Sociology Ch15

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sacred

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a term describing everything that is regarded as extraordinary and that inspires in believers deep absorbing sentiments of awe, respect, mystery and reverence.

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sacramental religions

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religions in which the sacred is sought in places, objects, and actions believed to house a god or spirit.

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prophetic religions

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religions in which the sacred revolves around items that symbolize significant historical events or around the lives, teachings, and writings of great people.

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mystical religions

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religions in which the sacred is sought in states of being that, at their peak, can exclude all awareness of one's existence, sensations, thoughts and surroundings.

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profane

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a term describing everything that is not sacred, including things opposed to the sacred and things that stand apart from the sacred, albeit not in opposition to it.

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rituals

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rules that govern how people must behave in the presence of the sacred to achieve an acceptable state of being.

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church

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a group whose members hold the same beliefs with regard to the sacred and the profane, who behave in the same way in the presence of the sacred, and who gather in body or spirit at agreed-on times to reaffirm their commitment to those beliefs and practices.

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ecclesiae

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a professionally trained religious organization governed by a hierarcht of leaders, which claims as its members everyone in a society. membership is not voluntary, it is the law.\

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denomination

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a heirarchical religious organization in a society in which church and state are usually separate, led by a professionally trained clergy.

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sect

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a small community of believers led by a lay ministry, with no formal hierarchy of official governing body to oversee the various reigious gatherings and activities. Sects typically are composedd of people who broke away from a denomination because they came to view it as corrupt.

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established sects

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religious organizations, resembling both denominations and sects, composed of renegades from denominations or ecclesiae that have existed long enough to acquire a large followingand gain widespread respepctability.

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cults

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very small, loosely organized groups, usually founded by a charismatic leader who attracts people by virtue of his or her personal qualities.

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civil religion

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any set of beliefs and rituals, related to the past, present and/or future of a people (nation), which are understood in some transcendental fashion.

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liberation theology

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a doctrine that maintains that organized religions have a responsibility to demand social justice for the marginalized peoples of the world, especially landless peasants and the urban poor, and to take an active role at the grassroots level to bring about political and economic justice.

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modern capitalism

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a form of economic life which involved the careful calculation of costs and profits, the borrowing of and lending of money, the accumulation of capital in the form of money and material assets, investments, private property, and the employment of laborers and employees in a more or less unrestricted labor market.

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this-worldly asceticism

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a belief that people are instruments of divine will and that their activities are determined and directed by God.

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predestination

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the belief that God has foreordained all things, including the salvation or damnation of individual souls.

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secularization

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a process by which religious influences on thought and behavior are reduced.

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subjective secularization

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a decrease in the number of people who view the world and their place in it from a religious perspective.

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fundamentalism

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a belief in the timeless nature of sacred writings and a belief that such writings apply to all kinds of environments.

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islamic revitalism

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a sense that existing political, economic, and social systems had failed; a disenchantment with and at times a rejection of the West; a quest for identity and greater authenticity; and the conviction that Islam provides a self-sufficient ideology for state and society, a valid alternative to secular nationalism, socialism, and capitalism.