Lesson 15: Religion

Attention

This is one of the most important questions facing our world today...can we coexist.

Click HERE to visit the Coexist organization...a "non-profit organization advancing social cohesion through education and innovation."

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Distinguish between sacred and secular.
  • Reflect on personal views of religion.

Teaching

What is religion?

According to Emile Durkheim, religion is about building communities based on "things that surpass the limits of our knowledge."

Religion is a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds sacred or considered to be spiritually significant.

Sacred vs. Secular

The word "sacred" connotes the notion of something that people hold in the very highest regard. Many religions have sacred objects such as specific texts or places in the world that are held in this regard and are protected and defended.

Secular things are "of the world" and considered profane when compared to the "sacred".

Sociology and Religion

It is not the purpose of Sociology to determine which religion is "true" or "false" but more to study the impact that religious organizations have on us and our society. Religion serves, for many people, as a primary source of identity (status) and a guide to daily behavior (religiosity).

Like many organizations, religions can serve to stabilize and/or destabilize society. Some religions seek to keep the "old ways" and to advocate that these ways of living are still, maybe even more, relevant today than they were years ago. Others seek to actively create change in our society by speaking out and acting politically.

Religion as a Socializing Agent

Many people grow up in a religious environment to some degree. Close to family, religion can play a key role in the communication of "norms, values, and expectations" for an individual or group.

Religions, for the most part, are voluntary organizations and individuals seek to join them in order to seek a deeper understanding of meaning in their lives. This entails a degree of "buy in" to the ways and means of the specific religion. Adherents, people who align with the expectations of a given religion, often seek a transcending experience with the sacred and/or spiritual world.

Perspectives on Religion

  • Functionalist Perspective
    • Religion depends on society for its existence and vice versa. Religion can offer socialization, connection with community, comfort, and the provision of answers to spiritual questions.
  • Conflict Perspective
    • Through the years, and into the modern era, religion has not just been associated with "peace" but with "conflict".
    • As with other social institutions, religious organizations can maintain inequalities and injustices.
  • Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
    • For many people, religion serves an important social, intellectual, and spiritual part of their lives. Church can be a second (or even first) family for people.
    • For others religion may seem trivial if not outright manipulative.
  • Post Modern Perspective
    • There is no denying that consumerism plays a large role in religion. "Mega-churches" across the world attract 10s of thousands of adherents and amass vast reserves of money and property.
    • Mass communication is another tool for churches to communicate their message.

Personal Religion

The rest of the chapter focuses on different kinds of religious organizations from sects, to cults, and to denominations. Religion is a "cultural universal" as every culture has some form of reverence for the defined "sacred". Reflect on the diversity of religious thought in the world and how this can lead to such rich cultural experiences and conflict.

Assessment

Lesson 15 Discussion

Reflect on your own personal views of religion. What does it mean to you? Do you consider yourself a religious or spiritual person? Remember that this discussion board is not the forum for discussions of what is "true and right", this place is a safe place for individuals to discuss their own points of view without judgment.

However, I do expect that people will be honest about their own faiths and the role that religion does (or does not) play in their lives.

Lesson 15 Quiz

  1. Define "sacred" and "secular" and provide an example of each one from your own life.