Week 13 - Religion PDF

RELIGION  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 main...

RELIGION  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 = ‘nature’s highest expression’ and discoverable through natural methods, e.g., observation, data collection, pattern identification, theorizing explanations, etc. Naturalism (materialism, physicalism, scientism) – the world is comprised of matter, differently modified. Scientific knowledge as the only path to truth Science is progressive, and the key to our advancement. Religion is in decline, as scientific truth advances. Religion as 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 the 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.  FEUERBACH AND RELIGION Where does religion come from? The individual confronts the infinite essence of humanity and feels impoverished, confused. We then project an infinite being that embodies the perfect essence (will, thought, affection) of humanity. This projection is a form of childish contemplation. “In faith there lies a malignant principle” The religious are lazy, foolish, intolerant, violent, etc. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY  DURKHEIM AND RELIGION The individual confronts the rich accumulations of intelligence within society, which produces organic solidarity. Our introspective consciousness tries to comprehend this seemingly foreign reality, which appears worthy of worship. Irrationally, we project another being (“inadequate sketch”) that represents the social group, which is its basis. God is the opaque representation of our ascendency in the collective.  DURKHEIM AND RELIGION 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 granted to objects because they represent the central values of the community. Everything else is profane. E.g., Totemism (Australia) – religion in its most elementary form, or any animal/plant with symbolic significance for a social group. The religious are ‘really’ worshipping society and have the function of increasing solidarity.  MARX AND RELIGION Religion and other productions of consciousness are “ideological reflexes and echoes of this life-process”. Religion helps the oppressed to submit, and the oppressors to subdue. “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature…it is the opium of the people”. Religious beliefs are products of consciousness, and pure speculation – we imagine an illusory world, foreign to ourselves. Humanity needs to embrace materialism and the “power of united individuals” before it can free itself from error. MARX THE POET So a god has snatched from me my all In the curse and rack of Destiny. All his worlds are gone beyond recall! Nothing but revenge is left to me! (Marx, 1975, p. Invocation of One in Despair)  WEBER AND RELIGION Protestantism introduced pneumatic membership Religious movements and beliefs interact with economic and social forces, creating unique social forms. How does science intersect with religion? E.g., Hinduism is ‘other-worldly’, therefore it is less concerned with shaping or controlling the material world. E.g., Confucianism promoted harmony with the material world, rather than mastery of it. E.g., Christianity as a salvation religion, creating an emotional tension and revolutionary struggle. Also provides a passive approach to knowledge. E.g., Zilberman – Eastern Orthodox religion supported authoritarianism over science.  RELIGION AND NON-RELIGION? The assembly or institution (vs. non-institutional spirituality) Invisible anthropomorphisms Humanistic or secular forms The predicted telos vs. the outcome of religion Profound conviction Eternal – outside time/space, an afterlife Extreme diversity  RELIGION AND NON-RELIGION Can we separate religion and non-religion on the basis of: The assembly or institution (vs. non-institutional spirituality)? Ritual? The belief in invisible anthropomorphisms (humanistic or secular forms)? Belief in the eternal – outside time/space, or an afterlife? The predicted telos vs. the outcome of religion? Level of profound conviction? Faith? In anything? Perhaps just a new religion of anthropodicy? “Everybody worships” – David Foster Wallace  TYPES OF DEFINITIONS Exclusive – reference to the substance of various beliefs that uniquely distinguish between empirical and non-empirical (transcendent) realities. Allows for a study of secularization Inclusive – functionalist view of religion as central to human life and necessary in social life. Universal struggle with ultimate and enduring questions about existence, while offering hope, meaning, and solidarity. Implicitly religious? How do people incorporate transcendence into their world view?  HOW DO WE MEASURE IT? Realist view – macro examination of religion as an objective institution that transmits moral ideals and norms, having real effects. Constructionist – how religion is continually reproduced and changed through everyday processes. In Use – a situational approach, asking when/where do people attribute religious meaning. How has the concept of religion changed over time? Does the concept serve ideological interests?  DECLINING RELIGION? What if I apply an exclusive/realist approach? Secularization – the social processes through which ‘religion’ gradually loses influence in social life. E.g., declining church attendance Believing religious ideas without belonging Measuring influence of religious ideas Vicarious religion – when a small active minority performs religious activity with the tacit approval of the non-active majority, e.g., nominal membership. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC MOST ATHEISTIC COUNTRIES, SELF IDENTIFICATION (%) RELIGIOSITY IN CANADA RELIGIOSITY IN CANADA  DECLINING RELIGION? WHERE? What is invisible to quantitative/secularization research or outside of traditional participation? Global North – religion is aligned with bureaucratic organization. Religious decline is associated with economic development – perceptions of self-sufficiency? What about the USA (New Christian Right)? Global South – the most religious are also among the poorest. What if bureaucratic organization is lacking? What about groups that do not fit the survey? E.g., a Buddhist may appear atheist because they do not believe in a ‘god’.  COMPLEXITIES Is there a continuum of organization? Max Weber: Church – large, well established religious body. Sect – smaller, less well-organized group of committed believers, e.g., in protest or critique against a church. Charismatic leaders and temporary groups Howard Becker: Denominations – a sect that becomes institutionalized, and less active in protest. Cults – loosely knit/transient, rejecting the ‘main values’ and focus on personal experience, aligning like-minded people. Prescriptive, but no formal membership. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA  COMPLEXITY TO NEW FORMS What if I apply an inclusive/constructionist or in use approach? Religious movements – groups that spread new religious ideas or promote a new interpretations. New Religious Movements (NRMs) – a broad range of religious and spiritual groups, cults, and sects that emerge alongside mainstream religion (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.). World affirming – self-help, therapeutic, e.g., scientology World rejecting – critical of the ‘outside’ world, demanding significant lifestyle/appearance changes, e.g., ascetic/communal, Hare Krishna, etc. World accommodating – emphasize the inner religious life and direct experience of God, apart from worldly concerns, e.g., New Age.  OTHER NEW FORMS What about other movements or new religious forms? Lived religion – creative blending of religious and secular elements (syncretism). Populism, wokeism, UFO communities? The New Atheism, e.g., the “four horsemen” (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennett). Privatization of beliefs (vs. unified) – tribes, individualized spirituality, virtual participation.  THE UPS AND DOWNS OF RELIGION Crutch theory of religion – as an adaptive function, which increases when vulnerabilities increase. Religion and migration, aging, illness, crisis, etc. Religious Economy – using economic and competitive theory to examine religious organizations. This competition increases religious involvement in society. Working harder to win followers – marketing religion Creates a diverse market for religious consumers (more products, more choice) Specialization of religious services