BELIEFS IN SOCIETY

• Evaluate whether science is considered a religion

  Def: Substantive ,Functional, Social constructionist

  Scientific features

  Knowledge difference

  (Evidence) Doubting of Thomas

  Popper - Open + Closed belief system

  Lyotard - Postmodern society

  Eval: Declining - Secularisation
• Outline the substantive definition of Religion


  Supernatural (Religion) cannot be explained by science.
• Outline the functional definition of Science


  Science upholds value consensus + collective conscience.
• Outline the Social Constructionist definition of Religion.

  Set criteria of science

  (Example)

  - No set of religion.

  Religious beliefs + Organisations are deemed more religious than others.
• Outline what is meant by Falsification


  Beliefs that can be disproved (Word of god).
• What was Popper's perspective of religion.

  Falsification

  Monopoly of Truth

  Open + Closed belief System
• What is the Postmodernist perspective of Science + Religion

  Lyotard believe both are metanarratives set out to explain everything.

  Metanarratives not useful in society today.
• What was the belief of Kuhn


  Science is less open - operates within a paradigm

  If paradigm is challenged - marginalised

  Scientific measured human behaviour unopposed.
• Define in Paradigm


  a set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline, commonly accepted by a group
• Outline and explain TWO reasons why sociology should not be seen as a science

  Interactionist view;

  Unique, unpredictability

  Demographics react differently

  Insight + Verstehen

  No C+E

  
  

  Nature of science;

  Kuhn-Paradigms

  Sociology has no agreed set of norms and values

  Science evolves through paradigm shifts.

  Opposes existing body of knowledge.

  E.g. Feminists + Functionalists
• Evaluate whether Society should be considered a science or religion

  - Society's faith

  - Modern ideology perspective - justify interest of dominant groups

  - Modern era perspectives + Scientific achievements.

  - Secularisation - Bruce (Causal relationship)

  - Popper et al.
• Outline what is the Marxist perspective of Religion

  Keeps Ideology dominant + prevents social change

  Eval: Neo-Maxist Maduro

  Ruling Class teachings to overthrow.
• Outline Functionalist perspective of religion

  Collective Conscience

  Social order

  Discipline

  Promotes stability.
• What was Durkheim's view on society

  - Organic analogy

  - Society - specific organs performing functions to keep society alive.

  - Moral glue

  - Sacred + Profane - Worshipping god - worshipping society

  - Social Integration

  Eval: Ignored Conflict, RC, Dated, Pluralism
• Outline Functionalism perspective of promoting a consensus

  Key ideas:

  - Organic Analogy

  - Socialisation

  - Meritocracy.

  
  

  1) Durkheim - organic analogy.

  - Problems in one part of society could be a symptom of dysfunctions somewhere else.

  - Need to be a balance of social cohesion and social control.

  
  

  2) Social cohesion;

  - Bound together by a common purpose.

  - Neither too much or too little.

  - Too little, you have a selfish society where people do not look out for each other.

  - Too much, people do not seek personal achievement.

  
  

  3) Social control;

  - Extent to which people were prevented from behaving in an antisocial manner.

  - Too little, lawlessness and chaos.

  - Too much, you have oppression and tyranny.

  - Maintained by conesus.

  
  

  4) Socialisation;

  - Value consensus and solidarity.

  - Primary Socialisation = values of family and community

  - Secondary Socialisation = learning the universalistic values

  - Equality of opportunity - hard work

  - Stratification - most important get best roles.

  - Rewards = incentive.

  - Role allocation - encourages hard work and ambition.

  
  

  5) Conservative;

  - Social change is gradual - happens when consensus shifts.

  
  

  - Parsons

  - Davis and Moore

  - Durkheim

  - Merton
• What did Durkheim mean by Sacred objects


  - Having special significance and will be treated with respect.

  - For example; the 'Shroud of Torin' - treated with respect.
• What did Durkheim mean by Profane objects

  - Ordinary and every day objects with no special meaning attached.

  - For example; Bible is a sacred text it is a profane object which individuals use to strengthen belief systems.
• Outline and Evaluate Marxist view of Ideology


  Justification, RC, Political system, Oppressive, FCC, Revolution, Illusion, ISA, Hegemony, Spiritual Gin, Opium of the Masses

  
  

  Eval:

  Unfalsifiable

  Neo-Marxist - Brainwashed

  Hegemony + Counter Hegemony
• Outline Economic Context of Science


  Objectivity, funding, Ideological, Unfalsifiable, Bruce, Cause and effect, Scientific Explanations, Weber, Comte
• What was the belief of Bruce

  Scientific Method is the greatest challenge to science, not scientific discoveries.
• What was the view of Comte

  Theological

  Metaphysical

  Positive or scientific
• What is the view of Weber

  Growing Disenchantment
• Outline and Evaluate Feminist view of Ideology

  Patriarchy, Male power, Justification, Acceptance through myths, Acceptance
• Evaluate whether Ethnic Minority groups are more religious than that of the white majority.

