SOC 101
PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY
LECTURE 11
Chapters
Religion
Sociology of the Body
OUTLINE
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The Sociological Study of Religion: Present the elements that make up a
religion.
Theories of Religion : Discuss the sociological approaches to religion developed
by Marx, Durkheim, and Weber; the contemporary debate over secularization.
Types of Religious Organizations:Learn the ways religious communities are
organized and how they have become institutionalized.
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Gender and Religion:Recognize the changing interrelationships between gender
and religion.
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World Religions
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Religion in the United States
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Globalization and Religion
RELIGION
Understanding Religion
Religion
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It is a form of culture; it involves beliefs that take the form of ritualized practice;
It provides a sense of purpose.
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Sociologists are concerned with how religions are organized, whether religious
beliefs constitute sources of social solidarity or conflict, and what social forces
are at work which keep religions alive or lead to their decline.
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Religion has to do with those socially shared and organized ways of thinking,
feeling and acting that concern ultimate meanings and assume the existence of the
supernatural or ´beyond´
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Religion is centered in beliefs and practices that are related to sacred as opposed
to profane things and often involves rituals
The Sociological Study of Religion
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There are no known societies that lack religion, although religious beliefs and
practices vary across cultures. All religions involve a set of shared beliefs and
rituals practiced by a community of believers.
The sociology of religion is not concerned with whether a particular religion is
true or false, but with how it operates as an organization and its relationship to the
larger society. Religions arise from social relationships and provide a sense of
social solidarity to followers.
Religious behavior is so varied that sociologists attempt to categorize it. One
scheme distinguishes between simple supernaturalism, animism, theism, and a
system of abstract ideals.
Types of Religious Organizations
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Several types of religious organization can be distinguished. A church is a large,
established religious body having a bureaucratic structure. Sects are small and aim
at restoring the purity of doctrines that have become "corrupted" in the hands of
official churches. A denomination is a sect that has become institutionalized,
having a permanent form. A cult is a loosely knit group of people who follow the
same leader or pursue similar religious ideals.
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Churches and denominations exist in a state of accommodation with the larger
society, sects and cults find themselves at odds with established social
arrangements and practices.
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Although traditional churches have seen declining membership, many new
religious movements have emerged alongside mainstream religions. New
religious movements encompass a range of religious and spiritual groups, cults,
and sects. They can be broadly divided into world-affirming movements, which
are akin to self-help groups; world-rejecting movements, which withdraw from
and criticize the outside world; and world-accommodating movements, which
emphasize inner religious life over worldly concerns.
Theories of Religion
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Sociological approaches to religion have been most influenced by the ideas of
Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. All three classical thinkers believed that religion
is fundamentally an illusion. They held that the "other" world that religion creates
is our world, distorted through the lens of religious symbolism.
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According to the classical view, religion in modern society is threatened by a
long-term process of secularization in which the challenge of scientific thinking,
as well as the coexistence of competing religions, leads to the complete demise of
religion.
Marx argues that religion contains a strong ideological element: Religion justifies
inequalities of wealth and power in society. However, Marx also saw that religions can
be a ‘haven in a heartless world’, thus providing some comfort to the poor and relatively
powerless. Marx saw religious beliefs as ideological (the opium of the people),
attributing to gods a divine power to shape individual lives which, in fact, lies within the
power of human beings and societies.
Weber studied several world religions in order to see how a religious ethic can affect
people s behavior and claimed that religion could be a source of social change. He
argues that religion is important because of its role in social change, particularly the
development of Western capitalism. Weber argued that whilst Eastern religions promote
values that do not sit easily with capitalist economics, Protestant and particularly
Calvinist beliefs and values fit well with the drive and investment patterns that enable
capitalism’s development.
The Functionalist Perspective-Functionalists theorists look to the contributions religion
makes to societal survival and are interested in totemism.
