Evernote 27/04/2025, 11:34
BELIEFS IN SOCIETY
BELIEFS - ideas about things we hold true
RELIGIOUS BELIEF - about meaning and purpose
1. substantive definitions (exclusive)
2. functional definitions (inclusive)
3. social constructionist definitions
SUBSTANTIVE DEFINITION - to be a religion, a set of beliefs must include belief in Gd or in the
supernatural
• Weber supports this view as a belief in superior or supernatural power that is above nature
and cannot be explained by science
FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS - social or psychological function it performs for individuals or society
• Emile Durkheim defines religion in the terms of the contribution it makes to social integration
rather than any specific belief in Gd or the supernatural
• Milton Yinger identifies function of religion performs for individuals such as answering the
'ultimate question' about meaning of life and what happens after we die
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST DEFINITIONS - focuses on how members of society themselves define
religions. It's not possible to have one definition as individuals mean different things by 'religion'
• Alan Aldridge shows for its followers, scientology is a religion, whereas several governments
have denied it legal status as a religion and called it a cult and sought to ban it
Evaluations -
key = positive - negative
SUBSTANTIVE = too exclusive and has western bias as it excludes religions such as buddhism.
Defining religion in this way leaves no room for beliefs and practices that perform similar
functions to religion but do not involve belief in G-D
FUNCTIONAL = allows us to include a wide range of beliefs and practices that perform functions
such as integration. By not specifying belief in G-D there is no bias against non-western religions
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such as buddhism. But just because something integrates individuals, it does not make it a
religion e.g. chanting at a football match gives individuals a sense of integration but that does not
mean its a religion
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST = does not assume that religion always involves a belief in G-D or
the supernatural or that it performs similar functions for everyone in all societies. Allows us to get
close to the meanings people themselves give to religion but makes it impossible to generalise
about the nature of religion since people may have widely differing views about what counts as
religion
Buddhism - non-theistic religion that does not believe in G-ds. It focuses on the teachings of
Gautama Buddha (personal spiritual development) and has around 535 million followers globally
Christianity - monotheistic religion centred on the teachings of jesus christ. It is the largest
religion in the world with around one third of the population identifying as christian, including both
roman catholic and protestant traditions
Hinduism - belief in one supreme spirit, Braham, who manifests in various god like forms. It is one
of the worlds oldest religions with 1 billion followers - 14% of global population
Islam - monotheistic religion that believes in one G-D, Allah, who's teachings were received
through the prophet Muhammad. Has about 1.6 billion followers - Sunni and Shia muslims
Judaism - monotheistic religion that believes G-D chose the jewish people to set an example of
holiness and ethical behaviour of the world. There are around 16 million jews worldwide
Ideology and Religion
ideology - a set of ideas ad values shared by a social group
Religion is an ideology, however it is not necessarily tied to a particular social group
Giddens (2006):
Religion involves 'shared beliefs and rituals that provide a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose
by creating an idea of reality that is sacred, all encompassing and supernatural'
3 things that he believes -
1. beliefs in the spiritual and supernatural
a person, entity or other force or being of some kind, which ultimately provides a sense of
meanings and interpretation of the world
2. faith of the part of the believers
a strong sense of trust and conviction in a person or entity, which is not based on observable,
testable or falsifiable evidence
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3. a body of unchanging truth
religions usually contains certain fundamental and unchangeable beliefs, like christ being the son
of G-D or Mohammed being Allah's prophet and new discoveries are fitted into these existing
frameworks
RELIGION - it is known as a closed belief system, They assert an all-embracing and unchanging
set of beliefs and make claims that cannot be disproved or overturned abd anything that seems to
challenge these beliefs is dismissed or fitted into the existing belief system. It relies on faith rather
than empirical evidence
SCIENCE - it is an open belief system. This means that scientific research is open to scrutiny,
questioning, criticism and testing by others. Scientific is liable to change as a result to these
processes
4 types of ideology:
Pluralist ideology - pluralism is the idea that multiple social groups with different ideaologies
coexist and no single ideology will dominate. Rejects the notion of unequal power distribution in
society
Dominant ideology - Marxists believe that there is a dominant ideology in society. This is a set of
ideas and beliefs held by the most powerful groups and of the ruling class
Patriarchal ideology - feminists have identified a patriarchal ideology, which is a set of ideas that
supports and tries to justify the power of men in a patriarchal society through beliefs of men
being superior
Political ideology - this is one that provides an interpretation of how society should work and how
power should be used by governments to influence events and change society. Different
ideologies are like the New Right, Conservatives, Labour, Green etc...
