PowerPoint Presentation
prepared by
Terri Petkau, Mohawk College
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Religion
Reginald W. Bibby
INTRODUCTION
• Will examine:
 Theoretical traditions in the sociology of
religion
 Personal and collective religiosity
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 Sources of religion, including individualcentred and structure-centred
explanations
 Consequences of religion at the personal,
interpersonal, and societal levels
 Future of religion*
13-3
SOCIOLOGY AND RELIGION
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• Sociology of religion examines:
 Who tends to think they have experienced
God
 Who believes in life after death, and what
individuals think will happen when they die
 Extent to which people have spiritual
needs, and what they mean by “spirituality”
 How many and what kinds of people are
involved in religious groups
 Impact that religious involvement has on
individuals and societies*
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THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
MARX AND CONFLICT
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• In Marx’s view, religion:
 Is human creation of economically and politically
deprived who choose to redefine reality rather than
change their oppressive conditions
 Provides religious status instead of social status
 Diverts working people’s attention from real sources
of suffering
 Reason wealthy capitalists encourage religious
belief
 End of exploitation would bring end to religion*
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THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
DURKHEIM AND
COLLECTIVITY
• Durkheim argued religion’s origin is social
• People living in community come to share common
sentiments that form a collective conscience:
 Involves awareness of group being more than sum
of individual members, and belief that experience of
the group is supernatural
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• Leads people to designate some objects as sacred
(deserving of profound respect) and others as
profane
• To uphold collective conscience, people come
together as a “church”
 This collective life is both source and product of
religion*
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THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
WEBER AND IDEAS
• Weber believed religion is largely oriented to this
world and has consequences for everyday life
 Example: Argued Protestant Reformation strongly
influenced moral tone of capitalism in Western world
through adoption of Protestant ethic
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• Noted god-conceptions strongly related to economic,
political, and social conditions in which people live
(e.g., monotheism related to goal of political
unification)
• Also noted relationship between religion and class
(e.g., social class dictated view of religion)*
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THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
WEBER AND IDEAS
• Weber argued ideas - regardless of veracity represent person’s definition of reality and
therefore have potential to influence behaviour
• Emphasized need to interpret action by
understanding actor’s motives
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• Recommended use of method he called
Verstehen, or understanding:
 To achieve such awareness, researchers should
place themselves in roles of those being studied*
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NATURE OF RELIGION
• Religions: Systems of meaning for
interpreting world that have
supernatural referent (e.g.,
Christianity, Hinduism)
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• Are concerned with discovering life’s
meaning, whereas humanist
perspectives (e.g., political “isms”
such as communism, fascism) are
concerned with making life
meaningful*
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PERSONAL RELIGIOSITY
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•
Personal religiosity: Refers to level of religious
commitment characterizing an individual

Is measured along four dimensions which must
all be present in the “committed”:
i.
Holding of key beliefs
ii.
Engagement in certain practices
iii. Having supernatural experiences
iv. Knowledge of the faith’s tenets*
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RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT ALONG
FOUR DIMENSIONS, CANADA, 2005
(IN PERCENTAGE)
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13-11
COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
THE CHURCH–SECT TYPOLOGY
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•
Church-sect typology: Framework in which
religious organizations studied in terms of idealtype, church, and sect characteristics
•
Two major kinds of organizations among religious
groups:
i.
