Sociology: Religion

Religion - answer-A set of beliefs and practices pertaining to sacred things that unite people into a moral community. (Durkheim)- He never includes reference to a deity or supernatural being or essence of any sort, personal or otherwise. Rituals - answer-A standardized set of actions used in a particular ceremony or on some other specific occasion. Secularization - answer-The process by which people and their social institutions become more concerned with worldly matters and less concerned with spiritual ones. It is often associated with modernization. - When religion's influence on other social institutions in a society diminshes. "De-religioning of a society" Cult - answer-A religious group that tends to exist in a state of tension with the surrounding culture and that has no prior ties to any established religious body in a larger society. It is similiar to sects but it is less respectable. Church - answer-A large, conservative, universalist religious institution that makes few demands on its members and accommodates itself to the larger society. Theism - answer-The idea that powerful supernatural beings are involved with events and conditions on earth. Evangelicals - answer-Christians who feel a calling to emphasize the teachings of the Scriptures and to bear witness to God's influence on earth. Religious Innovation - answer-An effort to create new religions or to change existing ones to meet people's needs more completely. Animism - answer-The idea that things in the world are imbued with active, animate spirits. Sect - answer-A small, exclusive, uncompromising fellowship that makes heavy demands on its members and sets them apart from the larger society (Troeltsch). A religious group formed by breaking away from an established religious body (Stark and Bainbridge). Often claim the "true church" status. Civil Religion - answer-Bellah's term for sanctifying the nation by associating its history, values, and institutions with God's special favor. Totem - answer-An object, plant, or animal that is worshiped as the mystical ancestor of a society or other social group. Invisible Religion - answer-The view that religion is a subjective personal experience, not a matter of group doctrine. Moral Community - answer-A group of people who share religious beliefs, symbols, and practices that bind them together into a social whole. Ecclesia - answer-Religious organization that claims to include most or all of the members of a society and is recognized as the national or official religion. You become a member by birth. Example: Lutheran church in Sweden, Catholic church in Spain, Islam in Saudi Arabia, & Buddhism in Thailand. Religious Experience - answer-The feeling or perception of being in direct contact with the ultimate reality, such as divine being, or of being overcome with religious emotion. It may be rather slight.