Functionalism and religion
• religion plays a key role in maintaining value consensus (shared norms and values)
according to functionalism, religion performs 3 functions:
1. value consensus
2. social solidarity
3. social order
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* Durkheim
• he believes that all societies divide the world into 2 categories: the sacred and profane
The sacred are things that have special significance that inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder.
It helps to remind us that we are dependant on something greater than ourselves
The profane are things that have no significance and are ordinary - everyday things
• religion involves rituals related to the sacred - and these are collective
• these rituals evoke powerful feelings
• Durkheim believed that when they worship the sacred, they were worshipping society itself
• religion makes us feel part of something greater than ourselves
THE ARUNTA
• an australian aboriginal tribe - indigenous
• they were divided into clans. Each clan had a totem (emblem) - an animal or plant which is
drawn on the pole
• the totem was regarded as high sacred - it would symbolise the tribe's origin and identity
• the ritual would reinforce the groups solidarity and sense of belonging
Durkheim and the study of the Arunta
1. discipline - religious rituals impose self-discipline. This is when it encourage people to
behave sociably and not pursue their own selfish course of action
2. cohesion - worship brought the community together. When people worship, they reaffirm
and reinforce the bonds that keep them together
3. vitalising - religious belief maintained traditions, this was to ensure that the values are
passed down from each generation so that they are kept important and at the heart of
society
4. euphoric - religions serves to remind them of their place in something much bigger if they
lose their faith or become frustrated. This prevents them from becoming anti-social
Durkheim concluded that when a society came together to worship collectively, what they really
worship is society itself. He recognised that society was becoming less religious and more
secular, but he argued that there was still secular function for religious belief
EVALUATION:
Worsley (1956) critiqued Durkheim's study of the Arunta, arguing that he misunderstood aspects
of their religion, particularly the separation of sacred and profane elements and the role of totems
Functionalist theories may not accurately reflect contemporary religious dynamics. Modern
https://lite.evernote.com/ce Page 4 of 43
BELIEFS IN SOCIETY
BELIEFS - ideas about things we hold true
RELIGIOUS BELIEF - about meaning and purpose
1. substantive definitions (exclusive)
2. functional definitions (inclusive)
3. social constructionist definitions
SUBSTANTIVE DEFINITION - to be a religion, a set of beliefs must include belief in Gd or in the
supernatural
• Weber supports this view as a belief in superior or supernatural power that is above nature
and cannot be explained by science
FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS - social or psychological function it performs for individuals or society
• Emile Durkheim defines religion in the terms of the contribution it makes to social integration
rather than any specific belief in Gd or the supernatural
• Milton Yinger identifies function of religion performs for individuals such as answering the
'ultimate question' about meaning of life and what happens after we die
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST DEFINITIONS - focuses on how members of society themselves define
religions. It's not possible to have one definition as individuals mean different things by 'religion'
• Alan Aldridge shows for its followers, scientology is a religion, whereas several governments
have denied it legal status as a religion and called it a cult and sought to ban it
Evaluations -
key = positive - negative
SUBSTANTIVE = too exclusive and has western bias as it excludes religions such as buddhism.
