Religion - Topic 13 - Past Paper

**Topic 13** **RELIGION** Etymologically, the term is derived from a Latin word ***religare*** which means "the bond between the God and human". **Basic concepts** 1. *Religion* -- religion involves things that surpass the limits of our knowledge (Emile Durkheim). - A social institution...

**Topic 13** **RELIGION** Etymologically, the term is derived from a Latin word ***religare*** which means "the bond between the God and human". **Basic concepts** 1. *Religion* -- religion involves things that surpass the limits of our knowledge (Emile Durkheim). - A social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred. 2. *Ritual* -- formal ceremonial behavior. 3. *Faith* -- belief based on conviction rather than on scientific evidence. - The conviction of things not seen (the New Testament Bible). 4. *Sacred* -- set apart as extraordinary, inspiring awe and reverence. 5. *Profane* -- from Latin, meaning "outside the temple". \- included as an ordinary element of everyday life. 6. *Totem* -- an object in the natural world collectively defined as sacred. 7. *Charisma* -- extraordinary quality that can infuse people with emotion and turn them into followers. 8. *Belief* -- religious beliefs attempt to explain the nature and origin of sacred things. They refer to the empirical world, a phenomenon regarded as sacred. 9. *Religiosity* -- is the importance of religion in a person's life. 10. Agnostic -- person who does not have a definite belief about whether God exist or not. 11. Monotheism -- the belief that there is only one God. 12. Polytheism -- the belief that there is more than one God. 13. Dogma / Doctrine -- beliefs or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. 14. Atheist -- the doctrine that there is no deity (god, goddess or God). **Major Functions of Religion** 1. *Social cohesion* -- religion unites people through shared symbolism, values, and norms. Religious thought and ritual establish rules of fair play, organizing our social life. 2. *Social control* -- every society uses religious ideas to promote conformity. By defining God as a "judge" many religions encourage people to obey cultural norm. 3. *Providing meaning and purpose* -- religious belief offers the comforting sense that our brief lives serve some greater purpose. Strengthened by such beliefs, people are less likely to despair in the face of change or even tragedy. **Theoretical Perspective of Religion** Symbolic-Interaction Analysis Social -- Conflict Analysis - Highlight religions support of social inequality. - Religion serves the ruling elites by legitimizing the status quo and diverting people's attention from social inequalities. - Religion also encourages people to accept the social problems in this world while they look hopefully to a "better world to come." - Religion "is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiments of the heartless world, and the soul of the soulless conditions, it is the opium of the people." - Religion and social inequality are also linked to gender; all the world's major religions are patriarchal. - Matthe 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25 -- it is easier for a camel to go through a needle eye, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. - For the married only God can set them apart - We don't question if the proceed is for the church. Money, tithes and other materials - Matt. 5:1-11 - Kung ang imong mata makapahimo nimong makasasala **Max Weber: Protestantism and Capitalism** John Calvin (1509 -- 1564) -- he was a leader of the PROTESTANT REFORMATION who preached the doctrine of ***predestination***. - According to him that an all-powerful and all-knowing God had selected some people for salvation but condemned most to eternal damnation. - Individual's fate sealed before birth and known only to God, either eternal glory or endless hellfire. - Calvinist understandably looked-for signs for God's favors in this world and came to see ***prosperity*** as a sign of Devine blessings. Poor as a mark of God's rejection. - Calvinist believed that they best fulfilled their "calling" by reinvesting profits and achieving and ever- greater success in the process. They lived thrifty lives and adopted technological advances w/c laid the groundwork for the rise of industrial capitalism. **Types of Religious Organization** 1. **Church** -- a religious organization that is well integrated into the larger society. Churches have well-established rules and regulations and expect leaders to be formally trained and ordained. a. *State church* -- is a church formally allied with the state. Example: Roman Catholicism -- was the official religion of the Roman Empire. Confucianism -- was the official religion of China until early in the twentieth century. Anglican Church - is the official religion of England today. Islam -- is the official religion of Pakistan and Iran. - *State churches* count everyone in the society as a member, which sharply limits tolerance of religious differences. b. *Denomination* -- is a church independent of the state that recognizes religious pluralism. Exampled, Catholics, Baptist, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Judaism, and Islam. 2. **Sect** -- a type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society. Members have rigid convictions and deny the beliefs of others. And a sect member forms an exclusive group. Leaders in sect like organization, which celebrate the personal presence of God, expect their leaders to exhibit divine inspiration in the form of charisma. 3. **Cult** (as neutral term New religious movements) -- is a religious organization that is largely outside the society's cultural norm forms around a highly charismatic leader who offer a compelling message about a new and very different way of life. World Religion 1. Christianity -- began as a cult drawing element from Judaism a much older religion. - Like any other cult, Christianity was built on the personal charisma of a leader, Jesus of Nazareth who preached a message of personal salvation. - Is an example of monotheism, yet views the Supreme Being as a sacred trinity: God the creator, Jesus Christ, the son of God and redeemer and the Holy Spirit? - About 2 billion followers 2. Islam -- is the word of God as revealed to Muhammad, who was born in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia about the year 570. - Muhammad is a prophet not a divine being as Jesus is to Christian. - The text of the Qur'an (Koran) which is sacred to Muslims is the word of Allah (Arabic of God) as transmitted to Muhammad, Allah's messenger. - Islam -- means both "submission" and "peace" and the Qur'an urges submission to Allah as the path to inner peace - Muslims express their personal devotion in a ritual of prayers five times each day. - Like Christianity, holds people accountable to God for their deeds on Earth - About 1.3 billion followers. 