comparative religion

Examples of comparative religion in the following topics:

• Religious Symbols

  • Religious symbolism is the use of acts, artwork, and events to create a mythos expressing the teachings of the religion.
  • Religions view religious texts, rituals and works of art as symbols of compelling ideas or ideals.
  • The study of religious symbolism is either universalist, a component of comparative religion and mythology, or seen in a localized scope within the confines of a religion's limits and boundaries.
  • Comparative religion concerns the systematic comparison of the world's religions.
  • There are many benefits to such a course of inquiry, but in general the comparative study of religion yields a deeper understanding of the fundamental philosophical concerns of religion, including ethics, metaphysics and the nature and form of salvation.

• Religion and Other Social Factors

  • More women than men report having attended religious services in the past week (46% compared with 33%); more women hold membership in a church or synagogue (74% compared with 63%); and more women report watching religious programs (53% compared with 44%).
  • Women are more likely than men to read the Bible at least monthly (56% compared with 41%) and to report having "a great deal of confidence" in organized religion (62% compared with 52%)...
  • One explanation for the greater involvement of women in religion is socialization.
  • Religion is also divided by race.
  • Intrinsic religiosity refers to people who see religion as the end (e.g., religion is the answer to life's questions).

• Affiliation

  • Religion in the United States is characterized by both a wide diversity of religious beliefs and practices and by a high adherence level.
  • A majority of Americans report that religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unique among developed nations.
  • Non-Christian religions (including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.), collectively make up about 5% of the adult population.
  • Despite a high level of religious adherence, only 9% of Americans in a 2008 poll said religion was the most important thing in their life, compared with 45% who said family was paramount in their life and 17% who said money and career was paramount.
  • Census does not ask about religion.

• World Religions and Religious History

  • If one were to ask any sociologist of religion which are the world religions, they would likely give the standard answer that there are five world religions:
  • A detailed description of these religions is beyond the scope of this chapter.
  • The classification of these groups as world religions is, like all classifications, artificial.
  • Additionally, the religions of the book have numerous branches, some so dissimilar that there is more contention within the world religions than between them (e.g., Mormons vs. fundamentalist Christians, Catholics vs.
  • In short, classification as a world religion seems a little arbitrary.

• Theism and Monotheism

  • They are usually immortal, and are commonly assumed to have personalities, consciousness and intellects comparable (albeit superior) to those of humans.
  • The most prominent modern day monotheistic religions include Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
  • Deism typically rejects supernatural events (prophecies, miracles and divine revelations) prominent in organized religion.
  • Examples include the Egyptian and Greek religions, as well as certain schools of Hinduism.
  • The beginnings of modern religion and the origins of the Hebrew Bible

• Introduction

  • Sociologists study religion the same way they study other social institutions, like education or government.
  • The aim is primarily to understand religions, but included in trying to understand religions is the aim of trying to predict what religions will eventually do (or what will become of religions).
  • It is important to note at the beginning of this chapter that sociologists study religion not to prove, disprove or normatively evaluate religion.
  • Sociologists aren't interested in whether a religion is right or wrong.
  • That said, the social scientific study of religion can be challenging from a faith standpoint as it provides alternative, naturalistic explanations for many elements of religion (e.g., the sources of conversion experiences).

• Judaism

  • Judaism is the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jewish people.
  • Judaism is the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jewish people.
  • It is a monotheistic religion originating in the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh) and explored in later texts such as the Talmud.
  • American Jews are more likely to be atheist or agnostic than most Americans, especially so compared with Protestants or Catholics.
  • A 2003 poll found that while 79% of Americans believe in God, only 48% of American Jews do, compared with 79% and 90% for Catholics and Protestants respectively.

• Religion and Social Control

  • Marx viewed religion as a tool of social control used by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat content with an unequal status quo.
  • Marx argued that the bourgeoise used religion as a tool to keep the less powerful proletariat pacified.
  • Marx argued that religion was able to do this by promising rewards in the after-life, instead of in this life.
  • In this passage, Marx is calling for the proletariat to discard religion and its deceit about other-worldly events.
  • Thus, the social-conflict approach to religion highlights how religion, as a phenomenon of human behavior, functions to maintain social inequality by providing a worldview that justifies oppression.

• Functions of Religion

  • The functionalist perspective, which originates from Emile Durkheim's work on religion, highlights the social role of religion.
  • The structural-functional approach to religion has its roots in Emile Durkheim's work on religion.
  • Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion.
  • Religion is very real; it is an expression of society itself, and indeed, there is no society that does not have religion.
  • The primary criticism of the structural-functional approach to religion is that it overlooks religion's dysfunctions.

• The Nature of Religion

  • Many languages have words that can be translated as "religion," but they may use them in a very different way, and some have no word for religion at all.
  • For example, the Sanskrit word "dharma," sometimes translated as "religion," also means law.
  • The development of religion has taken different forms in different cultures.
  • Some religions place an emphasis on belief while others emphasize practice.
  • One modern academic theory of religion, social constructionism, says that religion is a modern concept that has been defined relative to the Abrahamic religions and that thus, religion as a concept has been applied inappropriately to non-Western cultures that are not based upon such systems.