Friday, December 23, 2022

14.2 Population Growth

Population Growth

14.2 Explain why the Least Industrialized Nations have so many children, consequences of rapid population growth, population pyramids, the three demographic variables, and problems in forecasting population growth. Even if starvation is the result of a maldistribution of food rather than overpopulation, the Least Industrialized Nations are still growing much faster than the Most Industrialized Nations. Without immigration, it would take several hundred years for the average Most Industrialized Nation to double its population, but just 50 years for the average Least Industrialized Nation to do so. Figure 14.5 puts the matter in stark perspective. Figure 14.5 World Population Growth, 1750–2150

14.1.4: Why Are People Starving?

Pictures of starving children gnaw at our conscience. We live in such abundance, while children and their parents starve before our very eyes. Why don’t they have enough food? Is it because there isn’t enough food in the world to feed them or because the abundant food the world produces does not reach them? 458 The Anti-Malthusians make a point that seems irrefutable. As Figure 14.4 shows, there is much more food for each person in the world now than there was in 1950. Despite the billions of additional people who now live on this planet, improved seeds and fertilizers have made more food available for each person on Earth. With the breakthroughs that bioengineers are making in agriculture, even more food is on the way. Figure 14.4 How Much Food Does the World Produce per Person?

NOTE: 2004–2006 equals 100. Projections by the author. SOURCES: Based on Simon 1981; Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010:Table 1335, 2019:Table 1391; UN FAO 2019.

The vertical axis represents “Per capita food production” ranging from 0 to 120 in increments of 10, while the horizontal axis represents “Year” ranging from 1950 to 2020 in increments of 5. The curve begins at 64, in the year 1950, which is shown to increase till 112 in the year 2015. Further, the curve is represented through a dotted line, increasing till 115, in the year 2020. Note: All data is approximate. 2004 to 2006 equals 100. Projections by the author. 459 If the Earth is so productive, why do people die of hunger? From Figure 14.4, which you just viewed, we can conclude that people don’t starve because the Earth produces too little food, but because particular places lack food. Droughts and wars are the main reasons. Just as droughts slow or stop food production, so does war. In nations ravaged by civil war, opposing sides confiscate and burn crops, and farmers flee to the cities (Bariyo 2017; Mednick 2018). The New Malthusians counter with the argument that the world’s population is still growing and that we don’t know how long Earth will continue to produce enough food. They add that the recent policy of turning food (such as corn and sugar cane) into biofuels (such as gasoline and diesel) poses a threat to the world’s food supply. A bushel of corn that goes into someone’s gas tank is a bushel of corn that does not go on people’s dinner plates. Both the New Malthusians and the Anti-Malthusians have contributed significant ideas, but theories will not eliminate famines. Starving children are going to continue to peer out at us from our televisions and magazines, their tiny, shriveled bodies and bloated stomachs nagging at our consciences, imploring us to do something. Regardless of the underlying causes of this human misery, the solution is twofold: first, to transfer food from nations that have a surplus to those that have a shortage, and second, to teach more efficient farming techniques. The pictures of starving Africans leave the impression that Africa is overpopulated. Why else would all those people be starving? The truth, however, is far different. There are 37 people per square kilometer in Africa, only slightly more than the 33 people per square kilometer in the United States. At 136 people per square kilometer, Asia’s population is three-and-a-half times as concentrated as Africa’s, and people there are not starving (Kaneda et al. 2019). Africa even has vast areas of fertile land that have not yet been farmed. The reason for famines in Africa, then, cannot be too many people living on too little land. Gallery Famine and Feast

Photos of starving children, such as this child in South Sudan, haunt Americans and other members of the Most Industrialized Nations. Many of us wonder why, when some are starving, we should live in the midst of such abundance, often overeating and even casually scraping excess food into the garbage. As in this photo from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, we even have eating contests to see which “competitive eater” can eat the most food in the least amount of time. Credits: Jenny Matthews/Alamy Stock Photo; Daniel Zuchnik/FilmMagic/Getty Images Watch

Does the World's Top Weed Killer Cause Cancer

14.1.3: Who Is Correct?

