SOSYOLOJİYE GİRİŞ - Deneme Sınavı - 10

It is Marx who interprets a dominant religion to be the outcome of social struggle. The answr is B.

Marx believed religion reflects the social stratification of society and maintains inequality and perpetuates the status quo. For him, religion was just an extension of working-class’ (proletariat) economic suffering. He famously argued that religion “is the opium of people”. Thus, the definition cannot mean that religion gives people true happiness. The answer is A.

Social conflict theory has always focused heavily on the differential distribution of resources as reflected in the socioeconomic class structure of society. Marx also defined religion from that perspective. The answer is C.

Durkheim saw religion as a source of social stability. On the other hand, German sociologist and political economist Max Weber believed religion was a precipitator of social change. The answer is E.

Berger and Luckmann argued that all certainty is basically uncertain; it has a very inconsistent foundation. Things are real because people believe they are real. Life is meaningful because of the meaning people give to it.

Marxist view of religion is criticised because it is based on a reductionist argument where religion is merely the reflection of societal forces. The answer is A.

Unlike Durkheim, Stark and Bainbridge see religion as meeting the needs of individuals rather than those of society as a whole. Unlike Marx,they see religion as meeting universal human needs rather than those which stem from class inequality and exploitation. The answer is C.

Civil religion is a quasireligious belief by which people display loyalty to their society often in the form of nationalism or patriotism.

Max Weber made an historical analysis of religion as a factor that changes societies. Although he studied the religions around the world in detail for many years, Weber became famous for his explanation of the emergence of Capitalism in the West through asceticism principle of the Protestant ethic. As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is A.

The information related to the other sociologists in the options is as follows:

Marx’s social conflict approach that considers religion as opium and consolation or, on rare occasions, a sort of protest. However, one should see that Marx’s analysis emphasizes that religion is principally used as a tool by powerful social classes in order to hide inequalities in labor class of the society.

Durkheim’s functionalist approach considers religion as the fundamental part of a society and focuses solely on solidarity and integrating functions of religion.

Among the leading theorists of the Phenomenological Approach, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann argue that religion helps people construct a universe of meaning in order to understand and interpret the world, and justify the authenticity and reality of those frames of meaning. They suggest that life would become meaningless and social stability would be disrupted without such universe of meaning.

The sociologist, of course, is not concerned with the truth or falsity of any given religion; s/he only takes an objective look at religion (its functions, social foundations, and social consequences.) He does not study religion per se, but the effect of religious beliefs and practices on the social and cultural systems, socialization process, and personality development. More specifically, the sociologist is concerned with the myriad ways in which society and religion interact, and with profound consequences for the individual. Briefly speaking, when dealing with religion, sociologists mainly try to understand how religions shape society and conversely, how the historical and contemporary social conditions shape religions. Thus, according to sociological approach, religion should primarily be taken a social rather than theological or psychological phenomenon.

In brief, when dealing with religion, the sociologist is concerned with:

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is D. The sociologist is not concerned with the truth or falsity of any given religion; s/he only takes an objective look at religion (its functions, social foundations, and social consequences).

All founding thinkers of the discipline, Marx, Weber, Comte, Durkheim, Spencer, Simmel, Luckmann focus on the changing role of religion in modern society. Contemporary sociologists such as Talcott Parsons, Robert N. Bellah, Peter Berger, Clifford Geertz, Mary Douglas, Niklas Luhmann, Thomas Luckmann and others have contributed to theoretical perspectives of the sociology of religion.

As also understood from the information given, Talcott Parsons, Mary Douglas and Niklas Luhmann are among the ones who contributed to theoretical perspectives of the sociology of religion, so the correct answer is C. Auguste Comte and Max Weber focused on the changing role of religion in modern society.

Emile Durkheim believed that social life was impossible without the shared values and moral beliefs that form the collective conscience. In their absence, there would be no social order, social control, social solidarity or cooperation. In short, there would be no society. Religion reinforces the collective conscience.

According to Durkheim, religious ritual is an important part of this social cement. Religion, through its rituals, fulfills a number of social functions such as binding people together physically, promoting social cohesion, reaffirming the group’s beliefs and values. Those functions help maintain norms, mores, and prohibitions.

Durkheim is generally considered the first sociologist who analyzed religion in terms of its societal impact. Above all, he believed religion is about community: It binds people together (social cohesion), promotes behavior consistency (social control) and offers strength during life’s transitions and tragedies (meaning and purpose).

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is C. The arguments in the options I, II and III were developed by Durkheim in order to emhasize the functions of religion. The arguments in the options IV and V are the arguments of conflict theory on religion developed by Marx.

