Theories of Religion

Question 1

Value Consensus

Answer 1

Agreement among society’s members about what values are important

Question 2

Social Order

Answer 2

Organised society that functions to meet the needs of people

Question 3

Social Solidarity

Answer 3

Unity in society based on shared ideas and beliefs

Question 4

Meritocracy

Answer 4

People achieve their position in society through effort and ability rather than through inherirance

Question 5

Organic Analogy (Durkheim)

Answer 5

Society functions like the body - it is an organic system that is self-maintained and self-supporting and helps maintaining other aspects of society

Question 6

Substantive Definition (Weber, 1905)

Answer 6

Sees religion as a belief in a supernatural power that is unable to be scientifically explained

Question 7

Functional Definition (Durkheim and Parsons)

Answer 7

Defines religion by the social or psychological functions it performs by society

Question 8

Social Constructionist Definition

Answer 8

Argue there are so many different types of religion that it is impossible to come up with a single definition

Question 9

Functionalist Theory of Religion

Answer 9

Religion acts as a conservative force (maintains social solidarity, protects traditional values)

Question 10

Durkheim (1912)

Answer 10

Believed social order and stability could only exist if people were integrated into society through value consensus - religion important in achieving this
Key feature: difference between sacred and profane

Question 11

Durkheim - The Sacred and The Profane

Answer 11

Sacred - Things that are set apart and forbidden and evoke powerful feelings in believers
Profane - Non-sacred things with no special significance

Question 12

Durkheim - Totemism

Answer 12

Arunta (Aboriginal Australian Clan) - come together to worship a sacred Totem
Reinforces group solidarity and sense of belonging
When worshipping the totem, they are really worshipping society

Question 13

Collective Conscience

Answer 13

Shared values and moral beliefs
Religion reinforces collective conscience - controls individuals behaviour and regulates how members of a community relate to one another
Necessary to maintain social order

Question 14

Cognitive Functions of Religion

Answer 14

Religion gives us the concepts and categories we need for reasoning, understanding the world and communicating

Question 15

Criticisms of Durkheim

Answer 15

• Worsley (1956) - no sharp division between the sacred and profane. Even if Durkheim is right about totemism, this doesn’t prove he has found the essence of all other religions
• Durkheim’s theory may be better applied to small-scale societies with a single religion
• Mestrovic (Postmodernist) - Durkheim’s ideas cannot be applied to contemporary society as there is no longer a shared value system

Question 16

Malinowski (1926) - Psychological Functions

Answer 16

Agrees that religion reinforces social norms and promotes social solidarity
Also saw religion as providing explanations for events that were hard to explain
Religion fulfils need for emotional security - relieves situations of emotional stress
Provides source of comfort

Question 17

Parsons (1967) - Values and Meaning

Answer 17

Emphasises role of religion in providing core values and social norms
Religion provides ‘mechanism of adjustment’ - provides means of emotional adjustment in the face of life crises to help the individual return to some sense of normality

Question 18

Bellah (1991) - Civil Religion

Answer 18

Civil religion is the ‘American way of life’
Involves loyalty to the nation and a belief in God.
Expressed in rituals, symbols and beliefs (e.g. national anthem), not a belief in a religious God, but an ‘American God’

Question 19

Evaluation of Functionalism

Answer 19

• Emphasises positive functions of religion but neglects negative aspects.
• Ignores religion as a source of conflict (esp in multi-faith societies)
• Civil religion argues societies may still have an overarching belief system shared by all, but is this really religion?

Question 20

Marxists on Religion

Answer 20

Religion is the produce of alienation - acts as a mechanism of social control
Religion is a feature of class-divided society
Religion operates as an ideological weapon - justifies suffering of the poor as inevitable, creating a false class consciousness

Question 21

Religion as the ‘Opium of the People’

Answer 21

Dulls the pain produced by oppression, diluting demands for change

Question 22

Religion and Alienation

Answer 22

Religion is a product of alienation
In capitalism, workers are alienated as they do not own what they produce
Religion acts to dull the pain through being, what Marx describes as ‘the Opium of the People’

Question 23

Evaluation of Marxism

Answer 23

• Marx ignores the positive functions religion can have, Neo-Marxists see certain forms of religion as assisting not hindering class-consciousness
• Althusser (1971) - rejects alienation as unscientific
• Abercrombie, Hill and Turner (2015) - pre-capitalist society, Christianity had only limited impact on peasantry despite being part of ruling-class ideology

Question 24

Feminism on Religion

Answer 24

Regard religion as perpetuating patriarchal inequality

Question 25

Evidence of Patriarchy

Answer 25

- Religious organisations mainly male dominated - Armstrong (1993) - exclusion from priesthood - Segregation in places of worship - taboos of menstruation and pregnancy - Sacred texts largely feature men - Religious customs may give women fewer rights than men

Question 26

Feminists argue that women have not always been subordinate to men in religion

Answer 26

Armstrong (1993) - early religions often placed women at the centre Rise in monotheistic religions saw the establishment of a singular, male God El Sadaawi (1980) - oppression in religion is the result of patriarchy influencing religion

Question 27

Daly (1978)

Answer 27

Emergence of monotheistic religion allowed men to control the idea that God is a man Claims Christian faith deliberately sought to eliminate polytheistic religions that include female Gods We will never achieve equality in religion until we can consider God could be a woman

Question 28

Second-Class Believers - de Beauvoir (1953)

Answer 28

Claims women are exploited by religion as they are unconsciously encouraged to see men as superior (are raised to worship a male God) Holm (2001) - women segregated in many religious places of worship

Question 29

El Saadawi (1980)

Answer 29

Suggests Islam is not patriarchal in nature, but the male domination of Arab cultural institutions maintains gender inequality - men held powerful positions within these, so interpreted Islamic texts in favour of men.

Question 30

AO3: Religious forms of Feminism - Woodhead (2009)

Answer 30

Argues there are ways in which women use religion to gain greater freedom and respect (e.g. the Hijab worn by Muslims)

Question 31

AO3: Piety Movements - Rinaldo (2010)

Answer 31

Conservative movements that support traditional teachings about women's role, modest dress, prayer and bible study Most likely middle-class women to join these movements

Question 32

AO3: Liberal Protestant Organisations

Answer 32

Quakers and unitarians often committed to gender equality and women play leading roles