As you can see, both the New Malthusians and the Anti-Malthusians have looked at historical trends and projected them onto the future. The New Malthusians project continued world growth and are alarmed. The Anti-Malthusians project Stage 3 of the demographic transition onto the Least Industrialized Nations and are reassured. There is no question that the Least Industrialized Nations are in Stage 2 of the demographic transition. The question is, Will these nations enter Stage 3? After World War II, the West exported its hybrid seeds, herbicides, and techniques of public hygiene around the globe. Death rates plummeted in the Least Industrialized Nations as their food supply increased and health improved. Because their birth rates stayed high, their populations exploded. This alarmed demographers, just as it had Malthus 200 years earlier. Some predicted worldwide catastrophe if something were not done immediately to halt the population explosion. We can use the conflict perspective to understand what happened when this message reached the leaders of the industrialized world. They saw the exploding populations of the Least Industrialized Nations as a threat to the global balance of power they had so carefully worked out. With swollen populations, the poorer countries might demand a larger share of Earth’s resources. The leaders found the United Nations to be a willing tool, and they used it to spearhead efforts to reduce world population growth. The results have been remarkable. The annual growth of the Industrializing Nations has dropped by close to half (44 percent), from 2.5 percent a year in the 1960s to 1.4 percent today (Kaneda et al. 2019). The New Malthusians and Anti-Malthusians have greeted this news with incompatible interpretations. For the Anti-Malthusians, this slowing of growth is the signal they were waiting for: Stage 3 of the demographic transition has begun. First, the death rates in the Least Industrialized Nations fell; now, just as they predicted, birth rates are also falling. Did you notice, they would say if they looked at Figure 14.2, that it took 12 years to add the fifth billion to the world’s population—and also 12 years to add the sixth billion—and also 12 years to add the seventh billion? Despite millions upon millions of more women of childbearing age, population growth has leveled off. The New Malthusians reply that the growth is slower than it was, but a slower growth rate still spells catastrophe; it will just take longer for it to hit. 457 Then the Anti-Malthusians drop a bombshell, making the New Malthusians moan in disbelief. They say that our future will be the opposite of what the New Malthusians worry about: There are going to be too few children in the world, not too many. The world’s problem will not be a population explosion, but population shrinkage—populations getting smaller. Europe points to the future. If it weren’t for immigration from Africa, all the countries of Europe would fill more coffins than cradles (Kaneda et al. 2019). Population shrinkage has also reached Asia, with Japan’s population dropping by about 400,000 people a year (Kaneda et al. 2019). With their need for future workers and their dislike of immigrants, to say that Japan’s politicians are worried would be an understatement. Some Anti-Malthusians even predict a demographic free fall. As more nations enter Stage 4 of the demographic transition, the world’s population will peak and then begin to grow smaller. Two hundred years from now, they say, we will have a lot fewer people on Earth. Who is right? It simply is too early to tell. Like the proverbial pessimists who see the glass of water half-empty, the New Malthusians interpret changes in world population growth negatively. And like the eternal optimists who see the same glass half-full, the Anti-Malthusians view the figures positively. Sometime during our lifetimes, we should know the answer.

14.1.2: The Anti-Malthusians

All of this seems obvious, and no one wants to live shoulder-to-shoulder and fight for scraps. How, then, can anyone argue with the New Malthusians? To find out, let’s turn to a much more optimistic group of demographers, whom we can call the Anti-Malthusians. For them, the future is painted in much brighter colors. They believe that Europe’s demographic transition provides a more accurate picture of the future. This transition is diagrammed in Figure 14.3. During most of its history, Europe was in Stage 1. Europe’s population remained about the same from year to year, because its high death rates offset its high birth rates. Then came Stage 2, the “population explosion” that so upset Malthus. Europe’s population surged because birth rates remained high while death rates went down. Finally, Europe made the transition to Stage 3: The population stabilized as people brought their birth rates into line with their lower death rates. Figure 14.3 The Demographic Transition

Hearing from the Author: The Demographic Transition Listen to the Audio This, say the Anti-Malthusians, will also happen in the Least Industrialized Nations. Their current surge in population growth simply indicates that they have reached Stage 2 of the demographic transition. Hybrid seeds, medicine from the Most Industrialized Nations, and purer public drinking water have cut their death rates, while their birth rates have remained high. When they move into Stage 3, as surely they will, we will wonder what all the fuss was about. In fact, their growth is already slowing.

Large families on U.S. farms used to be common. Children helped plant and harvest crops, take care of animals, and prepare food. As the country industrialized and urbanized, children became nonproducers, making them expensive to have around. Consequently, the size of families shrank as we entered Stage 3 of the demographic transition. This photo was taken in 1887 near Comstock, Nebraska. Credit: Everett Collection/SuperStock

14.1.1: The New Malthusians

Was Malthus right? This question has provoked heated debate among demographers. One group, which can be called the New Malthusians, is convinced that today’s situation is at least as grim as—if not grimmer than—Malthus ever imagined. For example, the world’s population is growing so fast that in just the time it takes you to read this chapter, another 20,000 to 40,000 babies will be born! By this time tomorrow, Earth will have about 230,000 more people to feed. This increase goes on hour after hour, day after day, without letup. For an illustration of this growth, see Figure 14.1.

The New Malthusians point out that the world’s population is following an exponential growth curve. This means that if growth doubles during approximately equal intervals of time, it suddenly accelerates. To illustrate the far-reaching implications of exponential growth, sociologist William Faunce (1981) retold an old parable about a poor man who saved a rich man’s life. The rich man was grateful and said that he wanted to reward the man for his heroic deed. The man replied that he would like his reward to be spread out over a four-week period, with each day’s amount being twice what he received on the preceding day. He also said he would be happy to receive only one penny on the first day. The rich man immediately handed over the penny and congratulated himself on how cheaply he had gotten by. 454 At the end of the first week, the rich man checked to see how much he owed and was pleased to find that the total was only $1.27. By the end of the second week he owed only $163.83. On the twenty-first day, however, the rich man was surprised to find that the total had grown to $20,971.51. When the twenty-eighth day arrived the rich man was shocked to discover that he owed $1,342,177.28 for that day alone and that the total reward had jumped to $2,684,354.56! This is precisely what alarms the New Malthusians. They claim that humanity has entered the “fourth week” of an exponential growth curve. To see why they think the day of reckoning is just around the corner, look at Figure 14.2. It took from the beginning of time until 1800 for the world’s population to reach its first billion. To add the second billion, it took only 130 years (1930). Just 30 years later (1960), the world population hit 3 billion. The time it took to reach the fourth billion was cut in half, to only 15 years (1975). Then just 12 years later (in 1987) the total reached 5 billion, in another 12 years it hit 6 billion (in 1999), and in yet another 12 years it hit 7 billion (in 2011). World population will reach 8 billion about the year 2024. Hearing from the Author: World Population Growth

14 Population and urbanization

Learning Objectives After you have read this chapter, you should be able to:

14.1Contrast the views of the New Malthusians and Anti-Malthusians on population growth and the food supply; explain why people are starving.

