Transcript SOURCES OF RELIGION

Chapter 7
Religion
by Reginald Bibby
Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson
Canada Limited.
1
SOCIOLOGY AND RELIGION
•
Sociologists seek to understand society by using
scientific methods.
• Proponents of religion believe in a greater reality
that can be known only through faith.
•
Sociologists are not concerned with the truthvalue of religious beliefs but with who believes
what, the nature and extent of spiritual needs,
involvement in religious groups, why some people
are more committed than others, and the
consequences of people being religious.
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2
THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
MARX AND CONFLICT
• Marx believed that religion was a human creation
soothing the exploited majority like a drug – “the
opium of the people.”
• Marx argued that religion diverts working people’s
attention from the real sources of their suffering.
• In Marx’s opinion, wealthy capitalists encourage
religious belief for this reason.
• For Marx, when exploitation ends, religion will die
off.
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3
THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
DURKHEIM AND COLLECTIVITY
• Durkheim argued that religion’s origin is social. People
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living in community share common sentiments that form
a collective conscience.
Awareness of this collective conscience gives people the
feeling of being in the presence of a higher power. “God”
is the community experiencing itself as a group.
Religious leaders designate some objects as sacred and
others as profane.
To uphold the collective conscience, people come
together as a church. Collective life is thus both the
source and product of religion.
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4
THEORETICAL TRADITIONS:
WEBER AND IDEAS
• Weber believed that religion is largely oriented to
this world and has consequences for everyday life.
• For example, Weber argued that the Protestant
Reformation strongly influenced the moral tone and
vigour of capitalism in the West through the
Protestant ethic.
• By comparing different religions, Weber also showed
that conceptions of God are strongly related to the
economic, political, and social conditions in which
people live.
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5
THE NATURE OF RELIGION
• Religion is a system of meaning with a supernatural referent used to interpret the world.
• Religion is concerned with discovering life’s
meaning whereas humanist perspectives are
concerned with making life meaningful.
• Religious perspectives imply that our existence
has meaning, preceding that which we, as
humans, decide to give it.
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6
PERSONAL RELIGIOSITY
•
Sociologists have measured personal religiosity
along four dimensions: belief, practice,
experience, and knowledge.
•
They have found that Canadians:
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believe in God (~80%).
maintain that there is life after death (~70%).
pray privately at least once a month (~60%).
think they have experienced God (~50%)
are committed to a religion (~50%).
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RELIGIOUS
COMMITMENT
ALONG FOUR
DIMENSIONS,
CANADA,
2000
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COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
THE CHURCH–SECT TYPOLOGY
• The Church–Sect typology was developed to
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distinguish between the dominant or “mainline”
religious denominations (e.g., United, Roman Catholic,
etc.) and smaller groups that had broken away from
these dominant bodies (e.g., Baptist, Pentecostal,
etc.).
Weber said that Churches and sects differ in terms of
theology (works vs. faith) and relationship to society
(accommodation vs. separation).
Most sects evolve into Churches as spontaneity gives
way to routinization and institutionalization.
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9
COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES I
MEMBERSHIP
• Most people belong to the same religious
organizations as their parents.
• Especially in urban areas, religious
organizations compete for members by
building lavish structures and offering a
wide range of services.
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10
COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES II
GOALS
• Formal goals, such as spiritual growth, often
contradict “survival goals,” such as numerical
growth.
• Leadership efforts to be prophetic (e.g., the
stance of the United Church on homosexuality)
can clash with member interests, resulting in
organizational splits.
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11
COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACHES III
NORMS, ROLES, AND SANCTIONS
• To achieve goals, groups must establish
norms, membership roles, means of
communication, and sanctions to control
behaviour.
• Because religious organizations rely mainly
on volunteers, this is difficult to achieve.
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COLLECTIVE RELIGIOSITY:
ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES
IV
SUCCESS
• Overall, church attendance and membership
are down in Canada since 1950, with mainline
Protestants and Catholics in Quebec being the hardest
hit.
• However, attendance and membership among
Evangelical Protestants has rebounded.
• Overall, congregation members are aging and tend not
to be replaced by younger members.
• However, established religious groups may be making a
comeback by appealing to children, teenagers, and
young adults.
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13
RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION,
CANADA, 1991 (IN PERCENT)
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14
ATTENDANCE AT RELIGIOUS
SERVICES, CANADA, 1946–2000
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CANADIAN RELIGIOUS
AFFILIATION
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In 1991, 87% of Canadians claimed to be affiliated
with a religious group – 47% Catholic, 36%
Protestant, 5% other. (In 2001, 84% claimed
affiliation -- 45% Catholic, 31% Protestant, and 8%
other).
In contrast, about a quarter of Americans are
Catholic.
A tenth of Canadians identify themselves as
conservative Protestants (evangelicals), compared
to a third of Americans.
