Sources of Religion

The Sources of Religion

Revelation as Origin of Religion
For some people, their faith originates through some form Revelation. They may believe that God is the creator of religion, which is an interventionist model. This origin explanation tends to be exclusive or that all other religions not “true.” There is no open debate about faith. This type of religious knowledge based on authority and traditions.

The “Natural-Knowledge-of-God” Explanation
This type of religious knowledge assumes that understanding God is intrinsic to being human.  According to this explanation, religion is “witness-of-nature,” or that the complexities of nature necessitates a God or deity as the original source. Consider the continuing attempts of creationists to incorporate their religious worldview into science. Both this approach and the previous can not be tested within science.

Anthropological Explanations

Anthropological explanations about religion stress the importance of personal experiences with physical environment. There are two schools of thought from this approach: Naturalism: where natural events explained by early peoples through spirits outside self influencing individuals. The other school is the Animistic school where individual’s spirit is the influencing agent.

The anthropologist Clifford Gertz, is best known his concept of “thick descriptions” when doing research. Like many sociologists, He looked at traditional and rationalized religion.

“For the anthropologist, the importance of religion lies in its capacity to serve, for an individual or for a group, as a source of general, yet distinctive conceptions of the world, the self, and the relations between them, on the one hand-its mode of aspects-and of rooted, no less distinctive ‘mental’ dispositions-its model for aspect-on the other.”  Geertz (1966:40)

Psychological Explanations
The psychological explanation focuses on the human condition. According to Johnstone (2004:25), this condition centers on the   “response of human beings to constant threats to their safety, security, and future existence. Early psychologist Sigmund Freud’s concept of sublimation (guilt from Oedipus complex) and personal emotional adjustment are important. More recent psychologists such as David Elkind have looked at childhood development and religion. Other psychologists/social psychologists are exploring intrinsic/extrinsic faith (Gordon Alport) or quest (Daniel Batson).

Sociological Views

Sociologists look for factors that coincide with the rise of a faith rather than focusing on origin stories. Like other social scientists, sociologists use theories to develop conceptual models to explain some aspect of religious life.

An example of a study of religion from the sociological perspective is work done by Rodney Stark. His dependent variable was Christianization. Some correlates to Christianization were church receptivity: Least = 0 (lacked a church by 200 AD), More = 1 (churches by 200 AD),  Most = 2 (churches by 100 AD). Two factors explain 67 percent of Christianization of cities. These two factors were: presence of synagogues (0 or 1) = .731** and degree of   Romanized (ratio of distances) = -.220** These variables explained 67 percent of the Christianization of regions.

Georg Simmel
•      Symbolic Interactionism
•      Interactions at the individual level
•      Society exists before religion

“Thus far, none has been able to offer a definition which without vagueness and yet, with sufficient comprehensiveness, has told once for all what religion is in its essence, in that which common alike to the religion of Christians and South Sea Islanders, to Buddhism and Mexican Idolatry. Thus for it has not been distinguished on the one hand, from mere metaphysical speculation, nor, or on the other from the credulity which believes in ghosts.”

–Georg Simmel

Emile Durkheim

“A religion is an interdependent system of beliefs and practices regarding things which are sacred, that is to say, apart, forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite all those who follow them in a single moral community called a church.”

“A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden-beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church, all those who adhere to them.”

Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (Translated by K. Fields, NY: The Free Press 1995), pg. 44.

View of religion
•      Religion is not based on hallucination and myth
–  It has a reality; namely, worship of society (I.e., the collective sentiments/consciousness and values that are common to all members of the group)
–  The “sacred” = collective conscience
–  The “profane” = individual values (not necessarily shared by the group)

Society/Religion

“It is unquestionable that a society has all that is necessary to around the sensation of the divine in minds, merely by the power that it has over them; for to its members it is what a god is to his worshippers.  In fact, a god is, first of all, a being whom men think of as superior to themselves, and upon whom they feel they depend.”

Ritual
•      It is the act of “moral remaking” for a group
•      Collective effervescence (which potentially occurs in ritual):

“In the midst of an assembly animated by a common passion, we become susceptible of acts and sentiments of which we are incapable when reduced to our own forces; and when the assembly is dissolved and when, finding ourselves alone again, we fall back to our ordinary level, we are then able to measure the height to which we have been raised about ourselves.”

