Sociology of
Religion
February 27th
University of Toronto, Introduction to Sociology
Christian Caron and Adam Isaiah Green
1
What is Religion
How do we know what we know?
Historically: Religion
o Offered answers to most of life’s questions
(truth/false, right/wrong)
o Imbued every aspect of human social life
with meaning (birth, death, rites of passage)
o Religious beliefs so common that most
societies had no word for religion
2
What is Religion
Religion is ______?
You can also tweet your thoughts with #uoftsocrel on Twitter
3
What is Religion
Means different things – No consensus on
definitions
Substantive definitions – Focus on what
religion is
1)
2)
3)
4)
to be religious is to ‘believe’ in something
to be religious entails actions
to be religious involves emotions
religion is a social phenomenon
4
What is Religion
Functional definitions – Focus on what
religion does
1) provides meaning and purpose to life
2) promotes social cohesion and a sense of belonging
3) provides social control
Many definitions attempt to combine both, such
as sociologist Emile Durkheim:
Religion as a system of beliefs, symbols, rituals, based on some
sacred or supernatural realm, that guides human behavior,
gives meaning to life, and unites believers into a community
5
World’s 16 Largest Religions
1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Hinduism: 900 million
4. Chinese folk: 394 million
5. Buddhism: 376 million
6. Sikhism: 23 million
7. Juche: 19 million
8. Spiritism: 15 million
9. Judaism: 14 million
10. Falun Gong: 10 million
11. Baha'i: 7 million
12. Cao Dai: 5 million
13. Confucianism 5 million
14. New Age 5 million
15. Jainism: 4 million
16. Shinto: 4 million
Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
Source: Bibby, Reginald W. (2011a). Beyond the Gods & Back: Religion’s Rise
and Demise and Why it Matters. Lethbridge, AB: Project Canada Books, p.201.
Drawn from www.adherents.com 2010 and www.religion-facts.com 2010
Religion in the news
Policemen and soldiers
in Cameroon gather
around the vehicle in
which seven members
of a French family
were riding before
being kidnapped near
the Nigerian border
on Feb. 19, 2013
7
Religion in the news
PM establishes Office of
Religious Freedom to
promote freedom of
religion around the
world
Stephen Harper looks
on as Dr. Andrew
Bennett, right, shakes
hands with Muslim
cleric Lai Khan Malik
in Vaughan (Feb 20th)
8
Religion in the news
Catholic schools: Ontario
parents fighting to have
children exempt from
religious studies (Feb 3rd)
Oliver Erazo, with sons
Amilcar, left, and Jonathan
(in grades 12 and 10,
respectively), chose a
Notre Dame Catholic
school for his children
because it’s close to home
and garners favourable
ratings on a school-ranking
website
9
Religion in Canada
National anthem includes the line “God keep
our land glorious and free!”
Religious authority has declined in Canada governs fewer aspects of life than it used to
Other institutions have grown in importance:
Medicine, Psychiatry, Criminal Justice, Education
10
RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION, CANADA
AND THE PROVINCES AND
TERRITORIES, 2001 (IN %)
A PROFILE OF
RELIGION AND
SPIRITUALITY IN
CANADA:
TEENAGERS AND
ADULTS,
(IN PERCENTAGE)
Religion
Religious beliefs vary in content and intensity
Religious practices vary in form and frequency
Due to structure of society and our place in it
Effect: religious impulse takes thousands of forms
The task of the sociology of religion is to
account for these variations
13
Sociology of Religion
Sociology: Systematic study of human
behavior in social context
Bibby: Science and religion are compatible
Religion – about faith
Science – limits itself to perceivable,
‘observable parts’ of religion
For example
1. Written texts
2. Patterns of behaviors
3. Individuals’ opinions about religious matters
14
Sociology of Religion







How many and what kinds of people are involved in
religious groups?
Why does one religion predominate here, another there?
Who believes in life after death and what do individuals
think will happen when they die?
The extent to which people have spiritual needs, and
what they mean by spirituality?
What is the impact the religious involvement has on
individuals and societies?
Under what circumstances does religion act as a source
of social stability and act as a force for social change?
Are we becoming more or less religious? Implications of
this?
15
Sociology of Religion
Wide array of research such as:
Religion and organizations (churches,
sects, cults, etc)
Religion and education (role in schools)
Religion and gender (religious leadership)
Religion and politics (religious terrorism)
Religion and law (Charter of Rights and
Freedom)
Religion and mass media (internet)
In the Sociology Department Prof. Bryant (religion and history) and Prof.
Schieman (religion and mental health)
16
Analyzes how individuals, social institutions, and
cultures construe God or the sacred
How these ideas penetrate public culture and
individual lives
Implications of those interpretations for individual,
institutional, and societal processes
The sociological study of religion is as old as the
discipline of sociology itself
17
Durkheim and Collectivity
Religion’s origin is social
 People living in a community come to share
common sentiments that form a collective
conscience - ‘God’ is the group experiencing
itself
 Leads people to designate some objects as
sacred – or totems - (deserving of profound
respect) and others as profane – (objects of
the everyday world)