14.3Explain how cities developed, and summarize urbanization from city to megaregion.

14.4Be familiar with the patterns of urbanization that characterize the United States.

14.5Compare the models of urban growth.

14.6Discuss alienation and community, types of people who live in the city, the norm of noninvolvement, and the diffusion of responsibility.

14.7Explain the effects of suburbanization, disinvestment and deindustrialization, and the potential of urban revitalization.

The image still haunts me. There stood Celia, age 30, her distended stomach visible proof that her thirteenth child was on its way. Her oldest was only 14 years old! A mere boy by our standards, he had already gone as far in school as he ever would. Each morning, he joined the men to work in the fields. Each evening around twilight, I saw him return home, exhausted from hard labor in the subtropical sun. I was living in Colima, Mexico, and Celia and her husband Angel had invited me for dinner. Their home clearly reflected the family’s poverty. A thatched hut consisting of only a single room served as home for all fourteen members of the family. At night, the parents and younger children crowded into a double bed, while the eldest boy slept in a hammock. As in many homes in the village, the other children slept on mats spread on the dirt floor—despite the crawling scorpions. The home was meagerly furnished. It had only a gas stove, a table, and a cabinet where Celia stored her few cooking utensils and clay dishes. There were no closets; clothes hung on pegs in the walls. There also were no chairs, not even one. I was used to the poverty in the village, but this really startled me. The family was too poor to afford even a single chair. Celia beamed as she told me how much she looked forward to the birth of her next child. Could she really mean it? It was hard to imagine that any woman would want to be in her situation. 453 Yet Celia meant every word. She was as full of delighted anticipation as she had been with her first child—and with all the others in between. How could Celia have wanted so many children—especially when she lived in such poverty? This question bothered me. I couldn’t let it go until I understood why. This chapter helps to provide an answer. Hearing from Students Population and Urbanization

14.1: A Planet with No Space for Enjoying Life?

Population in Global Perspective Celia’s story takes us to the heart of demography, the study of the size, composition, growth (or shrinkage), and distribution of human populations. It brings us face to face with the question of whether we are doomed to live in a world so filled with people that there will be little space for anybody. Will our planet be able to support its growing population? Or are chronic famine and mass starvation the sorry fate of most earthlings? Let’s look at how concern about population growth began. A Planet with No Space for Enjoying Life? 14.1 Contrast the views of the New Malthusians and Anti-Malthusians on population growth and the food supply; explain why people are starving. The story begins with the lowly potato. When the Spanish conquistadores found that people in the Andes Mountains ate this tuber that was unknown in Europe, they brought some home with them. At first, Europeans viewed the potato with suspicion, but gradually it became the main food of the lower classes. With a greater abundance of food, fertility increased, and the death rate dropped. Europe’s population soared, almost doubling during the 1700s (McKeown 1977; McNeill 1999). This surging growth alarmed Thomas Malthus (1766–1834), an English economist, who saw it as a sign of doom. In 1798, he wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798/1926). In this book, which became world famous, Malthus proposed what became known as the Malthus theorem. He argued that although population grows geometrically (from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 and so forth), the food supply increases only arithmetically (from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and so on). This meant, he claimed, that if births go unchecked, the population will outstrip its food supply.

SOURCE: Roser, Max, Hannah Ritchie, and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. “World Population Growth,” 2019. ourworldindata.org. The horizontal axis represents “Thousands” ranging from 0 to 450 in increments of 50. The data presented in the graph for a single day is as follows: Add (Births): 403,000 Minus (Deaths): 157,000 Equals (Population increase): 246,000 The cumulative increase is as follows: Each second: 2.85 Each minute: 171 Each hour: 10,250 Each day: 246,000 Each week: 1,722,000 Each month: 7,482,000 Each year: 89,790,000 The New Malthusians point out that the world’s population is following an exponential growth curve. This means that if growth doubles during approximately equal intervals of time, it suddenly accelerates. To illustrate the far-reaching implications of exponential growth, sociologist William Faunce (1981) retold an old parable about a poor man who saved a rich man’s life. The rich man was grateful and said that he wanted to reward the man for his heroic deed. The man replied that he would like his reward to be spread out over a four-week period, with each day’s amount being twice what he received on the preceding day. He also said he would be happy to receive only one penny on the first day. The rich man immediately handed over the penny and congratulated himself on how cheaply he had gotten by. 454 At the end of the first week, the rich man checked to see how much he owed and was pleased to find that the total was only $1.27. By the end of the second week he owed only $163.83. On the twenty-first day, however, the rich man was surprised to find that the total had grown to $20,971.51. When the twenty-eighth day arrived the rich man was shocked to discover that he owed $1,342,177.28 for that day alone and that the total reward had jumped to $2,684,354.56! This is precisely what alarms the New Malthusians. They claim that humanity has entered the “fourth week” of an exponential growth curve. To see why they think the day of reckoning is just around the corner, look at Figure 14.2. It took from the beginning of time until 1800 for the world’s population to reach its first billion. To add the second billion, it took only 130 years (1930). Just 30 years later (1960), the world population hit 3 billion. The time it took to reach the fourth billion was cut in half, to only 15 years (1975). Then just 12 years later (in 1987) the total reached 5 billion, in another 12 years it hit 6 billion (in 1999), and in yet another 12 years it hit 7 billion (in 2011). World population will reach 8 billion about the year 2024. Hearing from the Author: World Population Growth Listen to the Audio Figure 14.2 World Population Growth SOURCES: Modified from McFalls 2007; Roser 2019. The vertical axis represents “Billions of people” ranging from 0 to 18 in increments of 1, while the horizontal axis represents “Year” ranging from 200 to 2200 in increments of 200, with origin labelled as “The birth of Christ.” The curve remains nearly constant at 0 between origin and 400. The population remains between 0 to 1 billion till 1800. Further, the increase and projected increase are shown as follows: 1930: 2 1960: 3 1975: 4 1987: 5 1999: 6 2011: 7 2024: 8 2050: 9.5 2100: 13 2150: 16 2200: 18 455 The world’s population growth is astounding. Consider this: At each sunset, the world has 230,000 more people than it did the day before. Each year, the world’s population increases by about 84 million people. During the next 4 years, the world will add more people than there are in the entire United States. In the next dozen years, the world will add as many people as it did during the entire time from when the first humans began to walk the earth until the year 1800. These totals terrify the New Malthusians. They are convinced that we are headed toward a showdown between population and food. It is obvious that we will run out of food if we don’t curtail population growth. Soon our television screens will be filled with images of pitiful, starving children.

