19th Century Classical Social Theory Quiz

Definitions

• Deism - belief in an impersonal creator who initiated creation, e.g., the 'clockmaker'
• Monotheism - belief in the oneness of a personal god
• Monism - denies the duality of spheres, e.g., spirit/matter
• Theism - belief in one or more gods who maintain a personal relationship with humanity/creation
• Polytheism - belief in more than one personal god
• Animism - belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe, meaning that plants and other natural phenomena have a soul

Foundations (Classical Social Theory - 19th Century)

• The social world is nature's highest expression, discoverable through natural methods (observation, data collection, etc.)
• Naturalism (materialism, physicalism, scientism) - the world is comprised of matter, differently modified
• Scientific knowledge is the only path to truth, and science is progressive
• Religion is in decline as scientific truth advances
• Religion is a form of false consciousness - a pathology

Foundations (The Conflict Thesis)

• Religion and science are in inevitable conflict, or incompatible

Feuerbach and Religion

• Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872), The Essence of Christianity, became a blueprint.
• A clear distinction between the empirical and super-empirical reality.
• Infinite essence of humanity - is comprised of the will, thought, and affection
• Compensatory Principle - the individual is confronted by the infinite and cumulative capabilities of humanity. Together, we are perfect.
• Religion comes from the infinite essence of humanity and individuals feel impoverished and confused, followed by the projection of an infinite being embodying the perfect essence. This projection is childish contemplation.

Durkheim and Religion

• Individuals confront the rich accumulations of intelligence within society, producing organic solidarity.
• Introspective consciousness tries to comprehend this seemingly foreign reality, which appears worthy of worship.
• The concept of God is a symbolic presentation of social group ascendance.
• Representations embody the sacredness of society in another thing: "Religious beliefs are only a special case of a very general law...pseudo-delirium."
• Sacredness is bestowed upon objects representing central community values.
• Examples—such as totemism (Australia), which involves religion as a form of totemism concerning a social group and its relationship to a particular object.
• The religious are worshipping society and have the function of increasing solidarity.

Marx and Religion

• Religion and other productions of consciousness are ideological reflexes of the life-process.
• Religion helps the oppressed submit and the oppressors to subdue.
• Religion is the sigh of the oppressed, and is the opium of the people.
• Religious beliefs are products of consciousness/pure speculation, making an illusionary world foreign to ourselves.
• Humanity needs to embrace materialism and the power of united individuals before freeing itself from error.

Weber and Religion

• Protestantism introduced pneumatic membership
• Religious movements/beliefs interact with economic and social forces, creating unique forms.
• Science and religion intersect differently—for example, Hinduism is "other-worldly," leading to less concern with the material world, versus Confucianism promoting harmony with the material world.
• Christianity creates an emotional tension and revolutionary struggle, along with a passive approach to knowledge.
• Zilberman—Eastern Orthodox religion supported authoritarianism over science.

Religion and Non-Religion

• Can we separate them based on: assembly/institution (vs. non-institutional spirituality), ritual, belief in invisible anthropomorphisms, eternal belief outside of space/time, predicted telos, level of conviction, faith, and a new religion of anthropodicy?

How Do We Measure Religion?

• Realist view - macro examination of religion as an objective institution impacting moral ideals and norms.
• Constructionist - examination of how religion is continuously reproduced and changed through everyday processes.
• In use approach - a situational approach, asking when/where people attribute religious meaning, and if the concept of religion has changed over time, and serves potential ideological interests.

Declining Religion

• Secularization - the process by which religion loses influence in society, with examples including declining church attendance and believing religious ideas without belonging.
• Vicarious religion - when a small active minority performs religious activities supporting the non-active majority (e.g., nominal membership)

Most Atheistic Countries (Self-Identification)

• Data on self-identification of religious affiliation across countries.

Religiousity in Canada

• Participation in an individual religious or spiritual activity at least once a week—by year of birth, (2006–2019)
• Evolution of different religiosity indicators (1985–2019)—group religious activities, religious affiliation, religious/spiritual beliefs, and individual religious activities.

Declining Religion? Where?

• Traditional participation's invisibility in quantitative/secularization research.
• Global North religion alignment with bureaucratic organization, and associated economic development, self-sufficiency.
• Global South association between the most religious as also among the poorest.
• Bureaucratic organizational structures' (lacking) effects and new forms/movements not fitting the survey template (such as Buddhist non-belief in a "god").

Complexities

• Continuum(s) of religious organizational models (e.g., Church, Sect, Denominations, Cults)
• Is there a range of organization continuum?

Complexity to New Forms

• Groups that spread new religious ideas/interpretations.
• New religious movements (NRM) such as broad range religious and spiritual groups, cults, and sects.
• World affirming—self-help, therapeutic (e.g., Scientology)
• World rejecting—critical of the outside world, demanding lifestyle change (e.g., ascetic/communal, Hare Krishna)
• World accommodating—emphasizes inner religious life, experience of God apart from everyday concerns (e.g., New Age)

Other New Forms

• Lived religion - creative blending of religious and secular elements (syncretism).
• Populism, wokeism, UFO communities.
• The New Atheism (e.g., Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennett).
• Privatization of beliefs – tribes, individualized spirituality, virtual participation.

The Ups and Downs of Religion

• Crutch theory of religion - adaptive function increasing with vulnerability increases (e.g., religion and migration, aging, illness).
• Religious Economy - examining religious organizations using economic and competitive theory.
• Competition increases religious involvement, leading to working harder for followers and diverse markets. This increase also results in marketing for religion consumer specialization.