Defining religion in this way leaves no room for beliefs and practices that perform similar
functions to religion but do not involve belief in G-D
FUNCTIONAL = allows us to include a wide range of beliefs and practices that perform functions
such as integration. By not specifying belief in G-D there is no bias against non-western religions
https://lite.evernote.com/ce Page 1 of 43
,Evernote 27/04/2025, 11:34
such as buddhism. But just because something integrates individuals, it does not make it a
religion e.g. chanting at a football match gives individuals a sense of integration but that does not
mean its a religion
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST = does not assume that religion always involves a belief in G-D or
the supernatural or that it performs similar functions for everyone in all societies. Allows us to get
close to the meanings people themselves give to religion but makes it impossible to generalise
about the nature of religion since people may have widely differing views about what counts as
religion
Buddhism - non-theistic religion that does not believe in G-ds. It focuses on the teachings of
Gautama Buddha (personal spiritual development) and has around 535 million followers globally
Christianity - monotheistic religion centred on the teachings of jesus christ. It is the largest
religion in the world with around one third of the population identifying as christian, including both
roman catholic and protestant traditions
Hinduism - belief in one supreme spirit, Braham, who manifests in various god like forms. It is one
of the worlds oldest religions with 1 billion followers - 14% of global population
Islam - monotheistic religion that believes in one G-D, Allah, who's teachings were received
through the prophet Muhammad. Has about 1.6 billion followers - Sunni and Shia muslims
Judaism - monotheistic religion that believes G-D chose the jewish people to set an example of
holiness and ethical behaviour of the world. There are around 16 million jews worldwide
Ideology and Religion
ideology - a set of ideas ad values shared by a social group
Religion is an ideology, however it is not necessarily tied to a particular social group
Giddens (2006):
Religion involves 'shared beliefs and rituals that provide a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose
by creating an idea of reality that is sacred, all encompassing and supernatural'
3 things that he believes -
1. beliefs in the spiritual and supernatural
a person, entity or other force or being of some kind, which ultimately provides a sense of
meanings and interpretation of the world
2. faith of the part of the believers
a strong sense of trust and conviction in a person or entity, which is not based on observable,
testable or falsifiable evidence
https://lite.evernote.com/ce Page 2 of 43
,Evernote 27/04/2025, 11:34
3. a body of unchanging truth
religions usually contains certain fundamental and unchangeable beliefs, like christ being the son
of G-D or Mohammed being Allah's prophet and new discoveries are fitted into these existing
frameworks
RELIGION - it is known as a closed belief system, They assert an all-embracing and unchanging
set of beliefs and make claims that cannot be disproved or overturned abd anything that seems to
challenge these beliefs is dismissed or fitted into the existing belief system. It relies on faith rather
than empirical evidence
SCIENCE - it is an open belief system. This means that scientific research is open to scrutiny,
questioning, criticism and testing by others. Scientific is liable to change as a result to these
processes
4 types of ideology:
Pluralist ideology - pluralism is the idea that multiple social groups with different ideaologies
coexist and no single ideology will dominate. Rejects the notion of unequal power distribution in
society
Dominant ideology - Marxists believe that there is a dominant ideology in society. This is a set of
ideas and beliefs held by the most powerful groups and of the ruling class
Patriarchal ideology - feminists have identified a patriarchal ideology, which is a set of ideas that
supports and tries to justify the power of men in a patriarchal society through beliefs of men
being superior
Political ideology - this is one that provides an interpretation of how society should work and how
power should be used by governments to influence events and change society. Different
ideologies are like the New Right, Conservatives, Labour, Green etc...
Functionalism and religion
• religion plays a key role in maintaining value consensus (shared norms and values)
according to functionalism, religion performs 3 functions:
1. value consensus
2. social solidarity
3. social order
https://lite.evernote.com/ce Page 3 of 43
, Evernote 27/04/2025, 11:34
* Durkheim
• he believes that all societies divide the world into 2 categories: the sacred and profane
The sacred are things that have special significance that inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder.
It helps to remind us that we are dependant on something greater than ourselves
The profane are things that have no significance and are ordinary - everyday things
• religion involves rituals related to the sacred - and these are collective
• these rituals evoke powerful feelings
• Durkheim believed that when they worship the sacred, they were worshipping society itself
• religion makes us feel part of something greater than ourselves
THE ARUNTA
• an australian aboriginal tribe - indigenous
• they were divided into clans. Each clan had a totem (emblem) - an animal or plant which is
drawn on the pole
• the totem was regarded as high sacred - it would symbolise the tribe's origin and identity
• the ritual would reinforce the groups solidarity and sense of belonging
Durkheim and the study of the Arunta
1. discipline - religious rituals impose self-discipline. This is when it encourage people to
behave sociably and not pursue their own selfish course of action
2. cohesion - worship brought the community together. When people worship, they reaffirm
and reinforce the bonds that keep them together
3. vitalising - religious belief maintained traditions, this was to ensure that the values are
passed down from each generation so that they are kept important and at the heart of
society
4. euphoric - religions serves to remind them of their place in something much bigger if they
lose their faith or become frustrated. This prevents them from becoming anti-social
Durkheim concluded that when a society came together to worship collectively, what they really
worship is society itself. He recognised that society was becoming less religious and more
secular, but he argued that there was still secular function for religious belief
EVALUATION:
Worsley (1956) critiqued Durkheim's study of the Arunta, arguing that he misunderstood aspects
of their religion, particularly the separation of sacred and profane elements and the role of totems
Functionalist theories may not accurately reflect contemporary religious dynamics. Modern
https://lite.evernote.com/ce Page 4 of 43
