Religion

Our aim here is to explain the persistence of religion as A Social institute. This point is an important one. As individuals, sociologists may or may not be committed to a particular religious faith. As scientists, however, they are not qualified to comment on such things as the validity of different religions or whether or not God exists. Rather they study how religion is organized, how it affects members of a society, the relations/up between systems of belief and social structure, and how that relationship changes over time.

Religion is extremely difficult to define. A broad definition is, any set of institutionalized beliefs and practices that deal with the ultimate meaning of life. Religions provide blueprints for social behavior based on a divine, supernatural or transcendental order.

The earliest evidence of religious behavior dates back over 50,000 years. We cannot know exactly what Neanderthal groups believed or how they enacted their beliefs in ritual. But we do know from historical records and ethnographic studies that all societies have some form of religion, Specific beliefs and practices very widely.

Elements of religion

Beliefs. Religious beliefs affirm the existence of a divine order, define its character and purposes, and explain the role humans play in that order.

e.g. The Christian belief in original sin, Christ and his miracles, eternal salvation.

Rituals. Religious rituals are formal, stylized enactments of religious beliefs – procession, chants, prayers, sacraments, and the like.

Subjective experience. The subjective experiences of religion grow out of beliefs and rituals. Beliefs direct people to interpret certain inner states and group experiences as "religious". Rituals may be used to invoke or recall communion with the supernatural. Religious experiences range from the quiet sense of peace that comes from the belief that one's life is in the hands of a divine power, to intense mystical experiences that inspire terror and awe.

Community. Belonging to a community of beliefs is a central part of religious experience. Shared beliefs, rituals and subjective experiences heighten group identification. Religious institutions may help knit together specific communities of believers, both aslocal parishes within a national or international church and as followers of one religion rather than another.

Types of religious organizations

A Church, or Denomination, is one of a very few large, established religious organizations in a society, drawing members from society's mainstream. A church employs full-time and specialized ministry and works within, and in support of, the existing of social order. The Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches are two examples of denominations.

A Sect is a religious organization less formally developed than the church, from which it has usually broken away. Most sects are small and evangelical and don't employ professional ministry. The sect operates on the fringes of the society, drawing members largely from the lower social classes, and emphasizes a personal and emotional worship. Sects usually interpret the Scriptures narrowly and literally. The Pentecoastalists and Seventh Day Adventists are two of the largest sects in the US.

A Cult, in contrast to sects, is a more loosely organized and short-lived religious group. Members are secretive т their practices, which center on individual experience and enrichment rather than doctrine worship.

Like other collective movements, religious movements often begin as small groups led by a charismatic figure and pass through various stages of development, eventually they become bureaucratized. Thus the formal organization of religion develops in an evolutionary fashion; through process, the sect becomes a church.