Religion and Society are complementary
•      Society provides religion with an object to worship; and religion serves to unite and integrate society
•      Ritual is the primary means by which the collective consciousness is renewed

“There can be no society which does not feel the need of upholding and reaffirming at regular intervals the collective sentiments and the collective ideas which make its unity and its personality.”

Ritual and moral remaking

“Now this moral remaking cannot be achieved except by the means of reunions, assemblies and meetings where the individuals, being closely united to one another, reaffirm in common their common sentiments; hence come ceremonies which do not differ from regular religious ceremonies, either in their object, the results which they produce, or the processes employed to attain these results.”

Two types of societies and solidarity

Durkheim’s social solidarity is describes the rise of industrialization from more communal social arrangments. On one end of the spectrum is primitive society which is bound together by “mechanical solidarity” (see Toennis and Gemeinschaft).     Members of the group hold in common the same beliefs and practices Punishment is required to heal the “wound” in the collective consciousness if anyone violates the collectively held norms and values.  On the other end of the spectrum is modern society which is bound together by “organic solidarity” (see Toennis and Gesellschaft).  This form of solidarity relies on interdependence because of the division of labor. A substantial element of individuality allowed.

Functions of Religion

Functional Components of Religion

Max Weber
•      The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (classic)
•      Sociology of Religion
•      Economy and Society
•      Charisma and Institution Building (edited volume)

How are new ideas/religions born?
Discuss the role of Weber’s charismatic prophet. Weber differed with Marx who put emphasis on “material factors.” He stressed the importance of contextual factors. Moreover, the idea of   Elective affinity (between message and audience) is important.

The “routinization” of charisma is part of the “normal cycle of religious life. With the institutionalization of religion, problems of meaning around normative expectations vs. actual experience,     Suffering, and evil shift. Some members may seek answers inward through mysticism and asceticism (Calvinism).  These folks try to  bring their day-to-day world in line with their religious view. Some people look outward (see Other world mysticism of certain Hindus).

Karl Marx
Marx thought that God is a projection of man’s own qualities and powers. In other words, theology is nothing other than a mystified form of anthropology. Thus, when one speaks of God as knowledge, wisdom, and love, one is speaking of man’s own powers

“Religious suffering is at the same time an expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering.  Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.  It is the opium of the people.  The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of men, is a demand for their real happiness.  The call to abandon their illusions about their condition is a call to abandon a condition which requires illusions.  The criticism of religion is, therefore, the embryonic criticism of this value of tears of which religion is the halo.”

Rational Choice Theory
Rational Choice Theory is the theoretical orientation of the textbook.  RCT is a micro-theory that is based on the premise that people try to maximize their rewards, minimize their costs. The theory assumes that there are some constraints or bounded choices, limited information, and even individual preferences. The idea of a “Religious Marketplace” fits with the RCT framework.

Post Script

I talked about David Elkind and his ideas concerning religious socialization of children. For me, as a young boy, the Easter Bunny was all powerful. Remember to be careful what you wish for.

Source: AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

Sources

Cohen, David, ed. 1991. The Circle of Life: Rituals from the Human Family Album. 1st ed. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

Durkheim, Emile. 1995. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York: Free Press.

Johnstone, Ronald L. 2007. Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Mondrub, Gen Kelsang. 2007. “Discussion about Buddhism.” Sociology of Religion Course (SOC 495). University of North Alabama.

Norman, William. 1982. “Asceticism in Mysticism: Transcendental Meditation.” Sociological Spectrum 2:315-331.

Park, Chris C. 1994. Sacred Worlds: An Introduction to Geography and Religion. London: Routledge.

Porush, David, and Ernst Fuchs. 1993. “Finding God in the Three-pound Universe: The Neuroscience of Transcendence..” Omni 16:60.

Roberts, Keith A. 1990. Religion in Sociological Perspective. 2nd ed. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co.

Simmel, Georg. 1905. “A Contribution to the Sociology of Religion.” The American Journal of Sociology 11:359-376.

Stark, Rodney. 1997. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries. 1st ed. San Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco.