Chapter 15

Question 1

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

Answer 1

animism

Question 2

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

Answer 2

assimilation

Question 3

A belief in no deities

Answer 3

atheism

Question 4

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

Answer 4

church

Question 5

The combined mental contents of a society that manifests itself through a religious framework

Answer 5

collective consciousness

Question 6

A feeling experienced by individuals when they come together to express beliefs and perform rituals together as a group

Answer 6

collective effervescence

Question 7

A promise of a reward at a later, unspecified date

Answer 7

compensator

Question 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

Answer 8

creationism

Question 9

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

Answer 9

cult or New Religious Movement

Question 10

A theory stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase individual organism’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce

Answer 10

Darwinian evolutionary theory

Question 11

A god or a goddess

Answer 11

deity

Question 12

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

Answer 12

denomination

Question 13

The process by which magical and superstitious understandings of the world are replaced by scientific calculation and technical control

Answer 13

disenchantment of the world

Question 14

Suffering is explained as a consequence of the struggle between the dual powers of good and evil, gods and demons, in which evil occasionally wins out

Answer 14

dualist theodicy

Question 15

A church that has formal ties with the state

Answer 15

ecclesia

Question 16

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

Answer 16

exclusion

Question 17

A type of definition that defines a phenomenon based on a series commonly shared attributes or family resemblances — not all family members equally share these attributes or resemblances

Answer 17

family resemblance definition

Question 18

A type of definition that defines a phenomenon by what it does or how it functions in society

Answer 18

functional definition

Question 19

The decline in religious belief and practice of individuals

Answer 19

individual secularization

Question 20

The accumulated effects of acts committed in former lives and their influence on fortunes and suffering in this life

Answer 20

karma

Question 21

The birthplace of Muhammad; a city located in Hejaz, in what is now known as South Arabia; the holiest city of the Islamic religion, and is the center of Islamic faith

Answer 21

Mecca

Question 22

A religion based on belief in a single deity

Answer 22

monotheism

Question 23

A hatred of women

Answer 23

misogyny

Question 24

(In sociology) a stable, predictable, and normative order

Answer 24

nomos

Question 25

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

Answer 25

organizational secularization

Question 26

A sociological perspective that argues that all phenomena appear spontaneously and immediately within the experience and awareness of individual subjects before they become the basis for subjective and objective reality

Answer 26

phenomenology

Question 27

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

Answer 27

pluralism

Question 28

A religion based on belief in multiple deities

Answer 28

polytheism

Question 29

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

Answer 29

post-Christian society

Question 30

The belief that the gods predetermine the fate of individuals

Answer 30

predestination

Question 31

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

Answer 31

profane

Question 32

The duty to “work hard in one’s calling.”

Answer 32

Protestant ethic

Question 33

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 costs against benefits

Answer 33

rational choice theory

Question 34

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

Answer 34

religion

Question 35

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

Answer 35

religious beliefs

Question 36

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

Answer 36

religious diversity

Question 37

The conviction or sensation that one is connected to “the divine.”

Answer 37

religious experience

Question 38

Persons who choose the category “none” on surveys about religious affiliation

Answer 38

religious nones

Question 39

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

Answer 39

religious rituals

Question 40

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

Answer 40

sacred

Question 41

A divinely grounded cultural system

Answer 41

sacred canopy

Question 42

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

Answer 42

sati

Question 43

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

Answer 43

sect

Question 44

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

Answer 44

secularization

Question 45

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

Answer 45

societal secularization

Question 46

A type of definition that delineates the substantial or crucial characteristics that define what a phenomenon is and is not

Answer 46

substantial definition

Question 47

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

Answer 47

theocracy

Question 48

An explanation for why the Gods allow suffering, misfortune, and injustice to occur

Answer 48

theodicy

Question 49

A plant, animal, or object that serves as a symbolic, material expression of the sacred

Answer 49

totem

Question 50

The most basic, ancient form of religion based on reverence for totemic animals or plants

Answer 50

totemism

Question 51

An unquestionable foundation that establishes the legitimacy of a social order

Answer 51

ultimate legitimation