South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Religion
Turner 1983
Read Pages 619-621
had strong things to say
about the role of
religion Many people
today hold religious
beliefs and the variety of
religious groups and
beliefs from
'established' churches to
sects and cults is a
feature of modern
society
argues that religion
is important for
sociologists. At the
birth of the subject
writers such as
Durkheim and Marx
As sociologists we are looking at:
1.
2.
3.
4.
As sociologists our interest is not in the validity of religious beliefs and you don't have to
have religious convictions to study religion - on the other hand religious commitments should
not bar you from studying religion sociologically
Write your own definition of religion here
Religion - lecture notes
1
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Defining Religion
Steve Bruce 1995 suggests 2 types of definition of religion
1. Functional Definitions
2. Substantive Definitions
These definitions can be combined
Durkheim 1912 defined religion as…
‘a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is,
things set apart and forbidden which unite into one single moral community –
called a church – all those who adhere to them’
There are a number of important elements to this definition
1.
2.
3.
Religion - lecture notes
2
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Read Pages 622-3
Weber - The problem of theodicy
Stark & Bainbridge 1985 - Compensators
Ways of dealing with the problem of theodicy have social consequences.
Weber saw a link between protestantism and the growth of capitalism. Islam
believes that suffering is crucial and has important consequences for such
as Iraq in the face of Western sanctions.
Criticisms Of Functional Definitions
Religion - lecture notes
Criticisms Of Substantive Definitions
3
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Measuring Religion
Read Pages 624-7
To measure how religious a society is (its degree of religiosity) is
not straightforward. 2 key elements are usually chosen - practice
and belief. This arguably gives us a measure of how important
religion is to a society over a period of time
However there are major problems in working in this way
1. Defining religion
2. Practice?
3. Membership
4. Belief
More people say
they have religious
beliefs than actually
practice regularly
5. 'Alternative' religions?
Religion - lecture notes
4
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Look at the tables on pages 625-7
Complete Activities 5 and 6 below
Read Pages 625-7
Like all other areas of the syllabus the collection and interpretation of stats is not
easy - or neutral. Sociologists often work with different definitions of what
religion is and therefore have different views about it's importance to societies
today.
This is a good area to use in Theory and Methods questions on the use of stats in
sociological research
Religion - lecture notes
5
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Religious Organisations
Read Pages 625-7
Sociologists have used $ terms to identify key social organisations of religion:_
Church, Denomination, Sect and Cult
The problem arises because all religions use the phrase 'church' and in the
media there is often a merging of Cult and Sect. So be careful when answering
questions on religion in the exam - be clear (and make it clear to the examiner)
what you are talking about!!
The Church /Sect Dichotomy
Church
Religion - lecture notes
Sect
6
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
The Church
The Sect
Rev. Sun Myung Moon and wife
Religion - lecture notes
7
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
The Denomination
The Cult
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/
The media use of the term sect has become
interchangeable with the word cult. Sensational
reporting of such events as the Waco siege in
Texas have meant that the term 'cult' has
become loaded with negative connotations
Jonestown 1978 - scene of mass suicide see John for video on this
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~remoore/jonestown/index.html
Religion - lecture notes
8
South Devon College
Sociology A Level
Stark and Bainbridge 1985
Argue that sects are offshoots of existing religions and cults involve innovation and importing
ideas from other religions
They classify cults into 3 types
1. Audience Cults
2. Client Cults
3. Cult Movements
Problems with this classification
1.
2.
Both church and sect claim that they have the unique, true message - but the
church is seen as legitimate (even by non-believers), the sect is seen as deviant.
Cult and denomination recognise a variety of beliefs - but again one is seen as
legit (denomination) and one is seen as deviant(cult)
Religion - lecture notes
9