952.
Sociologists Glock and Stark focus their work on religiosity: the ways in which people express their religious interests and convictions. They state five dimensions of religiosity. 1. beliefs 2. the way through to God 3. ritual 4. experiences 5. consequences
Conflict Perspective
Look at how religion supports the status quo, and helps to maintain social inequalities.
Karl Marx: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world... It is the opium of the people."
There is a belief in conflict theory that religion mirrors society's inequalities.
Ex. gender inequality; as women's place in society changed, so did it in the church.
In the United States, the separation of church and state reduces religious legitmation of political power. Nevertheless, political leaders often use religion to justify their decisions, stating that they have prayed for guidance in deciding what to do (McGuire, 1992). This informal relationship between religion and the state has been referred to as civil religion-the set of beliefs, rituals, and symbols that make sacted the values of the society and place the nation in the context of the ultimate system of meaning. (Roberts, 1995)
Can you think of other examples of civil religion?
Major Religions