Classical Theories of Religion

Durkheim's functionalist approach shows how religion acts as society's binding agent. He studied Australian Aboriginal totemism - the worship of sacred animals or plants - and discovered something fascinating: when clans gathered to worship their totem, they were actually worshipping their own society without realising it.

This led Durkheim to identify the key distinction between sacred and profane. Sacred things inspire awe and are set apart from everyday life, whilst profane refers to mundane, ordinary experiences. Through shared rituals around sacred symbols, religion creates a collective conscience that keeps society stable and integrated.

Marx took a completely different view, seeing religion as part of the dominant ideology that keeps the working class oppressed. Religion acts as the "opium of the people" by cushioning pain through promises of heavenly rewards whilst legitimising inequality as God's will. This creates false class consciousness - workers accept their exploitation rather than fighting against it.

Key Point: Both theorists agree religion has massive social influence, but disagree whether it's beneficial (Durkheim) or harmful (Marx) to society.

Civil religion offers a modern twist - shared national symbols, rituals and beliefs (like the American flag or national anthem) that unite diverse populations without requiring supernatural beliefs. This shows how religious-like functions can exist in secular societies.

Religion and Social Change

Forget the idea that religion always keeps things the same - it can be a powerful force for social transformation. Weber's Protestant ethic thesis demonstrates how Calvinist beliefs accidentally kickstarted capitalism in Europe. Calvinists worked obsessively hard but couldn't enjoy luxuries, so they reinvested profits and created economic growth.

Weber compared different religions to prove his point. Hinduism's caste system promoted fatalism, whilst Confucianism emphasised harmony over individual success. Only Calvinism created the perfect psychological conditions for capitalist entrepreneurship.

The American Civil Rights Movement shows religion's revolutionary potential in action. Martin Luther King Jr and black clergy used churches as meeting spaces, moral authority and inspiration to challenge racial segregation. Religion provided the "moral high ground" that made segregation impossible to defend.

Key Point: The same religion can either support the status quo or fuel radical change - it depends on how it's interpreted and used.

Liberation theology in Latin America combines Christian teachings with Marxist ideas, encouraging the poor to organise and overthrow oppressive regimes. This creates counter-hegemony - alternative visions that challenge ruling class control.

However, not all religious movements succeed. Bruce argues the New Christian Right failed because it couldn't cooperate with other groups and lacked widespread support, showing that religious influence has limits.

Secularisation Debate

Is religion disappearing from modern society? The secularisation thesis suggests yes - religious thinking, practice and institutions are losing social significance through five key processes: declining practice, weakening belief, reduced institutional influence, internal watering-down of doctrines, and religious fragmentation.

Wilson's rationalisation theory explains how scientific thinking replaced religious explanations. Medieval people saw an "enchanted garden" where God actively intervened, but Protestant reformation created a disenchanted worldview where natural laws govern everything predictably.

Structural differentiation means specialised institutions (education, healthcare, welfare) took over functions previously performed by churches. Religion became privatised - confined to personal choice rather than public life.

Key Point: Secularisation doesn't mean everyone becomes atheist - it means religion loses its central role in organising social life.

But critics argue secularisation theory is Eurocentric. Davie's "believing without belonging" suggests people maintain faith whilst abandoning regular attendance. Vicarious religion means professional clergy practice on behalf of largely absent congregations, like the NHS - there when you need it.

Norris and Inglehart's existential security theory explains global patterns: poor societies with high risks remain religious whilst wealthy, secure societies become secular. America stays more religious than Europe because it has greater inequality and weaker welfare systems.

Religion, Renewal and Choice

Postmodernists argue religion isn't dying - it's evolving into new consumer-friendly forms. Lyon's "spiritual shopping" describes how people pick and mix beliefs from different traditions to create personalised "DIY religions" that fit their individual needs and lifestyles.

Hervieu-Leger identifies "cultural amnesia" - parents no longer automatically pass religious traditions to children. Instead of inheriting fixed identities, young people become spiritual shoppers choosing from a religious marketplace of competing options.

Two new religious types emerge: pilgrims who follow individual paths of self-discovery through New Age practices, and converts who join evangelical movements offering strong community belonging.

Key Point: Religion hasn't disappeared in postmodern society - it's become another lifestyle choice alongside fashion and music preferences.

Religious market theory challenges secularisation by arguing diversity increases religious demand. Competition between different groups should strengthen religion, like businesses competing for customers. Stark and Bainbridge claim there was no "golden age" to decline from.

However, Bruce criticises this consumer approach as "weak religion" with little real impact on followers' lives. Online religion and electronic churches might supplement traditional worship but rarely replace it completely. The convenience of religious consumption may actually indicate secularisation rather than revival.

Fundamentalism and Global Religion

Religious fundamentalism represents a defensive reaction against globalisation and modernisation. Giddens contrasts fundamentalism with cosmopolitanism - whilst cosmopolitan people embrace change and uncertainty, fundamentalists retreat into absolute certainties and literal interpretations of sacred texts.

