Chapter 17, Religion

1. Chapter 17, Religion Key Terms

2. ReligionAn institutionalized system symbols, beliefs, values, and practices by which a group of people interprets and responds to what they feel is sacred and that provides answers to questions of ultimate meaning. SacredThat which is set apart ordinary activity, seen as holy, and protected by special rites and rituals.

3. ProfaneThat which is of the everyday world and is specifically not religious. TotemAn object or living thing that a religious group regards with special awe and reverence.

4. ReligiosityThe intensity and consistency of practice of a person’s (or group’s) faith. MonotheistsThe worship of a single god.

5. PolytheistsWorship of more than one deity. Patriarchal religionsBeliefs and practices are based on male power and authority.

6. Matriarchal religionsBased on the centrality of female goddesses, who may be seen as the source of food, nurturance, and love or who may serve as emblems of the power of women. Exclusive religious groupsHave an easily identifiable religion and culture, including distinctive beliefs and strong moral teachings.

7. Inclusive religious groupsHave a more moderate and liberal religious orientation, stress interdenominational cooperation and the importance of common religious work. RitualsSymbolic activities that express a group's spiritual convictions.

8. Collective consciousnessBody of beliefs that are common to a community or society and that give people a sense of belonging. Protestant ethicBelief that hard work and self-denial lead to salvation.

9. Ethnoreligious groupAn extreme form of an exclusive religious group. ChurchesFormal organizations that tend to see themselves, and are seen by society, as the primary and legitimate religious institutions.

10. SectsGroups that have broken off from an established church, when a faction questions the legitimacy or purity of the church from which they are separating. CultsReligious groups devoted to a specific cause or a leader with charisma, and are like sects in their emotional intensity.

11. CharismaA quality attributed to individuals believed by their followers to have special powers. ConversionA transformation of religious identity.

12. Brainwashing thesisClaims innocent people are tricked into religious conversion, that religious cults manipulate and coerce people into accepting their beliefs. Social drift theoryInterprets people as moving into such groups gradually, particularly if they have experienced recent personal strains or have become disenchanted with their prior affiliations.

13. Anti-SemitismThe belief or behavior that defines Jewish people as inferior and targets them for stereotyping, mistreatment, and acts of hatred. SecularizationThe process by which religious institutions, behavior, and consciousness lose their religious significance, a change in the basic organization of society.

14. Rationalization of societyTrend that society is increasingly organized around rational, empirical, and scientific forms of thought.