According to Durkheim, religion is the symbolization of society. Religion provides an
ordering system for societies, centred on a fundamental distinction between the sacred
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and the profane. That which is sacred actually stands for the core values of the society
itself, whilst collective rituals help to generate and sustain social solidarity
The Conflict Perspective-Some conflict theorists depict religion as a weapon in the
service of ruling elites who use it to hold in check the explosive tensions produced by
social inequality and injustice.
Gender and Religion
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Men have historically dominated Christian churches. The Anglican Church
admitted women as priests from the early 1990s but there remains strong
resistance to this in some quarters, reignited by recent debates about women
becoming bishops
Feminist scholars argue that the deity created men and women as beings of equal
value, and the Bible should reflect this fact.
Despite drastic liberalization in recent years, women continue to hold lower status
positions in many religious organizations today.
World Religions
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The three most influential monotheistic religions (religions in which there is one
God) in world history are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Polytheism (belief in
several or many gods) is common in other religions, such as Hinduism. Hinduism
is the third most followed religion in the world.
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Religion in European countries is diverse with a recent growth in number of
religious minorities. For example, in Britain, over 70 per cent of the population
describe themselves as Christian, but less than 8 per cent of the population attend
church every week. Catholics, Anglicans and established non-conformist
denominations have been in decline, whilst other Christian groups such as the
Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have increased their membership.
There has been an increase in attendance at religious ceremonies by members of
non-Christian religions, especially among ethnic minority populations. Class, age
and gender all affect patterns of religious participation.
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Religion in the United States
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The United States is one of the most religious of all industrial nations. Although
only about one quarter of all Americans report regularly attending church, the
majority claim to believe in God and to engage in regular prayer. Although church
and state are legally separated by the U.S. Constitution, religious imagery and
rituals pervade politics and civic life.
Liberal and moderate Protestant religious denominations in the United States have
seen declining membership, while more conservative or evangelical groups have
seen an increase. These groups recently have sought to expand their influence in
U.S. politics.
Catholicism is increasing, due in part to immigration from Central and South
America; mainstream and liberal
These shifts have political consequences in areas such as proposals for legislation
on abortion and homosexuality.
Globalization and Religion
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Religion has always been one of the most global of all social institutions.
Fundamentalism has become common among different religious groups
worldwide. Fundamentalists believe in returning to the fundamentals of their
religious doctrines. Islamic fundamentalism has affected many countries in the
Middle East since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, which set up a religiously
inspired government.
Adherents to liberation theology play an important role in fostering social justice
and economic inequality, particularly in Latin America and Africa.
Religious nationalism is an important force today, existing in a precarious
relationship with modern secular states. Religious nationalists often recast
ordinary conflicts as religious cosmic wars between good and evil that must be
won at all costs. This is especially the case when the conflict is central to one's
beliefs, losing it would be unthinkable, and winning it is unlikely.
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SOCIOLOGY OF THE BODY
Outline
The Sociology of the Body
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Understand how social, cultural, and historical contexts shape attitudes toward
"ideal" body forms. Learn about the ways that social context gives rise to two
body-related social problems in the United States: eating disorders and the obesity
crisis.
The Sociology of Health and Illness
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Learn about functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspectives on health and
illness in contemporary society. Understand the relationship between traditional
medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Social Factors in Health and Illness
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Recognize that health and illness are culturally and socially determined. Learn the
social and cultural differences in the distribution of disease.
Global Health Issues
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Understand the causes underlying high rates of infectious diseases in developing
nations. Learn more about HIV/AIDS as a sociological phenomenon.
Human Sexuality
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Learn about the debate over the importance of biological versus social and
cultural influences on human sexual behavior. Explore the cultural differences in
sexual behavior and patterns of sexual behavior today.
The Sociology of the Body