13.14 Education and religion summary and review

13: Education and Religion

Summary and Review Education in Global Perspective

13.1 Understand how education is related to the culture and economy of a nation, and compare education in Japan, Russia, and Egypt.

What is a credential society, and how did it develop?

A credential society is one in which employers use diplomas and degrees to determine who is eligible for a job. One reason that credentialism developed is that large, anonymous societies lack the personal knowledge common to smaller groups. Educational certification is taken as evidence of a person’s ability.

How does education compare among the Most Industrialized, Industrializing, and Least Industrialized Nations?

Formal education reflects a nation’s economy and culture. Education is extensive in the Most Industrialized Nations, undergoing vast change in the Industrializing Nations, and spotty in the Least Industrialized Nations. Japan, Russia, and Egypt provide examples of education in countries at three levels of industrialization. The Functionalist Perspective: Providing Social Benefits

13.2 Apply the functional perspective by explaining the functions of education.

What is the functionalist perspective on education?

Among the functions of education are the teaching of knowledge and skills, providing credentials, cultural transmission of values, social integration, gatekeeping, and mainstreaming. Functionalists also note that education has replaced some traditional family functions. The Conflict Perspective: Perpetuating Social Inequality

13.3 Apply the conflict perspective by explaining how the educational system reproduces the social class structure.

What is the conflict perspective on education? The basic view of conflict theorists is that education reproduces the social class structure. Through unequal funding and operating different schools for the elite and for the masses, education perpetuates a society’s basic social inequalities from one generation to the next. The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective: Teacher Expectations 13.4 Apply the symbolic interactionist perspective by explaining the significance of teacher expectations. What is the symbolic interactionist perspective on education? Symbolic interactionists focus on face-to-face interaction. In examining what occurs in the classroom, they have found that student performance tends to conform to teacher expectations, whether they are high or low. Self-expectations also significantly influence student performance. Problems in U.S. Education—and Their Solutions 13.5 Discuss mediocrity in education, grade inflation, social promotion, rising standards, cheating by school officials, and violence in schools. What are the chief problems that face U.S. education? The major problems are mediocrity (low achievement as shown by standardized tests and SAT scores), grade inflation, social promotion, functional illiteracy, cheating by school officials, and violence. What are the potential solutions to these problems? To restore high educational standards, we must expect more of both students and teachers. School administrators can be required to use a single reporting measure based on objective, verifiable data. For an effective learning environment, we must provide basic security for students and teachers. Religion: Establishing Meaning 13.6 Explain what Durkheim meant by sacred and profane and discuss the three elements of religion. What is religion? Durkheim identified three essential characteristics of religion: beliefs that set the sacred apart from the profane, rituals, and a moral community (a church). The Functionalist Perspective 13.7 Apply the functionalist perspective to religion: functions and dysfunctions. What are the functions and dysfunctions of religion? Among the functions of religion are answering questions about ultimate meaning; providing emotional comfort, social solidarity, guidelines for everyday life, social control, and social change. Among the dysfunctions of religion are religious persecution and war and terrorism. 450 The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective 13.8 Apply the symbolic interactionist perspective to religion: symbols, rituals, beliefs, and religious experience. What aspects of religion do symbolic interactionists study? Symbolic interactionists focus on the meanings of religion for its followers. They examine religious symbols, rituals, beliefs, and religious experiences. The Conflict Perspective 13.9 Apply the conflict perspective to religion: opium of the people and legitimating social inequalities. What aspects of religion do conflict theorists study? Conflict theorists examine the relationship of religion to social inequalities, especially how religion reinforces a society’s stratification system. Religion and the Spirit of Capitalism 13.10 Explain Weber’s analysis of how religion broke tradition and brought capitalism. What does the spirit of capitalism have to do with religion? Max Weber saw religion as a primary source of social change. He analyzed how Calvinism gave rise to the Protestant ethic, stimulating what he called the spirit of capitalism. The result was capitalism, which transformed society. Types of Religious Groups 13.11 Compare cult, sect, church, and ecclesia. What types of religious groups are there? Sociologists divide religious groups into cults, sects, churches, and ecclesias. All religions began as cults. Those that survive tend to develop into sects and eventually into churches. Sects, often led by charismatic leaders, are unstable. Some are perceived as threats and are persecuted by the state. Ecclesias, or state religions, are rare. Religion in the United States 13.12 Summarize the main features of religion in the United States. What are the main characteristics of religion in the United States? Membership varies by social class and race–ethnicity. Major characteristics are diversity, pluralism and freedom, tolerance, and the electronic church. The Future of Religion 13.13 Discuss the likely future of religion. What can we anticipate in the future? Because science cannot answer questions about ultimate meaning, the existence of God or an afterlife, or provide guidelines for morality, the need for religion will remain. In any foreseeable future, religion will prosper. The Internet is likely to have far-reaching consequences on religion. Key Terms View Flashcards Key Terms View Flashcards Thinking Critically about Chapter 13 How does education in the United States compare with education in Japan, Russia, and Egypt? How have your experiences in education (including teachers and assignments) influenced your goals, attitudes, and values? Be specific. Why do the functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict perspectives produce such different pictures of religion? Why is religion likely to remain a strong feature of U.S. life—and remain strong in people’s lives around the globe?