Church  Numerically dominant groupings that
emphasize works and accommodation (e.g.,
mainline denominations in Canada and United
States)
ii. Sect  Smaller groups that stress faith and
separation and have broken away from dominant
bodies (e.g., Salvation Army, and additional
emerging groups such as Baptist and Pentecostal
denominations)
 Sects eventually evolve into a church*
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COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES
• Religious organizations no different
from other social organizations
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• Market model for understanding
religion prominent in recent years:
Religious groups regarded as “firms”
or “companies” competing for “market
share”*
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COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES
•
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
General organizational approach to
religious groups involves considering
groups in terms of:
Nature and sources of members
Formal and informal goals
Norms and roles established to accomplish
purposes
Sanctions used to ensure norms followed
and roles played
Degree of success experienced by groups
in pursuing goals*
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ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES:
1. MEMBERSHIP
• Most people belong to same religious
organizations as parents
• Especially in urban areas, congregations compete
for members and staff by building lavish structures
and offering wide range of social activities
according to their economic means
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• Protestant “megachurches” in North America with
substantial membership (can range from 1000 to
4000) and budgets make it difficult for other
congregations to compete*
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ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES: 2. GOALS
• Conscious and unconscious goals vary by
congregation and members and often are in
conflict
 Examples:
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 Formal goal of spiritual growth often contradicts
“survival goal” of numerical growth
 Need for satisfying needs of existing clientele may
conflict with reaching out to new people not yet
involved but who also have important needs*
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ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES:
3. NORMS, ROLES, SANCTIONS
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•
To achieve goals, religious groups must
establish norms, membership roles, means of
communication, and sanctions to control
behaviour
•
Groups hindered by the following:
i.
Are top-heavy with men (often inadequately tap
resources of women)
ii.
Are reliant on volunteers to carry out key roles

Factors contribute to often making religious
groups fragile and inefficient “companies”*
13-17
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES: 4. SUCCESS
• Indicators of “success” include attendance,
membership, and finances
• Size of group is largely function of birth and
mortality factors
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• Overall, church attendance and membership
down in Canada since 1950 (mainline Protestants
and Catholics in Quebec hardest hit)
• But, attendance and membership among
Evangelical Protestants has rebounded*
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CANADA AND
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
• Affiliation with religious groups widespread since
founding of country
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• According to 2001 census:
 84% of Canadians indicated a religious affiliation
 Canada is not highly diversified religious mosaic
 Is still predominantly Roman Catholic (45%) and
Protestant (29%)
 Christian groups frequently are primary
beneficiaries of intermarital “religious defection”*
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RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION,
CANADA AND THE PROVINCES
AND TERRITORIES, 2001 (IN %)
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13-20
CANADA AND MEMBERSHIP
IN RELIGIOUS GROUPS
• When Canadians asked about actual
membership in religious groups, more people
(about 30%) claim to belong to churches than to
any other single voluntary group
• About 1 in 4 attends services approximately once
per week
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• Yet between 1940s and 2000, has been sharp
decline in church attendance
 Although is evidence of recent attendance
reversal (except for in Quebec)*
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ATTENDANCE AT RELIGIOUS
SERVICES, CANADA, 1946–2000
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13-22
MONTHLY-PLUS
ATTENDANCE IN CANADA,
1975–2005
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13-23
EXPLANATIONS FOR
SOURCES OF RELIGION
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•
Early work in scientific study of religion (notably
Durkheim) focused on origin of religion itself,
rather than examining variations in religious
commitment
•
Explanations for why some people are religious while others are not - tend to focus on one of
following two types of explanations:
1. Individual-centred explanations
2. Structure-centred explanations*
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1. INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS
•
Are three dominant “person-centred”
explanations of religious
commitment:
i. Reflection
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ii. Socialization
iii. Deprivation…*
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1. INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS: i. REFLECTION
• Desire to comprehend reality widespread among
humans
• In course of reflection, people commonly conclude
that life has supernatural “transempirical”
dimension
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• Approximately 80% of Canadians indicate they
reflect on life issues (e.g., origin and purpose of
life)
 But reflection does not lead to religious
commitment and involvement*
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1. INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS:
ii. SOCIALIZATION
• Religious commitment understood as
product of learning
