Ch. 18- Religion  Three elements of religion, as defined by Durkheim  Beliefs that some things are sacred  Practices, rituals that center around sacred things  A moral community (church) resulting from a group’s beliefs and practices

Major theories of religion  Functional theory  Religion is universal b/c it meets basic needs  Functions of religion  Answers questions about ultimate meaning and afterlife  Emotional comfort  Social solidarity

 Provides guidelines for everyday life  Social control- norms and criminal law  Adaptation  Support for gov’t  Supports social change  Dysfunctions of religion  War and terrorism can be based on religion  Justification for persecution

 Symbolic interactionist perspective  Meaning that people give experiences and use of symbols  Religious symblos  Rituals  Beliefs- values, cosmology  Religious experience- born again  Community- bond w/ one another

 Conflict perspective  Religion supports the status quo and maintains social inequalities  Opium of the people  Reflection of social inequalities  Legitimation of social inequalities

World’s major religions  Judaism  Christianity  Islam  Hinduism  Buddhism  Confucianism

Types of religious groups  Cults  New religion w/ few followers  Teachings/practices put it at odds w/ the dominant culture  All religions began as cults  Start w/ a charismatic leader  Requires tight membership of followers

 Provides sense of belonging  Represent a break from the past, challenge the social order  Sect  Second step towards becoming popular religion  Larger than cult, but still not in sync w/ mainstream society  Emphasize personal salvation, evangelism

 Church  Formal religion, bureaucratized group  Written prayers, formal sermons  Ecclesia  State religion, gov’t sponsored

Religion in the U.S.  70% belong to church/synagogue  Membership varies by location  Church-like groups associated w/ higher incomes- Episcopalians, Jews  Sect-like groups associated w/ lower incomes- Baptists, Evangelicals  Race/ethnicity segregation  Church membership increases w/ age  94% report believe in God, 43% attend weekly