13.13 Discuss the likely future of religion.

The Future of Religion

13.13 Discuss the likely future of religion.

Religion thrives in the most advanced scientific nations—and, as officials of Soviet Russia and communist China were disheartened to learn—even in ideologically hostile climates. Although the Soviet and Chinese authorities threw believers into prison, people continued to practice their religion. Humans are inquiring creatures. As they reflect on life, they ask, What is the purpose of it all? Why are we born? Is there an afterlife? If so, where are we going? Out of these concerns arises this question: If there is a God, what does God want of us in this life? Does God have a preference about how we should live? Science, including sociology, cannot answer such questions. By its very nature, science cannot tell us about four main concerns that many people have: Science and Religion 1. The existence of God About this, science has nothing to say. No test tube has either isolated God or refuted God’s existence. 2. The purpose of life Although science can provide a definition of life and describe the characteristics of living organisms, it has nothing to say about ultimate purpose. 3. An afterlife Science can offer no information on this at all, since it has no tests to prove or disprove a “hereafter.” 4. Morality Science can demonstrate the consequences of behavior, but not the moral superiority of one action compared with another. This means—to use an extreme example—that science cannot even prove whether loving your family and neighbor is morally superior to hurting and killing them. There is no doubt that religion will last as long as humanity lasts—what could replace it? And if something did, and answered such questions, would it not be religion under a different name? A basic principle of symbolic interactionism is that meaning is not inherent in an object or event but is determined by people as they interpret the object or event. Does this dinosaur fossil “prove” evolution? Does it “disprove” creation? Such “proof” and “disproof” lie in the eye of the beholder, based on the background assumptions by which it is interpreted. Credit: Stephen Wilkes/The Image Bank/Getty Images In Sociology and Technology: The Shifting Landscape, which closes this chapter, let’s try to glimpse the cutting edge of religious change. 448 Sociology and Technology: The Shifting Landscape Changing Religious Practices in the Digital Age Some say the microchip will bring about a religious reformation as big as the one set off by Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. This is likely an exaggeration, but perhaps not. As you look at how religious practices are adapting to technology, you might be glimpsing the future of religion. Apps Roman Catholics in Europe use Confesor Go to locate priests to hear confessions and WhatsApp to discuss moral dilemmas with priests (“Church Goes Digital” 2016). An app for Jews shows a replica of the frond of a palm tree—with instructions how to swing it during Sukkot (“Study Finds…” 2014). Tweets The Pope tweets little messages in 145 characters or less. The Pope doesn’t actually write the tweets, but he “is involved” in what they say (Moloney 2012). YouTube Teenaged Buddhist monks post videos of themselves on YouTube playing air guitar and reciting religious chants to hip-hop beats. This upsets older Buddhists who feel that the young monks are being disrespectful (Hookway 2012). Prayers at holy sites Want to pray at the Holy Land, but you can’t leave home? No problem. Type your prayer, and we will download and insert it in the Western Wall. Or buy our telephone card—available at your local 7-11. Record your prayer, and we’ll broadcast it via the Internet at the site you choose. Press 1 for the holy site of Jerusalem. Press 2 for the holy site of the Sea of Galilee. Press 3 for the birthplace of Jesus. Press 4 for…. (Rhoads 2007) Stay where you are but pray back home You moved to Kansas, but you want to pray in Chennai? No problem. Order your pujas (prayers), and a priest will say them in the temple of your choice. Just click how many you want. Food offerings for Vishnu included in the price. All major credit cards accepted (Sullivan 2007). Texting during sermons One rabbi has congregants text anonymous messages regarding their reactions to what is being discussed. The cell phone messages are projected onto a screen in front of the congregation (Alvarez 2012). Chaplains at the keyboard Christian and Jewish chaplains counsel hospital patients via e-mail, giving them spiritual support regarding the meaning of their illness (Beck 2015). Virtual church services Muslims download sermons and join an invisible community of worshippers at virtual mosques. Christians can choose an avatar, sing, kneel, pray, and listen to virtual sermons. If they get bored, they can walk around the virtual church and talk to other avatars (Feder 2004). And, of course, they can use their credit card—a real one, not the virtual kind. Ancient temple and ancient customs, but this monk is connected to the Internet as he goes through Buddhist rituals. Credit: Spaces Images/Mint Images Limited /Alamy Stock Photo For Your Consideration → Do you think online religion can replace the warm embrace of fellow believers? Will tweets bring comfort to someone who is grieving for a loved one?