Key features of fundamentalism include: belief in exact wording of holy books, sharp divisions between "true believers" and others, authoritative charismatic leaders, patriarchal control, use of modern technology to spread messages, and often apocalyptic expectations.

Huntington's "clash of civilisations" predicts conflicts between religious-cultural groups replacing ideological battles of the Cold War. However, critics argue this promotes dangerous orientalism - stereotyping Eastern societies as barbaric whilst ignoring internal religious divisions.

Key Point: Fundamentalism emerges when traditional communities feel threatened by rapid social change, offering psychological security through absolute beliefs.

Religion serves different functions globally: cultural defence (Polish Catholicism against Soviet communism), cultural transition (helping immigrants adapt), and legitimising capitalism (Pentecostalism in Latin America mirrors Protestant work ethic).

Bruce distinguishes between Western Christian fundamentalism (reacting to secularisation) and Third World Islamic fundamentalism (resisting external cultural domination). Both represent resistance identity - defensive reactions by groups feeling under threat from globalisation's homogenising forces.

Religious Organisations and Movements

Understanding different types of religious organisation helps explain how beliefs spread and change. Troeltsch's classic typology identifies four main categories based on size, membership requirements, and relationship with wider society.

Churches are large, universal organisations you're born into (like Church of England), whilst sects are small, exclusive groups demanding total commitment from adult converts (like Jehovah's Witnesses). Denominations sit between these - formal but tolerant organisations accepting societal norms. Cults focus on individual spiritual services rather than community membership.

New Religious Movements (NRMs) exploded in the 1970s, requiring fresh analysis. Wallis identifies three types: world-rejecting movements that withdraw from society in communes, world-affirming groups offering spiritual enhancement for success, and world-accommodating movements that restore spiritual purity to existing religions.

Key Point: Different religious organisations appeal to different social needs - sects offer certainty during crisis whilst cults provide flexibility for spiritual seekers.

Why do NRMs grow? Several factors contribute: social change creates uncertainty driving people toward certainty, relative deprivation makes middle-class people feel spiritually empty, marginality attracts social outcasts, and internal secularisation pushes traditionalists toward fundamentalist alternatives.

Stark and Bainbridge's sectarian cycle shows how sects either die out or become denominations within a generation. However, Aldridge argues many sects (like Jehovah's Witnesses) maintain their characteristics long-term through strict socialisation and behavioural codes.

Religion and Social Groups

Gender patterns in religion are striking - women consistently show higher levels of religious belief, attendance and commitment across all major faiths. Davies found women outnumber men in UK churches and are more likely to say religion is important to them.

Why are women more religious? Multiple explanations exist: risk aversion (women less willing to risk eternal damnation), socialisation $women taught to be caring and obedient - qualities religions value$, gender roles (women more involved in caring, bringing them closer to life's ultimate questions), and compensation for various forms of deprivation.

The New Age particularly attracts women seeking autonomy and personal growth. Woodhead suggests these beliefs help resolve role conflict between work and family demands by creating identity based on "inner self" rather than contradictory social expectations.

Key Point: Women's higher religiosity reflects both traditional gender roles and modern attempts to navigate changing social expectations.

Age patterns show older people are significantly more religious. The ageing effect suggests people naturally turn toward spirituality as death approaches, whilst generational replacement means each new cohort is less religious than the previous one.

Ethnicity strongly predicts religiosity - minority groups use religion for cultural defence against racism, cultural transition into new societies, and compensation for marginalisation. Black people are twice as likely as white people to attend church, whilst Muslim and Hindu communities maintain strong religious identities partly as protection against discrimination.

Ideology, Science and Religion as Belief Systems

All belief systems - religious, scientific, or ideological - claim to offer truth about reality, but sociology reveals how these "truths" are actually socially constructed. Science appears objective but serves particular interests and reflects power relationships in society.

Comte's three stages show humanity's intellectual evolution from theological (supernatural explanations) through metaphysical (abstract natural forces) to scientific $evidence-based rational explanations$. This rationalisation process gradually displaces religious worldviews with scientific ones.

However, different perspectives challenge science's neutrality: Marxists argue scientific knowledge serves capitalist interests, feminists claim it justifies male dominance, whilst postmodernists reject science as just another metanarrative seeking power over people.

Key Point: No belief system is completely objective - all reflect the interests and perspectives of those who create and promote them.

Religion operates as a closed belief system claiming perfect, sacred knowledge that cannot be questioned. Ideology refers to sets of ideas that justify particular group interests - whether ruling class dominance (Marx), male supremacy (feminism), or national identity (nationalism).

Mannheim distinguished between ideological thought (justifying existing arrangements) and utopian thought (promoting social change). He hoped "free-floating intellectuals" could create objective knowledge free from bias, though critics argue this is impossible since everyone has social positions and interests that shape their thinking.