Understand how social, cultural, and historical contexts shape attitudes toward
"ideal" body forms. Learn about the ways that social context gives rise to two
body-related social problems in the United States: eating disorders and the obesity
crisis.
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The Sociology of Health and Illness

Learn about functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspectives on health and
illness in contemporary society. Understand the relationship between traditional
medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Social Factors in Health and Illness

Recognize that health and illness are culturally and socially determined. Learn the
social and cultural differences in the distribution of disease.
Global Health Issues

Understand the causes underlying high rates of infectious diseases in developing
nations. Learn more about HIV/AIDS as a sociological phenomenon.
Human Sexuality

Learn about the debate over the importance of biological versus social and
cultural influences on human sexual behavior. Explore the cultural differences in
sexual behavior and patterns of sexual behavior today.
The Sociology of the Body
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The field of the sociology of the body studies how the social world affects our
bodies and especially addresses processes of social change. Modern social
technologies have managed, for instance, to separate the body from nature; an
example is dieting, which involves planned interventions in bodily functioning.
Food production in the modern world has been globalized: Owing to technologies
of transportation and storage (refrigeration), now everyone in the developed world
is on a diet in some sense, having to decide what to eat every day. Social relations
influence such decisions. Women especially are judged by physical appearance,
but feelings of shame about the body can lead anyone to compulsive dieting,
exercising, or bodybuilding to make the body conform to social expectations.
The Sociology of Health and Illness
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Sociologists are interested in the experience of illness—how being sick,
chronically ill, or disabled is experienced by the sick person and by those nearby.
The idea of the sick role, developed by Talcott Parsons, suggests that a sick
person adopts certain forms of behavior to minimize the disruptive effect of
illness. A sick individual has certain privileges, such as the right to withdraw from
normal responsibilities, but in return must work to regain health by following
medical advice.
Symbolic interactionists have investigated how people cope with disease and
chronic illness. The experience of illness can provoke changes in individuals' self-
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identity and in their daily routines. Stigmatized health conditions may have a
particularly powerful influence on one's daily experiences. This dimension of the
sociology of the body is increasingly relevant for many societies; people are now
living longer than before and suffer more from chronic debilitating conditions
than from acute illnesses.
Social Factors in Health and Illness
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Health and illness are connected to population issues as well as being strongly
affected by social factors such as class, race, and gender. Modern Western
medicine views illness as having physical origins and hence as being explicable in
scientific terms. In spite of modern medicine's importance, public health
measures, such as better sanitation and nutrition, were more important in reducing
infant mortality rates.
Global Health Issues
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Historians believe that risk from infectious diseases were lower in Africa and
Asians prior to the time that Europeans tried to colonize these regions—as they
often brought with the practices that negatively affected the health of local natives
. For example, the colonial system, with its stress on cash crops, negatively
affected the nutrition of developing-world people.
Susceptibility to the major illnesses is strongly influenced by socioeconomic
status. For example, people in the industrialized world live longer than those in
the developing world; the richer are healthier, taller, and stronger than those from
less privileged backgrounds.
Human Sexuality
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Researchers have examined both biological and cultural influences on human
sexual behavior, concluding that sexuality, like gender, is mostly socially
constructed. There is an extremely wide range of sexual practices, but in any
society only some will be approved and reflected in social norms. Because these
norms also vary widely, however, we can say that most sexual responses are
learned rather than innate.
Religion as defined by sociologists has three key elements: it is a form of culture; it
involves beliefs that take the form of ritualized practice; it provides a sense of
purpose. Sociologists are not necessarily concerned with whether religious beliefs
are true or false, but with how religions are organized, whether religious beliefs
constitute sources of social solidarity or conflict, and what social forces are at work
which keep religions alive or lead to their decline.
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Durkheim studied the phenomenon of religion in some detail, especially within smallscale societies. Religion provides an ordering system for societies, centred on a
fundamental distinction between the sacred and the profane. That which is sacred actually
stands for the core values of the society itself, whilst collective rituals help to generate
and sustain social solidarity.
Weber carried out extensive studies of the world religions and was particularly concerned
with the relationship between religion and social change. Weber argued that whilst
Eastern religions promote values that do not sit easily with capitalist economics,
Protestant and particularly Calvinist beliefs and values fit well with the drive and
investment patterns that enable capitalism’s development. This intimate connection
between Protestantism and the spirit of capitalism provoked intense debates.
Smaller cultures often have beliefs based around totemism and animism. The three most
influential monotheistic religions all developed in the Middle East and each has
influenced the others: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is the third most
followed religion in the world. It is polytheistic and internally diverse with many
different forms and practices. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism – the major religions
of the East – have no gods, but emphasize ethical ideals that relate to a belief in the
natural unity of the universe.
Sociologists of religion have described religious organizations in terms of Western
categories. They distinguish between churches, sects, denominations and cults. However,
sects and cults have negative connotations in society and sociologists have moved
towards analysing such religious groups as types of new religious movement. Religious
movements are a subtype of social movement frequently headed in their initial phase, at
least, by a charismatic leader.
‘New religious movements’ is the broad term for a collection of groups and cults
concerned with spirituality that have emerged in the West since the 1960s counterculture. They fall into three broad types: world-affirming, world-rejecting and worldaccommodating.
Men have historically dominated Christian churches. The Anglican Church admitted
women as priests from the early 1990s but there remains strong resistance to this in some
quarters, reignited by recent debates about women becoming bishops. The place of
homosexual clergy has also caused enormous controversy. The Roman Catholic Church
only admits men as priests. Priests take a vow of celibacy, which makes sexual
orientation a non-issue in official debates.
Secularization describes the process whereby religion loses its influence over the various
spheres of social life. Evaluating the extent of secularization is a complex sociological
problem, which has been at the centre of heated debate. Church membership and
attendance figures paint some of the picture but say nothing about levels of belief
(assessed by attitude surveys) or the social influence of churches (as providers of schools,
representatives on various public bodies or as ‘moral experts’ in public and media
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debates). The debate is further complicated by the increasingly multi-ethnic nature of
societies where very different religious groups will be represented.
Religion in European countries is diverse with a recent growth in number of religious
minorities. For example, in Britain, over 70 per cent of the population describe
themselves as Christian, but less than 8 per cent of the population attend church every
week. Catholics, Anglicans and established non-conformist denominations have been in
decline, whilst other Christian groups such as the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses
have increased their membership. There has been an increase in attendance at religious
ceremonies by members of non-Christian religions, especially among ethnic minority
populations. Class, age and gender all affect patterns of religious participation.
The United States is an overwhelmingly Christian nation with a wide diversity of
churches, denominations and sects. Catholicism is increasing, due in part to immigration
from Central and South America; mainstream and liberal Protestant groups are in decline,
whilst conservative Protestant groups, including evangelicals, are increasing. These shifts
have political consequences in areas such as proposals for legislation on abortion and
homosexuality.
There is no clear outcome in the secularization debate. In Western societies, mainstream
and established churches may be in decline, but evangelical groups, new religious
movements and the world religions followed by immigrants to these societies are all
growing. There is a wide belief in God and the afterlife among those who do not belong
to or worship in any organized religious group. In non-Western societies, religion is
enthusiastically embraced.
Fundamentalism involves a strict adherence to a literal reading of the basic texts of a
religion. Fundamentalism is associated with many religions and has been growing in
recent decades as the global forces of modernization have increasingly destabilized
traditional elements in the social world.
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