Topic One: Theories of Religion

Definitions of Religion

Substantive

  • Focus on the content of religious belief - belief in the supernatural, holy texts etc.
  • Conform to the view that religion is a belief in God
  • Exclusive

Functional

  • What does religion do for individuals and society?
  • Doesn't conform to the view that religion is a belief in God
  • Inclusive

Social Constructionist

  • Interpretivist approach
  • How do individuals define religion?
  • Interested in how definitions of religion are created, changed and fought over
  • Doesn't conform to the view that religion is a belief in God
  • Inclusive

Functionalist Theories of Religion

  • Society is a system of interrelated parts
  • Society has needs which are met by different institutions - religion, media etc.

Durkheim

The Sacred and the Profane

  • Sacred - things that are set apart, are surrounded by prohibitions and taboos and create feelings of awe
  • Profane - things that are mundane and ordinary
  • The powerful feelings evoked by the sacred implies that it represents something of great power - society

Totemism

  • Believed that the essence of religion could be discovered by studying it in its simplest form in the simplest society
  • The Arunta rituals around the Totem reinforce the group solidarity
  • The totem represents the power of the society that the individuals rely on

The Collective Conscience

  • Sacred symbols represent society's collective conscience
  • Rituals reinforce this and maintain integration
  • Rituals bind people together, reminds them that are part of something bigger

Cognitive Functions

  • Religion is the source of our ability to reason and think conceptually
  • Religion is the origin of shared categories - space, time etc - that allow us to think and share ideas
  • Religion is the origin of human thought, reason and science

Criticisms of Durkheim

  • Worsley - there isn't a clear division between the sacred and profane
  • Explains integration within communities but not the conflict between them
  • Postmodernists: increasing diversity has fractured the collective conscience

Malinowksi - Psychological Functions

  • Religion provides psychological functions that promote social solidarity
  • Helps individuals cope with stress that could undermine solidarity
  • Studied the Trobriand Islanders

Where the outcome is uncertain:

  • Fishing in the Lagoon - no rituals as outcome is certain and situation safe
  • Fishing in the Ocean - rituals, as outcome is uncertain and situation dangerous
  • Religion bridges the gap between the controllable and uncontrollable

At time of life crises:

  • Events such as birth and death can cause disruptive changes in social groups
  • Religion brings people together and explains why these happen

Parsons: Values and Meanings

  • Religion helps people cope with uncertainty
  • Creates and legitimates society's values: religion sacralises values, thus promoting solidarity
  • Provides a source of meaning: religion answers unanswerable questions, helping people to adjust

Bellah: Civil Religion

  • A belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society
  • Integrates society in a way that individual religion can't
  • Involves loyalty to the nation state and a belief in God = being a true American