Religion: What Is It?

Odin ExperiencesExperiencesZeus Shiva Ecstasy

GodsGods Yahweh TranquilityAllah Ishtar Sanctified

Ahura Mazda

What is Religion?What is Religion?

AtonementAblution BeliefsBeliefs

Prayer ImmortalityPractices (rituals)Practices (rituals) Transubstantiation Meditation Hungry Ghosts

SpiritsSpirits Demons

Ancestors

Religion is COMPLEX!!!COMPLEX!!!Lots of Ins and Outs and What-Have-YousLots of Ins and Outs and What-Have-Yous

Religion is neither a single phenomenon, nor a “thing”; rather, it is a messy and dynamic collection of institutions, practices, and beliefs.

Attempts at a DefinitionEdward Tylor Edward Tylor

“The belief in spiritual beings.”

Clifford Geertz Clifford Geertz “A religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful,

pervasive, religion is a and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.”

Emile Durkheim Emile Durkheim “A 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 called a Church, all those who adhere to them.”

Attempts at a DefinitionMelford Spiro Melford Spiro

“Religion is an institution consisting of culturally patterned interaction with culturally postulated superhuman beings.”

Peter Berger Peter Berger “Religion is the human attitude towards a sacred order

that includes within it all being—human or otherwise—i.e., belief in a cosmos, the meaning of which both includes and transcends man.”

Max WeberMax WeberRefused to attempt a definition of religion. [Smart

Man!]

Theories of Religion …from Pascal Boyer’s Religion Explained (2001)

Religion provides Religion provides explanationsexplanationsPeople created religion to explain puzzling natural phenomenaReligion explains puzzling experiences: dreams, prescience, etc.Religion explains the origins of thingsReligion explains why there is evil and suffering

Theories of Religion

Religion provides Religion provides comfortcomfortReligious explanations make mortality less unbearableReligion allays anxiety and makes for a comfortable world

Theories of Religion

Religion provides Religion provides social ordersocial orderReligion holds society togetherReligion perpetuates a particular social orderReligion supports morality

Theories of Religion

Religion is a Religion is a cognitive illusioncognitive illusionPeople are superstitious; they will believe anythingReligious concepts are irrefutableRefutation is more difficult than belief

Functionalism: Religion as explanation and comfort

Social institutions are collective means to fill individual biological needs

Why does religion do? What does it do that makes it especially functional?Examples?

Structural-Functionalism: Religion aids social order

Agreement (consensus) between members of a society on morals maintains social order

Moral consensus creates equilibrium, which is the normal state of society

When things disrupt equilibrium religion is often the method of setting things right again…outside personal interest, sometimes sole institution for arbitration

The Social Functions of ReligionReligion articulates a culture’s “beliefs” and

conception of “the beyond.”Durkheim saw religion as worship of society,

not as worship of a deity:“…rites are a means through which a group

reaffirms itself.”Religious rites strengthen commonly-held

attitudes.

Function №1: Providing Emotional Support and Securityfor BelieversReligion provides meaning in a natural world

in which humans have little or no control over certain phenomena. Humans use religion to deal with:DependencePowerlessnessScarcity

Religion offers a transcendental relationship with “the beyond,” which provides people withNew securityA firmer identity in this world (believers and

priests) and the next

Function №2: Religion Provides Social ControlAs Durkheim implied, religion sacralizes the

norms and values of established society, maintaining the dominance of group goals over individual wishes: Religion is a means of social control.

Function №3: Religion Provides Mechanisms for Social Change.Religion has served a “prophetic” function in

which absolute standards take precedence over “earthly” ones.

Religious belief is thus used as justification for social protests, social movements, political revolutions, etc.

Function №4: Religion Contributes to Individuals’ Identities

Religion is an aspect of heritage, like ethnicity.

Religion furnishes part of individuals’ understanding of who and what they are: eg, “I am Catholic” or “I am Muslim.”

Function №5: Religion is a Factor in directing the Individual’s LifecourseReligion contributes to the developing

identity of the individual: This is the maturation function of religion.

Religions prescribe rites, privileges and responsibilities that are associated with life stages, as with the identity of “elder,” ceremonies for entry into “adulthood,” marriage, etc.

Any of these “functions” might also be seen as “dysfunctional.” For example, religion might recommend quietism, not social protest; religion might instill immaturity, not personal development.

Religion and Secular SocietyGenerally, religion concerns the “sacred,”

and secular society comprises the “profane.”

However, there are important and enduring relationships between these two separate spheres.

The religion-society link is expressed differently in different religious organizations.

Religions as OrganizationsA church is a formal organization that shares features with

all formal organizations: it is bureaucratic in nature and integrated into the larger society.

A sect is a form of religious organization that is non-bureaucratic and clearly distinct from the larger society.

A cult is distinct not only from the larger society but from other religions as well- it does not emerge from pre-existing religious forms; it is completely new.

Religion