Define religion
Regarded as a set of beliefs and practices, usually involving acknowledgement of divine or higher being or power, by which people order the conduct of their lives both practically and in a moral sense.
What are the 5 elements of a religion
ritual prayer emotion belief organisation
Social factors involving religion
The world in which a person lives creates a range of social factors that have the potential to either support, hinder or obstruct how a person and religion interact.
Examples of social factors
- a culture that focuses on material possessions and/or consumption of goods
- historical issues and events that inform and colour how people view religion
- the presence of social disadvantage or hardship such as poverty, poor health conditions or even war
- political ideologies and administrations
- people that inspire, motivate or direct how people should act and think in relation to a religion
What is Materialism
- the excessive desire to acquire and consumer material goods
- in western nations, there is a growing trend of increasing materialism in order to pursue the “good life”
- however, an increase in material wealth and goods has actually had little to no effect on well-being and happiness of its people
- individual materialism can cause diminished well-being or lower levels of well-being can cause people to be more materialistic in an effort to get external gratification
What does the Catholic social teachings say about Materialism?
- suggests that increasing materialism is unsustainable, and most often leads to an increased destruction of nature
- points to materialism as a source of problems such as crime, pollution, environmental degradation, war, economic inequality, poverty, oppression and genocide
What did Thomas Aquinas Quote about Materialism?
“Greed is a sin against God, just as mortal sins, in as much as can condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things”
What is Consumerism?
- a social and economic order and ideology encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts as a means of creating meaning and purpose in life
- the consumer society emerged in the late 17th century and intensified throughout the 18th century
- the industrial revolution dramatically increased the availability of consumer goods
- the advent of the department store represented a paradigm shift in the experience of shopping
What is Secularism
- secularism is the belief that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society
there are multiple factors which have contributed to the decline of religions relevance for the integration and legitimation of modern life - the increasing pluralism and materialism of society alongside society’s increasing individualism and dissatisfaction with traditional religions are major reasons for secularisation.
What did Richard Dawkins believe?
- States that religious faith is essentially childish - to believe in God is as immature as believing in the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas
- Religious faith is irrational because in his view it involves blind trust in the absence of evidence
- There is no thing as a SOUL
- We should reject arguments for the existence God based on biology
- religious faith is anti-scientific
What did Karl Marx - Marxism believe
- proposed that religion reflects society, therefore any criticism of religion is also a criticism of society
- saw religion as the sign of an oppressed creature
religion to him serves the interests of the ruling classes. - it teaches obedience to authority as a condition for achieving future happiness through salvation
- viewed religion as a form of social control
- existence of god was an impossibility
- recognised religion promoted stability within society, but it also perpetuated patterns of social inequality
- describes religion as ‘the opiate of the people’
What is functionalism ?
- views religion as an integrative force in society because it has the power to shape collective beliefs
provides cohesion in social order by promoting a sense of belonging and collective consciousness - supported by Durkhein
What were the 3 B’s of Functionalism
belonging, beliefs and behaviour
Quote by Durkhein on Functionalism ?
“an unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden - beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community”
What is Atheism
believe that God are man-made constructs, myths and legends or believe these concepts are not meaningful
Social factors - Political
- what are the views
- rules and laws
- treatment of asylum seekers
Social Factors - Family
- values
- parents beliefs
- how your parents were raised
- religion of parents can play a major role - they feel they – should educate their child in their chosen religion
- having a religion in the family often creates a sense of community,
- child’s obedience and age
Social factors - Education
- where you go
- wealth of school
- encourage re or not
- secular school
Social factors - Media
- what media you interact with - Popes Facebook vs snapchat
- issues highlighted by the media can challenge religions teachings causing people to become confused on their -beliefs
- brings attention to religious events
- medias portrayal of religion
- media can bring religion to a person instead of a person seeking out - offical websites (easily accessible)
Social Factors - Wealth
- how you value materialism - wealthier people rely on wealth and materialistic things instead of faith and believing in religion
- earn more income or not to do that
- values of not giving to the poor
- declined in first world countries but remained the same in developing countries
Social Factors - Advertising
- positive or negative representation in society on religion
not respecting everyone
– encourages consumerism and materialism - they value consumerism and materialism over religious faith and values
