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Week 14

Societies are built by individuals who are united by certain beliefs.

Religion is among the institutions that have relevant influence to our

society today.

In this lesson, you will learn to:

1. Conduct participant observation (e.g., attend, describe, and reflect on a

religious ritual of a different group; observe elections practices)

Religion and Belief System

Religion is an institution that involves a set of beliefs and practices of a

particular social group. Belief refers to a conviction or ideal of an individual or

group accepts as real or true, regardless of the lack of verifiable evidence.

The beliefs of religious groups affect the behavior of their members. It is

important therefore to know how the beliefs of a religion affect the actions of its

members.

Religion can be organized into a group that has universal membership

(called a church) or into an exclusive group (called a sect). The sociologist Emile

Durkheim defined religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices related to

sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices

which unite into one single moral community.”

Sect, on the other hand, refers to a type of religious group that is

distinguished by having broken away from a larger organization, usually a church.

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The church of a particular religion may be supported by the majority of

the society. The sect, on the other hand, usually challenges the norm of the

majority. An example would be Christianity, from which numerous sects such as

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) have come out.

Sociologists and other thinkers have different views towards religion.

Durkheim believes that religion is essential to social cohesion and solidarity. It

holds society together by means of a set of beliefs that the individuals hold in

common.

Karl Marx, on the other hand, believes that religion is something that the

elites of the society use in order to keep a hold on the working and lower classes.

It is a tool that is being utilized by the powerful and the wealthy to ensure the

unequal status quo in the society. He considered abolition of religion as part of the

socialist revolution that would pave the way to communism.

Max Weber believed that religion is essential for economic development,

something which can be observed among predominantly Protestant Christian

societies. He described how the specific religious doctrine of predestination held

by the Calvinists brought about specific economic behavior that created early

merchant capitalism. According to him, people behave based on what they think,

their religious ideas or otherwise. In the case of Protestants, their religious ideas

influence non-religious behavior – something which has the potential to create

social change.

August Comte proposed the secularization theory. According to him, the

dominance of religion is part of the theological phase of the development of

society. The phase is characterized by mysticism, which then transitions to the

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metaphysical phase, in which man already possesses abstract ideas. Soon the

society will ultimately arrive at the scientific phase whereby science and rationality

will dominate. This is the start of the secularization process.

Animism

Animism is a belief in numerous personalized, supernatural beings

endowed with reason, intelligence, and/or volition, that inhabit both objects and

living beings and govern their existences.

People who believe in Animism believes that everything is has a soul and

consciousness. The natural world is a community of living personas, only some of

whom are human.

To most thinkers, Animism is not a form of religion, but rather an

explanation of a phenomena. It was not an attitude of mind towards the cause of

the phenomena. It was rather philosophical instead of religious.

But according to the anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, animist

thought serves as a starting point for human religious development. Primitive

societies relied on animism to explain the occurrence of certain events and

processes.

While Animism is not considered as religion, there are certain belief

systems that are influenced by it. Shintoism and Jainism are known to contain

elements of animism.

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Monotheism

Monotheism refers to religious belief in the existence of one god, or the

oneness of God. The most well-known examples of this would be Christianity,

Islam, and Judaism.

To monotheistic religions, there is the one real god that is believed to exist

or, in any case, that is acknowledged as such. The God of monotheism is conceived

of as the creator of the world and of humanity; he has not abandoned his creation

but continues to lead it through his power and wisdom. Everything is in the hands

of God, and that includes the ethical and social order to which humanity ought to

conform.

Polytheism

Polytheism comes from the combination of Greek words poly + theoi,

literally meaning many gods”. Simply put, polytheism is belief in multiple gods or

divinities.

Most of the ancient religions were polytheistic. Ancient Greeks and

Romans were well-known for their belief in various gods and goddesses. Norse

mythology tells numerous tales about the gods and goddesses of the Viking tribes,

from sky-god Odin and his wife Frigga to the god of thunder Thor. Nevertheless,

polytheistic religions continue to thrive today. Present-day polytheistic religions

include Hinduism and Shinto religion.

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Institutionalized Religions

An institutionalized religion refers to religious groups that seek to

establish a system for actively believing in and engaging God.

The main religious groups that have integrated a religious belief and/or

practice in their community, society, government, etc., are considered as

institutionalized religions.

Institutionalized religions have existed throughout the years due to the fact

that religion have been the building blocks to most societies since the ancient

times. There were such institutionalized religions whose power influenced even

the political institutions of the society. There are certain countries that have their

state religion, or a religious body that is officially endorsed by the state.

Theocracy was one of the governments that Ancient Egypt was a form of

theocracy, or a form of government in which a country is ruled by ecclesiastical

authorities. A pharaoh was said to have the support of the god. This was the idea

of divine kingship, in which the king was the divine representative of a god on

earth.

Theocracies exist today as well. The Vatican City is a Christian theocracy

ruled by the Pope. Islamic States are also a form of theocracy, and their governance

are based on the teachings of Islam.

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Separation of Church and State

A lot of countries all over the world declare an official religion. Spain, for

instance is officially a Roman Catholic country, while Pakistan is governed by

laws following Islamic faith. But there are other countries that chose to practice

separation of church and state – this means that the government cannot sponsor a

religion, or require individuals to practice a particular faith. One example of this

would be the United states.

Separation of Church and State is often heard especially at courts and

among the media. This was a famous misinterpretation of the First Amendment of

the US Constitution.

The First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or

prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the

right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a

redress of grievances.”

Simply put, the First Amendment gives the citizens the freedom to worship

without interference from the government. If anything, the separation of church

and state was not even mentioned in the amendment. It originated from a letter that

Thomas Jefferson wrote back in 1802. He sent a letter to the Danbury Baptist

Association of Connecticut, in which he wrote the now famous phrase. Jefferson

was actually underscoring the First Amendment as a protection of the religious

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freedom of the people. There is no official religion; everyone has the freedom to

express their religious beliefs.

The Impact of Religion

Religion has played an important role in the development of societies all

over the world. They have also been a great part of our history, its influence

reaching even the State.

In Europe, for instance, Catholicism was a strong political power

especially throughout the Middle Ages and even in the Renaissance. Its influence

gave rise to important historical events like the Crusades and the Inquisition.

Protestantism, on the other hand, also attained political power in the form

of Calvin’s Geneva, Savonarola’s Florence, Cromwell’s England, and the early

settlements in the New World.

Islam’s influence is also felt in the laws that govern countries like Pakistan.

Here we can say that religion also has an influence on the laws that the society has

to abide to.

While religion is undoubtedly an important part of our society, some

thinkers believe that it should not go so far as to completely overtake governance

of the society. It is important to keep in mind the separation of the Church and

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State, and to ensure that no law can justify itself purely on the basis of the authority

of any religion or belief system.

References:

Atienza, M.E. et. al. (2016) Understanding Culture, Society & Politics for Senior High

School. C & E Publishing Inc.

Sociology Dictionary: Belief. Retrieved from: http://sociologydictionary.org/belief/

Global Sociology. Religion. Retrieved from:

https://globalsociology.pbworks.com/w/page/14711247/Religion

About Education. Retrieved from: http://sociology.about.com/od/S_Index/g/Sect.htm

Monotheism. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism

Polytheism. Retrieved from: http://www.theopedia.com/polytheism

Animism. Retrieved from: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Animism

Davidson, Lawrence (February 2, 2016). The Downside of Institutionalized Religion.

Retrieved from: http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/02/79388/

Separation of Church & State. Retrieved from:

http://study.com/academy/lesson/separation-of-church-state-definition-history-pros-

cons.html

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