G672

THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

UNIT CONTENT

Part 1:

• Key Concepts

• The nature of religious belief

• Different types of religious institutions

• Changes in religious movements in the UK

Part 2:

• The role of religion in society

• Patterns of religious belief in the UK

• The Secularisation debate

1: KEY CONCEPTS

Individually: Use your mini-whiteboards to write down five things you associate with religion. Then complete the sentence: “Religion is…”

LEARNING OBJECTIVES1. Identify different ways in which religion can be defined.

2. Describe the differences between inclusive and exclusive definitions of religion.

3. Define the word religiosity.

4. Give a minimum of two reasons why it is difficult to measure religiosity.

1. WHICH OF THESE PEOPLE IS ‘RELIGIOUS’?2. WHY MIGHT IT NOT BE EASY TO SAY FOR SURE?

.I believe in God.

I go to church every Sunday and say prayers before bed.

I have read the Bibletwelve times.

I think of myself as a very spiritual person.

I believe in nothing other than the futility of existence.

DEFINING RELIGION

• Defining and measuring religion is difficult.

• Who gets to decide whether or not someone is religious?

• Is attending religious ceremonies or taking part in religious practices enough to make someone ‘religious’?

RELIGIOUS BEHAVIOURS• Praying in your home

• Reading the Qur’an

• Sitting in a yoga pose

• Using crystals for healing

• Waving a scarf at a football match

• Taking a lucky teddy bear into an exam

• Attending mass on Christmas Eve

• Throwing salt over your shoulder

In Pairs: Decide which of the following you would consider to be examples of ‘religious behaviour’. Justify your decisions.

THE INGREDIENTS OF RELIGION

In pairs, complete the activity on your worksheet…(5 mins)

• A place to gather in

• A series of rituals and traditions

• Belief in one or more supernatural beings

• More than 1000 followers

• Items or symbols that have special significance

• Restrictions on the behaviour of members

• Special, meaningful times or days

• A leader, or group of leaders who have some power over other members

• A ‘Holy’ book

• A set of laws

• Belief in an afterlife

• Knowing that you are right and everyone else is wrong

• Lots of money

• A belief in good and evil

THE INGREDIENTS OF RELIGION

• In contemporary sociology, there are two main definitions of religion (Aldridge; 2004), leading to two very different ways of thinking about religion.

• The two definitions have different ideas about what the key ingredients for religion are.

TWO DEFINITIONS

INCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION

Religion is a function

DURKHEIM (1912)Religion is…

“…a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which

unite into one single moral community.”

• Durkheim’s definition is an example of an inclusive definition (it was probably the first ‘proper’ inclusive definition).

• Also known as functional definitions, because they define religion by what it offers its followers; the functions it fulfils for them.

• Durkheim was a functionalist, so was interested in a functional definition of religion. He talked about religion as a distinction between the sacred and the profane.

INCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

• Anything can be sacred.

• Durkheim said that sharing sacred things unites people.

• One example of the sacred for Hindus is the cow.

Think of three other examples of sacred things from different religions.

What does having sacred things do for people?

INCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

• So for Durkheim, a religion is something that:

a) Has sacred items

b) Has special practices related to those items

c) Unites people into clear ‘communities’

• Geetz (1966) adds to this that religion is something that helps give meaning to human existence and that the associated practices give people more control over their lives.

INCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

DISCUSS: PAIRS

• Do all religions fit these definitions?

• Are there any activities/practices that you would not normally think of as ‘religious’ which also fit these definitions?

WHY USE INCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS?

• They encourage us to think more broadly about what religion is and what it means.

• They also help sociologists focus on the role of religion in a society.

• They are less likely to be ethnocentric.

However, some sociologists believe

these definitions are too broad.

EXCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

It’s not why you believe, it’s what you believe in.

• Also known as substantive definitions, because they deal with the substance of religion – what it is that people actually believe.

“...beliefs, actions and institutions that assume the existence of supernatural entities with powers of action, or impersonal powers

or processes possessed of moral purpose.” – Bruce (2002)

• Exclusive definitions are restrictive: They exclude most practices and focus only on a specific type of belief.

EXCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

• They are closer to what we normally understand religion to be and exclude secular activities (Aldridge; 2004)

• In everyday conversation, when we are talking about religion, we are referring to exclusive definitions.

STRENGTHS OF EXCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

• They are too narrow (Aldridge; 2004)

• Not all religions involve belief in supernatural or superhuman beings (Self & Starbuck; 1998)

WEAKNESSES OF EXCLUSIVE DEFINITIONS

EXAM TIPS:

• To help you remember, inclusive definitions are the ones that include a lot of things we wouldn’t normally think of as ‘religious’. Exclusive definitions exclude anything that isn’t supernatural.

• In any exam question, the type of definition you use will change the meaning (and answer) to the question, so it’s always worth pointing this out!

HOMEWORK

Use your class-notes to complete the blank inclusive/exclusive definitions worksheet in your handbooks.

By: Next Lesson

MEASURING RELIGION IN THE UK

Do we know how religious we are?

Select one of the religions present in the contemporary UK and find out:

• Its core beliefs

• How many followers it has (in the UK and worldwide)

• Its sacred items, texts, symbols etc.

• How and where followers practice their faith.

Present your findings to the group.

RESEARCH TASK

• Describes how religious a society, or a group within that society is (e.g. “What is the religiosity of the contemporary UK?”)

• Religiosity can be measured or explored in a range of ways, from looking at beliefs and practices in a society, to measuring church attendance.

KEY TERM: RELIGIOSITY

• Design a questionnaire; it should be designed to find out the religious beliefs of others.

• The questionnaire can be structured however you like, but as a rough guide, try to find out:

1. Whether or not are religious

2. What religion they follow

3. How religious they are

Conduct your questionnaire to a sample of students and/or staff in the college

MEASURING RELIGIOSITY: ACTIVITY

• What do you think is the religiosity of the contemporary UK?

• What proportion of the population do you think are:

1. Christian?

2. Muslim?

3. Atheist?

RELIGIOSITY

Can you think of any potential problems with this sort of data on religiosity?

Who can:

• Name the last 3 Archbishops of Canterbury?

• Name the last 3 Popes?

• Recite the final lines of The Bible?

• Write a sentence in Hebrew?

• Name all 12 of Jesus’s disciples?

• Recite all the books of the Old Testament in order?

RELIGIOSITY: TEST

• The way statistics are gathered can cause problems. Hamilton (1995) points out then people usually say ‘yes’ when asked if they believe in God...even when they don’t!

• Problems with validity: Shows who considers themselves to be ‘members’ of a religion, but doesn’t tell us what it means to them. Perhaps they go to church just to be sociable, for example.

PROBLEMS WITH STATISTICS ON RELIGIOSITY

Adherent ChristiansBelieved in God, Jesus, Heaven and all the rest of it. Committed to their faith and proud of it.

Natal ChristiansConsidered themselves Christian through birth e.g. Were raised Christian and baptised...though did not necessarily still practice or even believe...

Ethnic ChristiansChristianity an important part of their ethnic identity; a way of feeling part of a group and distinguishing themselves from other ethnic groups. Did not necessarily mean they actively practised (though many did).

Aspirational ChristiansCalled themselves ‘Christian’ because they equated Christianity as being good and respectable...but did not actively practice or even believe...

INVESTIGATING CENSUS DATA: DAY (2007)

INVESTIGATING CENSUS DATA: DAY (2007)

• Day believed that many Christians in the UK are using an inclusive definition of religion. They consider Christianity in terms of what it does for them (e.g. part of their identity or community) and the familiar rituals (weddings, funerals, christenings).

• They are not using an exclusive definition because they do not necessarily believe in God.

• Day suggests that, for most Christians, Christianity is more important that God.

RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT

There are many ways that people can show how committed they are to their religion.

On your mini-whiteboards, identify three ways.

RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT• Dress

• Prayer

• Following a religious code of conduct (e.g. behaving in particular ways according to religious teachings)

However, displaying religious commitment does not tell us how religious a person is. It is possible to belong without believing, meaning many people follow the expectations of a religion, but

don’t believe in it.

Choose one of the following exam questions and use your notes to write an exam-format answer:

Identify and explain two ways in which religion can be defined [17]

Identify and explain two problems with measuring religiosity [17]

ASSIGNMENT

IT IS DIFFICULT TO MEASURE RELIGIOSITY BECAUSE…

• There are problems with the way data on religion is collected…

• …and statistics lack validity (they don’t tell us what religion means to people)

• Many people belong without believing…

• …and others can also believe without belonging.

• The extent to which people show religious commitment does not show how religious they are.