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• Accommodation to social pressures,
notably those of primary groups (e.g., the
family), appears to influence religious
group involvement
• But socialization appears to be necessary
but not sufficient cause of religiosity*
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1. INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS:
iii. DEPRIVATION
• Argues religiously committed are the deprived or
disadvantaged
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• Glock and Stark (1965): Five types of
deprivation predominant in rise and development
of religious and secular movements 
 Economic, social, organismic (physical or
mental), psychic, and ethical deprivation
• But research fails to support deprivation as good
predictor of religious participation*
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2. STRUCTURE-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS
•
Are three dominant structurecentred explanations of religious
commitment:
i. Denominationalism
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ii. Secularization thesis
iii. Persistence thesis…*
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2. STRUCTURE-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS:
i. DENOMINATIONALISM
• Notes tendency for smaller, independent
evangelical groups to evolve into denominations
• Groups seemingly reflect variations not only in
theology, but also (and often primarily) in social
characteristics
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• Suggests emergence of sect-like groups
historically is connected to existence of unstable
conditions produced by factors such as
immigration and economic depression (e.g.,
indigenous Baptists and Pentecostals)*
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2. STRUCTURE-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS:
ii. SECULARIZATION THESIS
• Argues religion – as it has been traditionally known
– is continuously declining in pervasiveness and
importance due to increasing industrialization and
postindustrialization
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• Decline has given rise to:
 Loss of religious authority, at both societal and
individual levels
 Changes in religious organizations
 Decline in religious commitment*
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2. STRUCTURE-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS:
iii. PERSISTENCE THESIS
• Argues religion persists in industrial and
postindustrial societies because it:
 Continues to address questions of meaning and
purpose, and
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 Responds to widespread interest in spirituality
• What is in doubt is not persistence of religion,
but the identity of key players*
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SERVICE ATTENDANCE, COMMITMENT, AND
SPIRITUAL NEEDS BY SOCIAL CHANGE
CORRELATES, CANADA, 2005 (IN %)
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13-33
CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGION:
i. PERSONAL LEVEL
• Contradictory findings on relationship
between level of religious commitment
and mental health
• Religious commitment by itself appears to
have fairly limited influence on valued
personal characteristics
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• Religion often less important than
variables such as age, education, or
employment in predicting personal wellbeing*
13-34
PERSONAL WELLBEING AND
RELIGIOUS SERVICE
ATTENDANCE, 2005
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13-35
CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGION:
ii. INTERPERSONAL LEVEL
• Early research suggested religiosity linked with
less compassion and more racial prejudice
• Recent research suggests religiously committed
people in Canada do not differ significantly from
others in terms of interpersonal relationships
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 Where main difference exists is in area of personal
morality, notably sexuality:
 Religious groups tend to oppose “moral innovation,”
including legalization of abortion, changing sexual
standards, and distribution of pornographic
materials*
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PERCENTAGE OF CANADIANS
OPPOSED TO SELECTED ISSUES
BY SERVICE ATTENDANCE AND
GROUP IDENTIFICATION, 2005
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13-37
VALUES OF THEIST & ATHEIST
TEENS, PERCENTAGE
INDICATING “VERY IMPORTANT”
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13-38
CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGION:
iii. SOCIETAL LEVEL
• Are mixed reviews about religion’s net
consequences for societies:
 Some point to important role played by religious
groups in helping establish a just society where
diversity and inclusiveness are valued
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 Others point to damage done by religious groups in
terms of early abusive treatment of Aboriginal
peoples, sexual abuse scandals, etc. (also is
damage done to religious groups through
discrimination)
• Paradox: Religion can both enrich and destroy
social life*
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THE FUTURE OF
RELIGION
• Is no evidence that religion is going to
disappear
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• Can expect emerging religious forms to
include sects and new religious movements
with origins unconnected with traditional
religions
• In Canada, teenagers differ little from adults
in religious matters, except with respect to
indicating spiritual needs*
13-40
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A PROFILE OF
RELIGION AND
SPIRITUALITY IN
CANADA:
TEENAGERS AND
ADULTS,
(IN PERCENTAGE)
13-41
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RECEPTIVITY TO
GREATER
INVOLVEMENT
IN THE CHURCH
BY AGE
COHORT,
PROTESTANTS
AND
CATHOLICS
ATTENDING
LESS THAN
ONCE A MONTH,
2005
13-42
THE FUTURE OF
RELIGION
• In Canada, overwhelming majority
continue to hold beliefs, engage in
practices, experience the gods, and
express spiritual needs
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• Are signs of positive participation shift as
groups seek to be more responsive to
children, teenagers, and young adults
 To extent these efforts continue, may be a
renaissance of religion in Canada**
13-43