1. Recognizing Allah as the one, true God and Muhammad as God's messenger. Profession of Faith (shahada) 2. Ritual prayer (salat) - the adult has to implore the Almighty five times a day facing Mecca before daybreak, at noontime, in mid-afternoon, at sunset and any time after sunset before sleeping. 3. Giving alms to the poor (zakat) - which is the obligatory giving of one fortieth of one's income to the needy or religious cause to purify one's wealth and attain salvation. 4. Fasting during the month of Ramadan (sawm) - which is done during the lunar month of Ramadan (ninth month of the Muslim calendar). Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wassalam. Muslim must refrain from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse from daybreak to sunset. 5. Making a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) -- mandatory at least once in one's life to the Sacred House of Allah in Mecca (Weeks 1988; El Attar, 1991) - Haji -- a title given to a Muslim who performed this pilgrimage. - **Eid ul-Fitr or the Festival of Breaking the Fast** -- after the sighting of the crescent moon at the end of the Ramadan. - **Jihad** -- means "to struggle", and was considered as the sixth pillar of Islam by some Muslims. - Refers to living virtuous life, helping other Muslims, and preaching Islam. - ***Holy war*** which focuses on the militant interpretation of jihad. 3. Judaism -- has deep historical roots that extend 4,000 years before the birth of Christ to the ancient societies of Mesopotamia, at this time Jews were animistic but this belief changes after Jacob -- grandson of Abraham, the earliest ancestor led his people to Egypt. - Moses -- the adopted son of an Egyptian princess was called by God to lead the Jews from the bondage. This exodus (Latin roots w/c means "marching out") from Egypt is remembered by Jews today in the annual ritual of Passover. After their liberation Jews became monotheistic recognizing a single, all-powerful God. - The distinctive concept of Judaism is the covenant, a special relationship with God by w/c the Jews became God's "chosen People". - The covenant implies a duty to observe God's law, especially the Ten Commandments as revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. - For the Jews the Old Testament of the Bible as both a record of their history and a statement of the obligation of the Jewish life. - Torah -- Bible first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), a word meaning "teaching" and "law". - About 15 million followers worldwide. 4. Hinduism -- is the oldest of all world religions originating in the Indus River valley about 4,500 years ago. - It differs from most religion because it is not linked to the life of any single person. - Envisions God as a universal moral force rather than a specific entity, and for this reason Hinduism sometimes called "ethical religion". - Hindus believe that they have moral responsibilities called ***Dharma***. Example calls people to observe the traditional caste system (in India). - Karma -- is another Hindu's principle w/c involves a belief in the spiritual progress of the human soul, for them each action has spiritual consequences and proper living results in moral development. - Karma works through reincarnation, a cycle of death and rebirth by which a person is born into a spiritual state corresponding to the moral quality of a previous life. - Moksha -- the state of moral perfection and the soul has no need to be reborn. - Hinduism is monotheistic for it views that the universe as a single moral system, yet Hindus see this moral force at work in every element of nature. 5. Buddhism -- are majority religion of the population in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Japan, and widespread in India and the people of Republic of China. - It recognizes no God of judgement but sees each daily action as having spiritual consequences and believes in reincarnation. - *Siddhartha Gautama* -- was born to a high-caste family in Nepal in 563 B.C.E. being a deeply spiritual young man, at the age of 29, he experienced personal transformation w/c led him to years of travel and meditation. - *Bodhi* -- enlightenment means gaining an understanding of the essence of life, Gautama became Buddha it was after the end of his travel and meditation. - *Dharma* -- Buddha's Teachings that much of life in this world involves suffering and the solution to suffering is not worldly wealth and power but spiritual development. Meditation can move beyond selfish concerns and material desires. - *Nirvana* -- a state of enlightenment and peace. It is the goal of meditation -- by quieting the mind can people connect with the power of the universe. 6. Confucianism -- is the official religion of China. - *Confucius* -- whose Chinese name was K'ung Fu-tzu, lived between 551 and 479 B.C.E. - Deeply moved by peoples' suffering, instructing his followers to engage the world according to a code of moral conduct. - *Jen* -- meaning humaneness, in practice this means that we must always place moral principle above our self-interest, looking to tradition for guidance in how to live. - In family -- Confucius teach each of us must be loyal and considerate -- families must remember their duties toward the larger community. - Of all religions, Confucianism stands out as lacking a clear sense of the sacred but for Durkheim Confucianism is the celebration of the sacred character of society itself. - Shares with religions a body of beliefs and practices through which its followers seek moral goodness and social harmony (Schmidt, 190; McGuire,1987; Ellwood, 2000). **\ **