Soc Chap 15

Front 1

Substantial definitions

Back 1

attempt to delineate the crucial characteristics that define what a religion is and is not

Front 2

Functional definitions

Back 2

define religion by what it does or how it functions in society

Front 3

Family Resemblance

Back 3

religion is defined on the basis of a series of commonly shared attributes

Front 4

Animism

Back 4

The religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings like animals, plants and objects of the natural world

Front 5

Assimilation

Back 5

A response to religious diversity that welcomes people of different faiths into the majority culture on the condition that they leave their beliefs behind and adopt the majority's faith as their own

Front 6

Atheism

Back 6

Belief in no deities

Front 7

Church

Back 7

A large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that is closely integrated into the larger society

Front 8

Creationism

Back 8

The religious belief that the Universe and life originated 'from specific acts of divine creation'. For Young Earth creationists, this includes a biblical literalist interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative and the rejection of the scientific theory of evolution

Front 9

New Religious Movement

Back 9

A small religious organization that is at great odds with the norms and values of the larger society

Front 10

Deity

Back 10

A god or goddess

Front 11

Denomination

Back 11

A religious organization that is closely integrated into larger society but is not a formal part of the state

Front 12

Ecclesia

Back 12

A church that has formal ties with the state

Front 13

Exclusion

Back 13

A response to religious diversity which denies new religious entry into society

Front 14

individual secularization

Back 14

the decline in religious belief and practice of individuals

Front 15

monotheism

Back 15

a religion based on belief in a single deity

Front 16

organizational secularization

Back 16

the efforts made by religious organizations to update their beliefs and practices, to reflect changes in contemporary life

Front 17

Pluralism

Back 17

A response to religious diversity that welcomes every religious practice regardless of how divergent in beliefs or social norms

Front 18

polytheism

Back 18

a religion based on belief in multiple deities

Front 19

Post-Christian society

Back 19

A previously Christian society in which Christianity becomes just one among many religious beliefs

Front 20

Predestination

Back 20

the belief that the gods predetermine the fate of individuals

Front 21

profane

Back 21

everyday objects states of being or practices that do not hold any spiritual or religious significance

Front 22

protestant ethic

Back 22

the duty to "work hard in one's calling"

Front 23

Rational choice theory

Back 23

a theory which states that human action is motivated by individual self- interest and that all social activities are a product of rational decision making that weighs cost against benefits

Front 24

religion

Back 24

a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds to be sacred and spiritually significant

Front 25

religious beliefs

Back 25

specific ideas that members of a particular faith hold to be true

Front 26

religious diversity

Back 26

a condition in which a multiplicity of religions and faiths co-exist in a given society

Front 27

religious experience

Back 27

the conviction or sensation that one is connected to 'the divine'

Front 28

religious rituals

Back 28

behaviours or practices that are either required for or expected of the members of a particular group

Front 29

sacred

Back 29

objects, states of being, or practices that are set apart and considered forbidden because of the connection to divine presence

Front 30

sati

Back 30

The Hindu ritual in which a widow sacrifices herself by burning alive on the funeral pyre of her decreased husband

Front 31

sect

Back 31

a small religious body that forms after a group breaks away from a larger religious group like a church or denomination

Front 32

secularization

Back 32

the process by which religion and the sacred gradually have less validity, influence, and significance in society and the lives of individuals

Front 33

social secularization

Back 33

the shrinking relevance of institutionalized religion for the integration and legitimation of everyday life in modern society

Front 34

theocracy

Back 34

a system of government in which ecclesiastical authorities rule on behalf of a divine authority

Front 35

Four Dimensions of Religion

Back 35

Beliefs

Rituals

Experience

Community

Front 36

Critical Sociology (Marx) view on religion

Back 36

Thought religion was opium of the people (calms down the masses)

Controls society

Front 37

Functionalist view on religion (Durkheim)

Back 37

Religion holds society together through ritual and tradition

influences a person's actions

promotes conformity to social norms- providing both the reason and reward

Front 38

Symbolic Interactionism view on Religion (Weber)

Back 38

Calvinism-predestination- a precise number of people go to heaven, luck ones had a place saved by God

Front 39

Feminist approach to religion

Back 39

'God is a man'- revolutionists seek to alter sexist traditions