Transcript Slide 1

SOC 105
Chapter 12
Religion
Jonestown
• November 1978
– 918 members committed suicide in Guyana,
South America
Branch Davidians
• April 1993
– 79 members were killed in the siege
at the Mount Carmel compound
Aum Shinrikyo
• March 1995
– 12 people died and over 5,000 were
injured in the Tokyo subway attack
Solar Temple
• October 1994 & March 1997
– Over 50 members died in fires set by the
group
Heaven’s Gate
• March 1997
– 39 members committed suicide at a mansion
in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Questions
• Why do Religions emerge &
develop?
• Why do people join Religions?
Introduction
• Rodney Stark defines religion as:
– “socially organized patterns of belief
and practices that concern ultimate
meaning and assume the existence of
the supernatural”
• Nobody knows when humans first
acquired religion
• All known societies have some type
of religion
• Religion has influenced societies in
enormous ways
Religion in the United States
Jewish 2%
Mormon 1%
None 5%
Other 6%
Protestant 59%
Catholic 27%
Source: Gallup Poll 1994.
Functionalist Perspective
•
Religion has 3
important
functions:
1. Providing meaning
and purpose to life
2. Promoting social
cohesion and a
sense of belonging
3. Providing social
control and support
for the government
• Religion can be dysfunctional
too….
The Crusades
Taliban(Muslims) vs. Buddhists
• A 175-foot
Buddhist
monument,
believed to be the
world's largest
standing Buddha
was destroyed by
Taliban Muslims
in Afganistan.
Conflict Perspective
• According to Karl
Marx, religion is the
"opiate of the people"
• Max Weber argued
that religion could be
a catalyst to produce
social change
Symbolic Interactionist
Perspective
• Religion serves as a reference
group to help people define
themselves
• Women’s versions of a certain
religion usually differ from men’s
versions
Secularization
• “The process by which particular
religious organizations become
more worldly and offer a less vivid
and less active conception of the
supernatural”
The Secularization Thesis (The
Old Paradigm)
• Suggests that as society becomes
more industrial and technological,
religion is replaced by science
The Evidence?
• In the 1960s & 70s many social
scientists predicted that religion
would be replaced by science
– They noticed that the largest
established denominations were
losing members
Market Shares of Mainline per 1,000 Church Members,
1940-1985
Denomination
1940
1960
1985
Percentage loss
or gain
United
Methodists
124.7
93.0
64.3
-48%
Presbyterian,
U.S.A.
41.7
36.4
21.3
-49%
Episcopal
30.9
28.6
19.2
-38%
Christian
(Disciples)
25.7
15.7
7.8
-70%
United Church
of Christ
26.5
19.6
11.8
-56%
• Yet, these scientists neglected to
look at other non-mainline
denominations
Market Shares of Evangelicals per 1,000 Church Members,
1940-1985
Denomination
1940
1960
1985
Southern
Baptists
Assemblies of
God
Church of the
Nazarene
Church of God
(Cleveland, TN)
76.7
85.0
101.3
Percentage loss
or gain
+32%
3.1
4.4
14.6
+371%
2.6
2.7
3.7
+42%
1.0
1.5
3.6
+260%
Has Religion Been Displaced by
Science?
• Seems to be the case in Europe, but
not in the U.S.
– Churches receive more money than any
other charity
– Over 90% say they believe in God
– Around 57% say they pray on a regular
basis
– Around 70% report that religion is “very
important” in their lives
– Church membership has increased over
the years, not decreased
Percent of Church Membership
Rates of Church Affiliation, U.S., 1776-1995
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1776 1850 1860 1870 1890 1906 1916 1926 1952 1980 1995
Year
An Alternate View (The New
Paradigm)
• Others suggested that
secularization leads to religious
revival and/or innovation
– Religion will not be replaced by
science
Why Does Religion Remain
Relevant In The U.S. ?
1. Cultural Compatibility
– Early churches emphasized selfgovernment and voluntary affiliation
• Fits well with cultural values about freedom
of choice and individual initiative
2. Social Identity
– Churches help those who move around
find a sense of community
3. Disestablishment & Competition (Finke,
Stark & Bainbridge)
– Separation of church and state ensures that no
one religion or denomination is funded by the
government
• Thus, religious monopolies are prevented due to
competition
– This wasn’t the case in many European countries
• This creates an environment that encourages
competition between churches
– Churches have to adapt to meet the needs and
wants of “the marketplace”
» a.k.a. “a religious economy”
The Geography of NRMs
• NRM’S typically arise in those
areas where sects and churches
have failed to satisfy the religious
market
• What are NRMs?
– “The beginning phase of an entirely
new religion”
• Differs from a sect in that sects attempt to
purify or return to elements of an
established religion
• Research has shown that NRMs
are more successful in areas
where “secularization” has
occurred
– The unchurched belt in the Western
U.S.
Church Membership Rates Per 1,000
Values:
588.37
To
747.3
547.63
To
587.84
460.98
To
546.46
405.98
To
453.63
313.11
To
399.18
Studying Group Solidarity: Solomon
Asch
Group 1
X
Group 2
A
B
C
Group 1
X
Group 2
A
B
C
Group 1
X
Group 2
A
B
C
Response Rates
Why Do People Join NRMS?:
Studying Religious Conversion
• The brainwashing thesis
– Based on psychology
– Members are thought to be:
•
•
•
•
•
Young
Lacking strong social attachments
From lower socioeconomic classes
Uneducated
Weak minded and thus highly suggestible
• The social network thesis
– Based on sociology
– John Lofland & Rodney Stark studied
religious conversion to the Unification
Church
Research Findings
•
Empirical research suggests the following
generalizations
– Those who are deeply committed to a faith do not go out
and join another faith
• Seekership precedes many conversions but….
– Converts don’t have to have a favorable opinion of the NRM
before they join, and they don’t initially agree with the
NRM’s ideology
• Conversion is an act of conformity
– Recruitment and conversion to NRMs happens primarily
through pre-existing social networks with family and
friends
– Strong ties to others in the NRM are important for
recruitment
– Sustained intensive interaction is also important for
retention
• Members who are heavily involved have fewer and weaker ties
to non-members
Conclusions
– Conversion Is A Matter Of
Conformity
– Secularization contributes to
the emergence of religious
revivals and NRMs