18
CHRISTIANITY - SACRED
Cross held by
Pope Benedict XVI,
the head of the
Catholic Church
19
ISLAM - SACRED
Masjid alHaram “The
Sacred
Mosque” built
around the
Kaaba in
Mecca
20
JUDAISM - SACRED
Menorah: a
symbol of Judaism
since ancient times
and the emblem of
the modern state
of Israel
21
Durkheim and Collectivity
Religious beliefs articulate the nature of the
sacred and its symbols
 Religious rituals provide guidelines as to how
people should act in the presence of the
sacred
 Religion creates and reinforces social solidarity
(contributes to social stability - through
establishment of moral standards, and sense of
belonging)

22
Criticisms of Functionalist
Account
Overemphasizes religion’s role in
maintaining social cohesion
Downplays religion’s dysfunctions strongly held beliefs can generate social
conflict (i.e. Fundamentalism)
When religion does increase social
cohesion, it often reinforces social
inequality
23
Marx and Conflict
Religion is a human creation
 Religion is “the opium of the people”: it soothes the
disadvantaged by minimizing the importance of “this
world”
 Religion encourages people to accept existing social
inequalities instead of changing their oppressive
conditions
 Religion unites people under ‘false consciousness’
according to which they believe that have common
interests with members of the dominant class

24
Marx and Conflict





Historically some religions teach that the existing
social arrangements of a society represent what God
desires
Many rulers have historically declared their rule was
legitimated by God
Conflict between religious groups (religious wars)
Conflict within religious groups (splinter group
leaving an existing one)
Conflict between a religious group and the larger
society (conflict over religion in the classroom)
25
Critique of Marx
Religion can promote change towards equality
(abolish slavery, civil rights movements)
 Sense of community that some people find in
religion is a positive force
 Some contemporary religious movements
challenge the rich and powerful by advocating
for income redistribution in society (i.e.
liberation theology originated in Latin
America)

26
Weber and Ideas
Religion is oriented toward this world – religious
ideas and behaviour evident in everyday conduct
 Weber examined the possibility that Protestant
Reformation strongly influenced moral tone of
capitalism in Western world through adoption of
Protestant ethic
 Weber argued that ideas – whether true or false represent a person’s definition of reality and
therefore have potential to influence behaviour

27
Weber and Ideas
Need to interpret action by understanding
actor’s motives (Verstehen)
 Researchers should place themselves in roles
of those being studied
 Comparative and historical studies of religion
and found that god-conceptions are strongly
related to economic, social, and political
conditions in which people live

28
Criticism of Weber
 Correlation
between Protestant ethic
and the strength of capitalist
development is weaker than Weber
thought
 Weber’s followers have not always
applied the Protestant ethic thesis as
carefully as Weber did
29
Conclusion
 Durkheim
– Religion and Social
Solidarity
 Marx – Religion and Social
Conflict
 Weber – Religion and Social
Change
30
William James (1902)
Religion is a common human
response to the fact that we all stand at
the edge of an abyss. It helps us cope
with the terrifying fact that we must die.
It offers us immortality, the promise of
better times to come, and the security of
benevolent spirits who look over us. It
provides meaning and purpose in a world
that might otherwise seem cruel and
senseless.

Karl Marx (1843)
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed
creature, the heart of a heartless world, just
as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is
the opium of the people. The abolition of
religion as the illusory happiness of the
people is required for their real happiness.
The demand to give up the illusion about its
condition is the demand to give up a
condition which needs illusions.
- Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
GOD?
GOD?
DIVINE CONTROL
“…divine control involves the extent that
one believes that God exercises a
commanding authority over the course
and direction of his or her own life”
- Schieman, Pudrovska, and Milkie 2005
“The belief that there exists a superhuman,
supernatural intelligence who deliberately
designed and created the universe and
everything in it”
- Richard Dawkins 2007
SES
SES = Socioeconomic Status, usually
includes one’s yearly income and the
years of formal education one attained.
DEPRIVATIONCOMPENSATION THESIS
 Individuals in disadvantaged
socioeconomic conditions are more
likely to be religious in order to
compensate for their plight and
acquire otherwise unattainable
rewards
- Glock and Stark (1965)
AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH
DEMYTHOLGIZATION
THESIS
 Higher
socioeconomic (SES) status
diminishes the belief in the
supernatural-mythological orthodoxy
of religion
3 TEST GROUPS

Group 1 received prayers and didn’t
know it.

Group 2 received no prayers and didn’t
know it.

Group 3 received prayers and did know
it.
STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF
PRAYER FOR HEALTH
RESULTS: Prayer has no effect on recovery.
“Study of the Therapeutic Effects of
Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac
bypass patients: A multicenter randomized
trial of uncertainty and certainty of
receiving intercessory prayer.
Clinical Investigation “
-- American Heart Journal. 151(4):934942, April 2006.
RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
a
term used to describe the actions
or ideologies of religious individuals
or groups outside the perceived
center of a given religion; or
otherwise claimed to violate
common moral standards of a given
religion.
50,000 WOMEN BURNED ALIVE
LINKS
The Phelps I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anwsku9IiY&feature=related
The Phelps: Canada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMvehlR8wio
Shirley Phelps and Fox News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc5FIMpHbgU&feature=r
elated