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SOURCES OF RELIGION:
INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS I
REFLECTION
• Religious commitment develops in people who seek
greater meaning in their lives but many Canadians
and Americans who think about life’s “big questions”
are not religiously committed.
SOCIALIZATION
• Attendance at church, synagogue, mosque, etc., is
learned through socialization but only 1 in 3
Canadians whose parents attended are themselves
regular attendees.
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SOURCES OF RELIGION:
INDIVIDUAL-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS II
DEPRIVATION
• Claim: Religious people are socially
disadvantaged.
• Fact: Measures of income, health, and number of
social relationships are not strongly related to
religious commitment in either Canada or the
United States.
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SOURCES OF RELIGION:
STRUCTURE-CENTRED
EXPLANATIONS
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According to the secularization thesis, the level of
religious commitment declines with industrialization and
post-industrialization.
Opponents argue that religion persists because it
responds to widespread interest in spirituality
(persistence thesis).
In Canada, age and residence in less economically
developed regions and communities are positively
associated with religiosity, but as workforce
participation increases commitment tends to decrease.
Education has little effect.
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SERVICE ATTENDANCE,
COMMITMENT, AND SPIRITUAL
NEEDS, CANADA, 2000
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THE CONSEQUENCES OF
RELIGION I
PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES
• Findings on the relationship between level of
religious commitment and mental health are
contradictory.
• In general, Canadian studies show that religious
commitment in itself has a very small influence on
mental health, suggesting that religion is only one
route to personal happiness.
INTERPERSONAL CONSEQUENCES
• Religious and non-religious Canadians are about
equally compassionate and tolerant but religious
people are more opposed to “moral innovation”.
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21
PERSONAL WELL-BEING AND
RELIGIOUS SERVICE
ATTENDANCE, 2000
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PERCENTAGE OF CANADIANS
OPPOSED
TO SELECTED ISSUES
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THE CONSEQUENCES OF
RELIGION II
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
• In the United States, there exists a civil
religion which is simply the American Way
of Life. This is less true in Canada.
• In the United States religion has an
integrative function. This is also less true
in Canada.
• Religion has on occasion challenged
North American culture.
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THE FUTURE OF RELIGION I
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Secularization thesis: Religion is bound to be replaced
by science and reason as society modernizes. This
has institutional, personal, and organizational
consequences.
Persistence thesis: Humans have needs that only
religion can satisfy. Thus, even if traditional religions
decline, new ones will emerge.
Research shows that there has been some decline in
religious involvement overall, but there is much
variation between countries, with Canada occupying a
middle position; there is no consistent pattern
between (post-)industrialization and religiosity.
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PRACTICES, BELIEFS, AND
RELIGIOUS SELF-IMAGE,
SELECTED COUNTRIES
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THE FUTURE OF RELIGION II
• Canada is paradoxical. Personal beliefs and practices
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are high, yet involvement in religious groups is low. Few
Canadians are deserting traditional religions for new
ones.
Most Canadians say they are affiliated with Christian
churches, but reject Christianity as an authoritative
system of meaning, drawing instead on Judeo-Christian
and non-conventional “fragments” of belief and practice
in a consumer-like fashion.
In Canada, teenagers differ little from adults in religious
matters except with respect to attendance of religious
services.
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RELIGION AND SPIRITAULITY
IN CANADA: TEENAGERS AND
ADULTS
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28
RECEPTIVITY TO GREATER
INVOLVEMENT IN THE
CHURCH, 2000
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SUPPLEMENTARY SLIDES
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30
CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT, AND
OTHER, CANADA, 1991-2001
Percent of Canadians
50
40
Catholic
Protestant
other
30
20
10
0
1991
2001
Note” “Other” includes “no religion” – 12.3% of Canadians in 1991 and 16.2% in 2001.
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31
MINOR RELIGIONS,
CANADA, 1991–2001
Percent of Canadians
2
1.6
1.2
1991
2001
0.8
0.4
0
Eastern
Orthodox
Jewish
Muslim
Buddhist
Hindu
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Sikh
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IMMIGRANTS BY RELIGIOUS
DENOMINATION AND IMMIGRATION
PERIOD
< 1961
1971-80
1991-2001
1961-70
Roman Catholic 39.2
Protestant
39.2
Christ. Orthodox3.8
Other Christian 1.3
Jewish
2.7
Muslim
0.2
Hindu
0.0
Buddhist
0.4
Sikh
0.1
No religion
11.0
Other religions 2.1
Total
100.0
43.4
26.9
6.3
2.2
2.0
1.3
1.4
0.9
1.1
13.5
1.0
100.0
1981-90
33.9
21.0
3.8
3.8
2.2
5.4
3.6
4.8
3.9
16.5
1.1
100.0
32.9
14.5
3.0
4.9
1.9
7.5
4.9
7.5
4.3
17.3
1.3
100.0
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23.0
10.7
6.3
5.3
1.2
15.0
6.5
4.6
4.7
21.3
1.4
100.0
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