RELIGION
Definition
• An institution consisting of beliefs,
pratices, and values pertaining to the
distinction between the empirical and
the super-empirical.
MAJOR FUNCTIONS
• World Construction and Maintenance
• Theodicy—dealing with suffering and
evil
• Instrumental—health, wealth,
happiness, etc.
THEORIES OF RELIGION
• Functional Analysis
– Durkheim: The Sacred and the Profane
– People celebrate the power of their society
– Religion performs three major functions
• Social Cohesion
• Social Control
• Meaning and Purpose
– Criticism
• Symbolic Interaction (Peter Berger)
– Religion provides a cosmic frame of
reference, a “Sacred Canopy.”
– Criticism
• Conflict Theory (Marx)
– Alliance between religion and politicaleconomic power
– “The opium of the people”
– Religion and Patriarchy
– Colonialism, Slavery, Segregation
– Criticism
CHRISTIANITY
• 1.9 billion followers. c. 1/3 of humanity.
• Most in Europe or Americas.
• Began as cult, incorporating much from
Judaism.
• Trinity, Jesus as Son of God,
Resurrection
• 312, became official religion of Holy
Roman Empire
ISLAM
• 1.1 billion (c. 19% of humanity) Muslims
• 6 million in U.S. (disputed)
• Muhammad (born c. 570), Mecca,
Medina. Qur’an,
• Hijra—Flight to Medina. 622 B.C.E.
A.H.1
• Sunni, Shi’a (c. 10%)
• Five Pillars of Faith
– The Profession: One God, Allah,
Muhammad his Prophet
– Prayer
– Alms
– Fasting during Ramadan
– Hajj—pilgrimage to Mecca at least once
• Dualism: Heaven and Hell
JUDAISM
•
•
•
•
14 million world wide, most in U.S. and Israel
Moses, Exodus, 13th cty. B.C.E. (Passover)
Monotheism
Denominations:
– Orthodox
– Reform
– Conservative
• Sects: e.g. Chabad/Lubavitcher
HINDUSIM
• Oldest (At least 4,500 years ago)
• 775 million—14% of humanity. 1.3
million in U.S.
• India (also Pakistan, Southern Africa,
Indonesia)
• No single person is key. Sacred
writings, but not seen in same light as
Bible and Qur’an
• Deities: Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu—
Brahman-Atman. (Others)
• Karma/Samsara (Reincarnation)
• Moral order in every element of nature
• Rituals
BUDDHISM
• 330 million (6%). Mostly Asia. Myanmar
(Burma) Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, India,
PRC, Vietnam
• Origin in India. Siddartha Gautama.
• Asoka (3rd cty B.C.E.).
• Life involves suffering, pleasures transitory.
Goal of spiritual transformation.
• Acts have consequences. Reincarnation.
CONFUCIANISM
• From c. 200 B.C.E. till 1900, the official
religion of China.
• Suppressed after 1949 revolution. Still
influential. Mostly in China, but also in
North America.
• Confucius c. 551-479 B.C.E.
• Strict code of moral conduct.
• No clear sense of sacred, supernatural.
SECULARIZATION
• KEY TERMS
– Secularism
– Secularization
• The Secularization Hypothesis
• Evidence?
Survey Data on Religion
www.thearda.com
Believe in God?
Church Membership
• Record-keeping varies among
denominations
• Long Range: 6% in 1800; 35% in 1900;
77% in 1936.
• Decline started in 1960s. Mostly among
liberal churches. Slide stabilized in
1978.
• About 60% claim membership (86%
claim a preference (NORC 1999)
Personal Salience
• Religiosity: “very important” or
“important”
• Bible study, book sales,
• New Age Spirituality. 35 million at laest
somewhat interested
RELIGIOSITY IN GLOBAL TERMS
by Percent Responding "Yes," in Various Countries
83
Ireland
U.S.A.
79
Mexico
77
45
Great Britain
Sweden
27
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Percent Saying "Yes"
World Values Survey, 1994
SECULARIZATION (?)
• Perceived Influence of Religion
• Evidence for Secularity
– Moral relativism
– Bias against religion in media, education
– Lack of regard for religious factors in
diplomatic circles.
Conclusions
• Data do not support general
secularization
• Problems of measuring religiosity
• Problems of time frame
• Evidence tricky
• Secularization is segmental. Occurs
simultaneously with revival.
Religion and the Election
2004
Catholics
Mainline Protestant
23% eligible voters
(27% actual voters)
c. 22%
White Evangelicals
Remainder c. 30%
25% eligible
(22% actual)
Black = 8%
Jews = 2%
Non-Jud-Xn = 4%
Secular = 10
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Why Evangelicals Love Bush
• They feel persecuted, marginalized. He
makes them feel better.
• Bush was transformed, born again.
• He was “called” to his role.
• Moral Clarity
CAUSES OF
SECULARIZATION
• RATIONALIZATION (Weber)
• STRUCTURAL DIFFERENTIATION
–
–
–
–
Division of Labor
Education
Secular State
Religious foundations of morality give way to legal
technicalities
– Critics of differentiation, specialization
Causes (cont.)
•
•
•
•
Spread of Capitalism—the great solvent
Growth of Science
Disenchantment, demystification
Pluralism—no world view holds a
monopoly. Post-modernism
• Privatization, Individualism
Stark and Bainbridge Theory
• Secularization is Self-Limiting
– Stimulates revival and innovation
– Sources of religion vary; amount remains
about the same.
– Sects arise where religion strong; cults
where it is weak.
• Critique
– Losses not obviously offset by gains. E.g.,
Great Britain.
– Secularization continues as a major trend,
following rationalization. Affects segments
of society differentially.
– Groups differ in openness to religious
appeals.
• CONCLUSIONS