13.12.2: Characteristics of Religious Groups

Let’s turn to major characteristics of the religious groups in the United States. Diversity Two of three Americans (63 percent) are members of a church, synagogue, or mosque, but with hundreds of denominations, no religious group comes even close to being a dominant religion in the United States (Statistical Abstract 2019:Tables 79, 80). Table 13.2 illustrates some of this remarkable diversity. Table 13.2 How Americans Age 18 and Older Identify with Religion

Table 13.2 How Americans Age 18 and Older Identify with Religion NOTE: These data are based on a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 35,000 adult Americans. The population base of adults on which I computed the numbers of members is 246,745,000. Because of rounding the totals do not equal 100. SOURCES: Totals computed by the author based on America’s Changing Religious Landscape. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center, May 12, 2015.; Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019. Published annually. Table: 10. Pluralism and Freedom It is the U.S. government’s policy not to interfere with religions. The government’s position is that its obligation is to ensure an environment in which people can worship as they see fit. Religious freedom is so extensive that anyone can start a church and proclaim himself or herself a minister, revelator, or any other desired term. The exceptions to this hands-off policy are startling. The most notorious exception in recent times was the attack by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms on the Branch Davidians, an obscure religious group in Waco, Texas. The eighty-two victims remain a dark blot on the history of the United States. A second example is the government’s infiltration of mosques to monitor the activities of Arab immigrants (Awaad et al. 2019). This stopped in 2015. Other limitations to this policy were discussed in the preceding Cultural Diversity in the United States. 447 Toleration The general religious toleration of Americans can be illustrated by three prevailing attitudes: (1) “All religions have a right to exist—as long as they don’t try to brainwash or hurt anyone.” (2) “With all the religions to choose from, how can anyone tell which one—if any—is true?” (3) “Each of us may be convinced about the truth of our religion—and that is good—but don’t be obnoxious by trying to convince others that you have the exclusive truth.” Like other aspects of culture, religion is filled with background assumptions that usually go unquestioned. In this photo, which I took in Amsterdam, what background assumption of religion is this woman violating? Credit: James M. Henslin The Electronic Church What began as a ministry to shut-ins and those who do not belong to a church blossomed into its own type of church. Its preachers, called “televangelists,” reach millions of viewers and raise millions of dollars. The most popular televangelist is Joel Osteen, the senior pastor of a church in Houston attended by 52,000 people each week. Another 7 million people view Osteen’s weekly televised sermons. Other televangelists are Paula White, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, and Pat Robertson. Many local ministers view the electronic church as a competitor. They complain that it competes for the attention and dollars of their members. Leaders of the electronic church reply that the money goes to good causes and that through its conversions, the electronic church feeds members into the local churches, strengthening, not weakening them.

13.12.1: Characteristics of Members

About 63 percent of Americans belong to a church, synagogue, or mosque.

What are the characteristics of people who hold formal membership in a religion?

Social Class Religion in the United States is stratified by social class. As you can see from Figure 13.5, some religious groups are “top-heavy” and others are “bottom-heavy.” The most top-heavy are Jews and Episcopalians; the most bottom-heavy are Assembly of God, Southern Baptists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. This figure provides further confirmation that churchlike groups tend to appeal to people who have more “worldly” success, while the more sect-like groups attract people who have less “worldly” success. Figure 13.5 Social Class and Religious Affiliation

From this figure, you can see how status consistency (a concept we reviewed in Chapter 8) applies to religious groups. If a group ranks high (or low) on education, it is also likely to rank high (or low) on income and occupational prestige. Jews, for example, rank the highest on education, income, and occupational prestige, while Jehovah’s Witnesses rank the lowest on these three measures of social class. As you can see, the Mormons are status inconsistent. They rank second in income, fourth in education, and tie for sixth in occupational prestige. Even more status inconsistent is the Assembly of God. Their members tie for third in occupational prestige but rank only eighth in income and ninth in education. This inconsistency is so jarring that there could be a problem with the sample. Race–Ethnicity Many religions are associated with race–ethnicity: Islam with Arabs, Judaism with Jews, Hinduism with Indians, and Confucianism with Chinese. In the United States, all major religious groups draw from the nation’s many racial–ethnic groups. Like social class, however, race–ethnicity tends to cluster. People of Irish descent are likely to be Roman Catholics; those with Greek ancestors are likely to belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. African Americans are likely to be Protestants—more specifically, Baptists—or to belong to fundamentalist sects. Although many churches are integrated, it is with good reason that Sunday morning between 10 and 11 a.m. has been called “the most segregated hour in the United States.” African Americans tend to belong to African American churches, while most whites see only whites in their churches. The segregation of churches is based on custom, not on law.

picture Link : https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2008/08/09/jews-find-common-ground-latino-pentecostals/13371731007/

13.12 Summarize the main features of religion in the United States.

Religion in the United States

13.12 Summarize the main features of religion in the United States.

To better understand religion in the United States, let’s look at some of its major features. Watch Is America a Christian Nation and Why Does It Matter? Play WatchIs America a Christian Nation and Why Does It Matter?

