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Religion - Coggle Diagram
Religion
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Marxists
Karl Marx
Religion can be described as an 'opium of the people'. Marx famously described religion as a drug that dulls the pain of oppression, whereby it offers an illusion of happiness and promises of a rewarding afterlife to make the suffering more bearable.
Althusser
False consciousness - the upper class trick the workers into believing their struggles are spiritual tests rather than an unjust economic system.
Lenin
Describes religion as a spiritual gin, describing how the ruling class uses intoxicant to jeep the working class submissive.
Engels
Dual character - whilst religion is a conservative force that justifies inequality, it also inspires radical resistance and protest among the oppressed.
Neo-marxist
Gramsci examined how the ruling class uses religion to maintain moral and intellectual dominance over society. He noted that religion can foster a dual consciousness, whereby the working class can both accept the ruling ideology while also holding a crticial understanding of their exploitation.
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Functionalists
Durkheim
Society uses religion as a mechanism to worship itself, creating a "collective conscience" that binds individuals, creating social solidarity.
Religious rituals separate the world into the sacred (holy practices and rituals) and the profane (ordinary, everyday objects).
Totemisim study
Durkheim studied Arunta Aboriginal tribes and argued that when individuals worship a sacred totem, they are actually worshipping society itself.
Malinowski
Religion helps provide individuals with psychological support, allowing them to cope with emotional stress and unpredictable life crises.
He observed that religious rituals were commonly used during high-risk situations to reduce anxiety and establish a sense of control.
Parsons
Parsons sees religion as a function that helps individuals to cope with unforeseen events and uncontrollable outcomes. In addition he identifies two other essential functions that religion performs: creating and legitimising societies values as well as being the primary source of meaning.
Bellah
Bellah expanded functionalism to complex, multi-faith societies by proposing the idea of "civil religion". He argued that people's devotion to the nation, history and its values; mirrors that of a religion to unify citizens and promote solidarity.
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Postmodernism
Lyotard
Traditional religion claims to possess the singular "truth", or overarching explanation for the universe. However post-modernists Lyotard just views this as one big meta-narrative.
Baudrillard
Rather than following a single tradition out of obligation, individuals curate a customised set of spiritual beliefs that fit their lifestyles, merging various faiths.
Lyon
Argues religion has become a marketplace where beliefs are advertised, consumed and disembedded from local chuches and media spaces.
Science and Religion
Science is a religion
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Kuhn
Just as religion relies on sacred texts, science operates under a paradigm - a shared set of assumptions and theories.
During "normal science", researchers don't question their core assumptions, instead they work to solve puzzles within the existing paradigm, much like theologians unpacking a religious text.
Science isn't a religion
Popper - Science loses falsifiability, in the sense that treating science as a religion makes its claim resistant to change, violating a foundational principle.
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Secularisation
For
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Bruce found through his study that there has been a decline in belief, practice and religious institutions.
Weber argues that secularisation is due to rationalisation and the 'disenchantment of the world'. The idea that as modern society advances scientific and rational explanations replace religious worldviews.
Against
Davie argues that many people believe in a religion without belonging, whereby they follow the religion through media, family and culture as opposed to traditional means.
Berger's de-secularisation theory argues that modernisation didn't erase religion, rather it increased pluralism. As the loss of a single, monopolising religious authority create a competitive, free-market environment that forced religions to innovate and market themselves more aggressively.
Heelas and Woodhead - traditional church attendance isn't just being replaced by atheism, the Kendal Project shows that many people are just moving towards New Age spiritual practices.
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