Marx saw religious belief as an illusion attempting to justify existing arrangements in society and encouraging people to accept them. He saw religion doing this in two ways. First, religion justifies existing inequalities in income and power in society by explaining the position on the rich and poor as “the will of God”. For example, the Hindu religion provides a religious justification for the inequalities of the Indian caste system, and the Bible is riddled with quotations such as ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven’. Poverty and resignation to it therefore become, in themselves, virtues. As a result, the poor are more likely to accept their position in society. Second, Marx believed religion provided comfort for the poor, and drew their attention away from their present misery and the inequalities and injustices of this world with promises of a future, golden life after death.

The phenomenological approach is particularly associated with the work of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. Berger and Luckmann have put forward a phenomenological view of religion: Religion is produced by members of society subjectively interpreting and giving meaning to the world around them.

According to Luckmann, the function of religion can be understood to reduce uncertainty and complexity, to determine which seems to be indeterminate, and to make accessible what seems to be inaccessible. The supernatural dimension of religion, therefore, comes in handy because it serves to reduce complexity.

Berger and Luckmann argue that religion is probably the most effective mechanism for the legitimation of universes of meaning. Unlike other sources of legitimation, only religion links meaning with ultimate reality. In other words, according to Berger and Luckmann, religion is socially constructed as a means of responding to life’s uncertainties and disruptions.

For Berger and Luckmann, the sociology of religion is closely related to the sociology of knowledge. For Luckmann, an important function of religion is that it helps us acquire a sense of “self”, knowing who we are, and where we fit in, a world view that endows everyday life with ultimate significance. To the extent, with regard to Berger and Luckmann’s perspective, religion provides believers with crucial explanations and meanings that they use to make sense of their lives, not least during times of personal or social crisis.

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is D. The arguments in the options I, II, III and IV are the arguments of phenomenological understanding of religion. The argument in the option V is Weber’s argument. In short, Weber’s writings on religion differ from those of Durkheim in that they concentrate on the connection between religion and social change, something to which Durkheim gave little attention. They contrast with the work of Marx, because Weber argues that religion is not necessarily a conservative force; on the contrary, religiously inspired movements have often produced dramatic social transformations.

Members of technologically simple societies, Durkheim explained, do this with the totem, an object in the natural world collectively defined as sacred. The totem-perhaps an animal or an elaborate work of art- becomes the centerpiece of ritual, symbolizing the power of society to transform individuals into a powerful collectivity. In all its forms, Durkheim pointed out three major functions of religion for the operation of society:

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is B. The concepts in the options I, II and III are the concepts associated with the functionalist theory on religion. Other concepts in the options IV and V are as follows:

Alienation is a sense that our own abilities as human beings are taken over by other entities. The term was originally used by Marx to refer to the projection of human powers onto gods. Subsequently he used the term to refer to the loss of workers’ control over the nature and products of their labor

Weber’s interpretation of industrial society provides one of the earliest statements of the desacralization thesis. He claimed that industrial society is “characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the “disenchantment of the world”. The world is no longer charged with mystery and magic; the supernatural has been banished from society. The meanings and motives with direct action are now rational. Rational action involves a deliberate and precise calculation of the importance of alternative goals and the effectiveness of the various means for attaining chosen goals. For example, if an individual’s goal is to make money, s/he will coldly and carefully calculate the necessary initial investment and the costs involved in producing and marketing a commodity in the most economical way possible. His or her measurements will be objective: they will be based on factors that can be quantified and accurately measured. S/he will reject the means to reach that goal which cannot be proven to be effective. Rational action rejects the guidelines provided by emotion, tradition or religion. It is based on the cold, deliberate reason of the intellect, which demands that the rationale for action can only be based on the proven results.

Max Weber’s (1864–1920) social action theory argues that human action is directed by meanings and motives. From this perspective, action can only be understood by appreciating the world view, the image or picture of the world held by its members Weber is most famous for arguing that Protestanism produced modern capitalism; later in his comparative studies he attempted to demonstrate that each of the great world religions laid down the tracks along which Europe, the Islamic world, India, and China moved in their distinctive directions. Weber is also the systematic sociologist of stratification, bureaucracy and other non-religious social institutions; but he worked out his entire sociology in the process of tracing the patterns of historical change connected to religion.