13.11.4: Ecclesia

Finally, some religions become so well integrated into a culture and allied so strongly with their government that it is difficult to tell where one leaves off and the other takes over. In these state religions, also called ecclesia, the government and religion work together to try to shape society. Since citizenship makes everyone a member, there is no recruitment of members. For most people in the society, the religion is part of a cultural identity, not an eye-opening experience. Sweden provides a good example of how extensively religion and government intertwine in an ecclesia. In the 1860s, all citizens had to memorize Luther’s Small Catechism and be tested on it annually (Anderson 1995). Today, Lutheranism is still associated with the state, but most Swedes come to church only for baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Unlike cults and sects, which perceive God as personally involved with and concerned about people, ecclesia envision God as more impersonal and remote. Reflecting this view of the supernatural, church services tend to be highly formal, directed by ministers or priests who, after undergoing training in approved schools or seminaries, follow prescribed rituals.

13.11.3: Church

At this point, the religious group is highly bureaucratized—probably with national and international headquarters that give direction to the local congregations, enforce rules about who can be ordained, and control finances. The relationship with God has grown less intense. The group is likely to place less emphasis on personal salvation and emotional expression. Worship services are likely to be more sedate, with formal sermons and written prayers read before the congregation. Rather than being recruited from the outside by personal evangelism, most new members now come from within, from children born to existing members. Rather than joining through conversion—seeing the new truth—children may be baptized, circumcised, or dedicated in some other way. At some designated age, children may be asked to affirm the group’s beliefs in a ceremony, such as a confirmation or bar mitzvah.

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13.11.2: Sect

A sect is larger than a cult, but its members still feel tension between their views and the prevailing beliefs and values of the broader society. A sect may even be hostile to the society in which it is located. At the very least, its members remain uncomfortable with many of the emphases of the dominant culture; in turn, nonmembers tend to be uncomfortable with members of the sect. If a sect grows, its members tend to gradually make peace with the rest of society. To appeal to a broader base, the sect shifts some of its doctrines, redefining matters to remove some of the rough edges that create tension between it and the rest of society. As the members become more respectable in the eyes of the society, they feel less hostility and little, if any, isolation. If a sect follows this course, as it grows and becomes more integrated into society, it changes into a church.

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Sect and Gender

https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/sects-and-gender/

13.11.1: Cult The word cult conjures up bizarre images.

Shaven heads, weird music, brainwashing—even ritual suicide—may come to mind. Cults, however, are not necessarily weird, and few practice “brainwashing” or bizarre rituals. In fact, all religions began as cults (Stark 1989). A cult is simply a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion. Because the term cult arouses negative associations in the public mind, however, some scholars prefer to use the term new religion instead. As is evident from the following Cultural Diversity in the United States, “new” can mean that an old religion is making its appearance in a culture that is not familiar and is uncomfortable with it.

Cultural Diversity in the United States Human Heads and Animal Blood: Testing the Limits of Tolerance

As the U.S. customs officials looked over the line of people who had just gotten off the plane from Haiti, there was nothing to make this particular woman stand out. She would have passed through without a problem, except for one thing: A routine search turned up something that struck the custom agents as somewhat unusual—a human head. The head had teeth, hair, pieces of skin, and some dirt. It had evidently been dug up from some grave, probably in Haiti. The 30-year-old woman, who lives in Florida, practiced voodoo. The head was for her religious rituals. The woman was arrested. Her crime? Not filing a report that she was carrying “organic material” (“Mujer con Cabeza …” 2006). * * * * * The Santeros from Cuba who live in Florida sacrifice animals. They meet in apartments, where, following a Yoruba religion, they kill goats and chickens. Calling on their gods, they first ask permission to sacrifice the animals. After sacrificing them, they pour out the animals’ blood, which opens and closes the doors of their destiny. They also cut off the animals’ heads and place them at locations in the city that represent the four directions of the compass. This is done to terrorize their enemies and give them safety. The heads also protect the city from hurricanes and other destructive forces. When city officials in Hialeah, Florida, learned that the Santeros were planning to build a church in their city, they passed a law against the sacrifice of animals within the city limits. The Santeros appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming discrimination because the law was directed against them. The Court ruled in their favor. City officials of Euless, Texas, were shocked when they learned that Jose Merced was sacrificing goats in his home. They sent in the police (Rassbach 2009). Merced appealed to the federal circuit court, saying that the officials were violating his rights as a Santeria priest. He can now sacrifice goats at home. A Santeria priestess touches a sacrificed goat's head with the tip of her tongue during a ceremony in Cuba. Credit: Ramon Espinosa/AP Images For Your Consideration → If the Santeros can sacrifice animals, why shouldn’t people who practice voodoo be able to use human heads in their rituals if they want to? (Assume that the relatives of the dead person have given their permission.) Watch Portrait of a Santeria Priest Play Watch