  Modood et al.

  
  

  1) Economic + Social Deprivation,

  Unemployment, Justification

  
  

  2) Cultural Transition

  Assist Immigration, Cohesion, Reduce shock, Solidarity, Bruce

  
  

  3) Cultural Defence

  Defence, Hostility, Racism, Afro-Caribbean, Set up Churches, Islamaphobia, Davie , Apostasy + Accomodation
• What did Modood's study find

  Declining religiosity among some Asian men.

  Younger Muslims had greater knowledge than their parents.
• Outline Bruce's study


  2nd + 3rd generation immigrants having less need for Religion.
• Outline Davie's study


  Religious identity provides a sense of belonging and cultural identity.
• Evaluate the ways in which Ideology can be defined

  Set of Political Ideas and beliefs

  
  

  Marxism

  Feminism
• Outline Feminist Ideology on Religion

  Patriarchal nature of mainstream ideologies

  Male doctrines

  Compensates women - Psychological rewards

  Women can use religion to lead fulfilling lives - need to fight oppression within mainstream religions organisations to do so, or even to develop their own unique, individual paths to a feminine spirituality.

  Eval: Goddess religions

  
  

  Beauvoir

  Daly

  El Sadaawi
• Why people join Cults (NRMs)

  Individualised

  loosely organised

  Tolerant

  Demand less

  
  

  Disillusion with an established church or denomination

  Social Change

  Modern therapies - leading to Social Improvement

  Consumer culture - 'Crisis of meaning'

  Deprivation.

  Heelas 'Kendal Project' - University educated providing therapies.
• Aspects of Cults


  World Affirming - Offer Enrichment - Hidden potential - unlock themselves

  
  

  World Accommodating - Separate life into real + spiritual

  
  

  World Rejecting - world is corrupt eg. Millenarianism
• Cults according to Stark and Bainbridge


  Business Organisations.

  
  

  Audience cult (Passive cult)

  DVDs, lectures

  
  

  Client Cult

  Relationship to adherents

  
  

  Cult movement

  Fulfill spiritual needs - consumer becomes believer.

  
  

  John Drane - NAMs growth from failure of science. - Search of spiritual enlightenment.
• Reasons for Working Class Religiosity

  Theodicy of Disprivilege. Religion offers "compensators" (such as rewards in the afterlife)

  
  

  Financial/social support and welfare

  
  

  Sense of belonging and community

  
  

  
  

  Denominations and sects
• Reasons for Middle Class Religiosity

  Spiritual deprivation / relative deprivation

  Social networking

  Tradition and social desirability

  
  

  Cults and New Age movement

  Traditional churches
• Religion prevents Social Change


  1) Functionalist ;

  - Malinowski and Parsons;

  Prevents social change by helping individuals and society cope with disruptive events that might threaten the existing social order.

  - Religion provides a series of ceremonies which help individuals and societies cope with the death of individual members.

  
  

  2) Marx;

  - Preserve the existing class structure.

  - Justify the existing, unequal social order and prevent social change by making a virtue out of poverty and suffering.

  - Teaches people that it is pointless striving for a revolution to bring about social change in this life. - Better to focus on 'being a good Christian' (for example) and then you will receive your just rewards in heaven.

  
  

  3) Neo-Marxist Maduro;

  - Catholic Church in Latin America tended to prevent social change. It did so by supporting existing economic and political elites, thus justifying the unequal social order.

  
  

  Eval: Recognised religion had the potential to be a force for social change
• Religion causes Social Change

  1) Max Weber's 'Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism'

  
  

  2) Neo-Marxist Otto Maduro pointed to the example of Liberation Theology in Latin America to demonstrate that religion can act as a force for social change;

  Grievances towards religious institutions.

  
  

  3) Civil Rights movement;

  helped to end racial segregation in America and secure more equal political rights for non-whites
• Globalisation has led to Fundamentalism

  1) Giddens - globalisation has caused significant levels of insecurity for people and that fundamentalist religion offers very simple answers

  
  

  World of confusion and uncertainty, faiths with very clear rules and absolute truths have proved very attractive.