According to Weber-in his classic book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism-religion responds to the basic human need to understand the purpose of life. In doing so, religion must give meaning to the social world within which life occurs. This means creating a worldview that can have social, political, and economic consequences. For instance, consider the issue of whether salvation can be achieved through active mastery (hard work, for example) or through passive contemplation (meditation). Calvinism expresses the first approach, and the second is evident in several of the Eastern religions. Using these ideas, Weber theorized that Calvinism fostered the Protestant ethic of hard work and asceticism and that Protestantism was an important influence on the development of capitalism. Calvinism is rooted in the concept of predestination, which means that before people are born, some of them are selected for heaven and others for hell. Nothing anyone does in this world, Calvinists believe, can change this.

Max Weber posited that, in Europe in his time, Protestants were more likely than Catholics to value capitalist ideology, and believed in hard work and savings. He showed that Protestant values directly influenced the rise of capitalism and helped create the modern world order.

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is D. The statement in the option V is about Durkheim, not Weber.

When comparing Weber and Durkheim, one might start simply by noting that whereas Durkheim was interested in the generic notion of religion (specifically the classification of the sacred and profane), Weber was concerned with the historical and comparative importance of religions. Durkheim famously observed it to consist of a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. Weber, by contrast, declared in The Sociology of Religion that defining religion is not possible at the start of a presentation such as this.

Durkheim saw religion as a source of social stability. On the other hand, German sociologist and political economist Max Weber believed religion was a precipitator of social change. Unlike Marx, Weber rejected the view that religion is always shaped by economic factors. Weber argued that, in some circumstances, religion can lead to social change: Although shared religious beliefs might integrate a social group, those same beliefs may have reflections which in the long term can produce changes in society.

When comparing Weber and Durkheim, one might start simply by noting that whereas Durkheim was interested in the generic notion of religion (specifically the classification of the sacred and profane), Weber was concerned with the historical and comparative importance of religions. Durkheim famously observed it to consist of a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. Weber, by contrast, declared in The Sociology of Religion that defining religion is not possible at the start of a presentation such as this. Definition can be attempted, if at all, only at the conclusion of the study. While Weber examined the consequences of the ‘economic ethics’ of the world religions, Durkheim examined the ‘elementary forms’ of religious classification, the impact of their emotional framing, how these classificatory systems were embedded in ritual practices, and finally how the ‘collective conscience’ was an essential foundation of the social.

In short, Weber’s writings on religion differ from those of Durkheim in that they concentrate on the connection between religion and social change, something to which Durkheim gave little attention. They contrast with the work of Marx, because Weber argues that religion is not necessarily a conservative force; on the contrary, religiously inspired movements have often produced dramatic social transformations. Thus, Protestanism (particularly Puritanism) was the source of the capitalistic outlook found in the modern West. The early entrepreneurs were mostly Calvinists. Their drive to succeed, which helped initiate Western economic development, was originally prompted by a desire to serve God. Material success was, for them, a sign of divine favor. For Weber, it was religion itself, embodied in the ascetic Protestantism of the Reformation, that helped to eradicate magical notions from social life and to begin a radical ‘disenchantment’ of the modern World.

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is B. Options II and IV are about Weber.

American Sociologists Roger Finke, Rodney Stark and Willams S. Bainbridge have attempted to develop a more comprehensive sociological perspective on religion. Their approach has heavily been influenced by the exchange theory that is based on the principle that all human interactions can be treated as a form of exchange.

Stark and Bainbridge with their religious economy approach argue that religions can be understood as organizations which are in competition with one another for followers. On the other hand, the classical theorists, Marx, Durkheim and Weber, assume that religion weakens when it is challenged by different religious or secular viewpoints whereas the religious economists argue that competition increases the overall level of religious involvement in modern society.

Their explanation on religion consists of a number of insights into religious organizations, institutions and religious change. Unlike Durkheim, Stark and Bainbridge see religion as meeting the needs of individuals rather than those of society as a whole. Unlike Marx, they see religion as meeting universal human needs rather than those which stem from class inequality and exploitation. Furthermore, they reject the view, shared by classic sociologists of religion that the development of industrial capitalist societies would undermine religion.

Stark and Bainbridge with their religious economy approach argue that religions can be understood as organizations which are in competition with one another for followers. On the other hand, the classical theorists, Marx, Durkheim and Weber, assume that religion weakens when it is challenged by different religious or secular viewpoints whereas the religious economists argue that competition increases the overall level of religious involvement in modern society.

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is D. The statement in the option V is related to the approach of classical theorists.

Auguste Comte suggests that, as a result of modernization, human society was going beyond the “theological stage” of social evolution and a new age was rising in which the science of sociology would replace religion as the basis for moral judgments.

As understood from the information given, the correct answer is A.