  
  

  2) Fundamentalist - religious texts are taken entirely literally, and provide a strict set of rules which people should live by.

  - View clashes with the norm in contemporary society (pluralistic, liberal, etc.) fundamentalist religion is also often highly political.

  
  

  3) Fundamentalism is highly conservative and yet proposes significant social change. Fundamentalists want to change contemporary liberal, pluralistic society into a conservative and traditional society.

  Example: Iranian Revolution of 1979, the New Christian Right in the USA and ISIS/Daesh.
• Outline and explain two reasons why women may be attracted to some religious organisation.

  Attracted to NAMs

  
  

  1) Focus on qualities such as nature or natural experiences, individual experience and self-worth, all are values that appeal to women more than men.

  
  

  - Women are associated with expressive role of caring for children through biological role following childbirth (feelings and well-being of themselves and others)

  
  

  
  

  2) NAMs often celebrate the natural and healing and focus on individual spirituality this often give women a sense of self-worth.

  
  

  - Gives women a higher status

  - 80% of the participants in the Holistic Mileu in Kendal were female.

  - Appeal more to some middle class women, whereas working class women are attracted to ideas and values that give them a passive role rather than being 'authentic' in their

  
  

  3) Attracted to religious organisation such as denominations, e.g. Neo-Pentecostalism is the values being promoted are used by women to raise their position within the family/society

  
  

  - Men are head of households

  - Pentecostalism encourages men to change their ways and look after family more and change unhealthy ways.

  
  

  - Raise the family standard of living.

  - More attractive to women as it improves their social position and quality of life.
• Evaluate the view that Religion performs an ideological function in the interests of powerful groups.

  Ideology - System of ideas + Beliefs

  In relation to society: How society should be.

  Marxist - How religion has enforced Capitalist traits.

  Feminist - How religion has enforced patriarchy + instilled gender roles.

  
  

  1) Marx :

  - Distorts reality

  - Alienation

  - Means of production - can't be expressive

  - Dehumanising work conditions

  - Turn to religion for consolation.

  - Masks the pain

  - No solution to exploitation

  - Opium of the masses

  - No solution to exploitation. .

  - Legitimises suffering

  - Legitimises privileges.

  Eval: Bruce - Civil rights movement.

  Eval: Church provides sanctuary from racial violence.(Hymns against oppression)

  Eval: African americans used christian values for social change.

  
  

  2) Feminism;

  - Patriarchal institution - perpetuates inequality.

  - Story of Eden - first sin on earth.

  - Religion dominated by men.

  - Women cannot become priests (Armstrong)

  - God referred to as 'Him'

  - Females = Witches

  - Eval: Mosques - women watch men pray - women cannot touch Qu'ran.

  Eval: Women devalued.

  
  

  3) Functionalist;

  - Positive functions.

  - Promotes social solidarity - run smoothly.

  - Social order - unable to function correctly (right or wrong)

  - Helps with psychological stress (Parsons)
• Analyse two reasons why Women are more religious than Men

  1) Reason= more likely to self-report as being religious;

  more likely to attend church and more likely to self-report as being religious.

  For example, Church census records - 2005 congregations - 57%/43%

  
  

  1990 opinion poll = Belief in god - 84% + 64%.

  Reasons: expressive role (nurturing and caring) is a good match with religious faith.

  
  

  2) Reason= Expressive role= Raising children in their religion and taking them to church was seen as part of that role.

  
  

  3 Reason= proximity to childbirth, child rearing, caring for the sick and caring for the elderly all, it is suggested, gives them reason to pray and seek spiritual support and guidance.

  
  

  4) Reason= traditionally having been marginalised in domestic roles gave them more time to devote to religion

  
  

  5) Reason = women live longer than men;

  Older people are significantly more religious than young adults, and there are simply more older women.

  
  

  6) Reason= men and women are socialised differently and women are socialised to be more compliant and passive;

  Religion - particularly traditional, established religions - expects compliance, conformity and passivity from its congregation.

  
  

  
  

  Men are socialised to be more dominant and therefore, while they take leadership positions in churches - less happy to simply accept what they are told.

  
  

  De Beauvoir - women are sold a false ideology by religious teachings which encourages them to believe that they will get their reward in heaven and should therefore be committed and devoted to their faith.

  
  

  Women more likely to get involved in religious sects; Material, spiritual and relative - than men, because of patriarchy.

  
  

  7) Reason = Men have drifted away from the main established religions at a faster rate than women.

  
  

  8) New Age beliefs are consciously and deliberately female-orientated

  - Therapy, weight-loss and exercise and are