Portrait of a Santeria Priest -Cults often originate with a charismatic leader, an individual who inspires people because he or she seems to have extraordinary gifts, qualities, or abilities. Charisma refers to an outstanding gift or to some exceptional quality. People feel drawn to both the person and the message because they find something highly appealing about the individual—in some instances, almost a magnetic charm. The most popular religion in the world began as a cult. Its handful of followers believed that an unschooled carpenter who preached in remote villages in a backwater country was the Son of God and that he was killed and came back to life. Those beliefs made the early Christians a cult, setting them apart from the rest of their society. Persecuted by both religious and political authorities, these early believers clung to one another for support. Many cut off associations with friends who didn’t accept the new message. To others, the early Christians must have seemed deluded and brainwashed. So it was with Islam. When Muhammad revealed his visions and said that God’s name was really Allah, only a few people believed him. To others, he must have seemed crazy, deranged. Each cult (or new religion) is met with rejection on the part of society. Its message is considered bizarre, its approach to life strange. Its members antagonize the majority, who are convinced that they have a monopoly on the truth. The new religion may claim messages from God, visions, visits from angels—some form of enlightenment or seeing the true way to God. The cult demands intense commitment, and its followers, who are confronting a hostile world, pull together in a tight circle, separating themselves from nonbelievers. Most cults fail. Not many people believe the new message, and the cult fades into obscurity. Some, however, succeed and make history. Over time, large numbers of people may come to accept the message and become followers of the religion. If this happens, the new religion changes from a cult to a sect.

13.11 Types of Religious Groups

Types of Religious Groups 13.11

Compare cult, sect, church, and ecclesia.

Sociologists have identified four types of religious groups: cult, sect, church, and ecclesia.

Why do some of these groups meet with hostility, while others tend to be accepted?

For an explanation, look at Figure 13.4. Figure 13.4 Religious Groups: From Hostility to Acceptance NOTE: Any religious organization can be placed somewhere on this continuum, based on its having “more” or “less” of these characteristics. SOURCE: Based on Troeltsch, Ernst. The Social Teachings of the Christian Churches. New York: Macmillan, 1931; Based on Pope, Liston. Millhands and Preachers: A Study of Gastonia. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1942; Based on Johnson, Benton. “On Church and Sect.” American Sociological Review, 28, 1963:539–549. The figure divides a box into two and lists the following on each side: The more that a group has these emphases, the less it is accepted: Rejection of society (the culture is a threat to true religion). Hostility from society. Hostility toward other religions. Hostility from other religions. Personal salvation. Emotional expression of religious beliefs. Revelation (God speaks directly to people). God intervenes in people’s lives (such as healing or giving guidance). A duty to spread the message (evangelism). A literal interpretation of scripture. A literal heaven and hell. The more that a group has these characteristics, the more the group is accepted: The organization is large. The organization is wealthy. The members are well to do (”worldly success”). The clergy are required to have years of formal training. The groups that have less acceptance are cults and sects and the groups that have more acceptance are church and ecclesia. Let’s explore what sociologists have found about these four types of religious groups.

13.10 Explain Weber’s analysis of how religion broke tradition and brought capitalism.

Religion and the Spirit of Capitalism

13.10 Explain Weber’s analysis of how religion broke tradition and brought capitalism. Max Weber disagreed with the conflict perspective. Religion, he said, does not merely reflect and legitimate the social order and impede social change. Rather, religion’s focus on the afterlife is a source of profound social change. Like Marx, Weber observed the early industrialization of Europe. As he did so, he began to wonder why some societies embraced capitalism while others held onto their traditional ways. Tradition was strong in all these countries, yet capitalism transformed some while others remained untouched. As Weber explored this puzzle, he concluded that religion held the key to modernization—the transformation of traditional societies to industrial societies. 441 To explain his conclusions, Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904–1905, 2011). He said that: Capitalism represents a fundamentally different way of thinking about work and money. Traditionally, people worked just enough to meet their basic needs, not so that they could have a surplus to invest. To accumulate money (capital) as an end in itself, not just to spend it, was a radical departure from traditional thinking. People even came to consider it a duty to invest money so they could make profits. They reinvested these profits to make even more profits. Weber called this new approach to work and money the spirit of capitalism. Why did the spirit of capitalism develop in Europe and not, for example, in China or India, where people had similar material resources and education? According to Weber, religion was the key. The religions of China and India, and indeed Roman Catholicism in Europe, encouraged a traditional approach to life, not thrift and investment. Capitalism appeared when Protestantism came on the scene. What was different about Protestantism, especially Calvinism? John Calvin taught that God had predestined some people to go to heaven and others to hell. Neither church membership nor feelings about your relationship with God could assure you that you were saved. You wouldn’t know your fate until after you died. “Am I predestined to hell or to heaven?” Calvin’s followers wondered. As they wrestled with this question, they concluded that church members have a duty to live as though they are predestined to heaven—for good works are a demonstration of salvation. This conclusion motivated Calvinists to lead moral lives and to work hard, to use their time productively, and to be frugal—because idleness and needless spending were signs of worldliness. Weber called this self-denying approach to life the Protestant ethic. As people worked hard and spent money only on necessities (a pair of earrings or a second pair of dress shoes would have been defined as sinful luxuries), they had money left over. Because the money couldn’t be spent on personal items, this capital was invested, which led to a surge in production. Weber’s analysis can be summed up this way: The change in religion (from Catholicism to Protestantism, especially Calvinism) led to a fundamental change in thought and behavior (the Protestant ethic). The result was the spirit of capitalism. For this reason, capitalism originated in Europe and not in places where religion did not encourage capitalism’s essential elements: the accumulation of capital and its investment and reinvestment. Although Weber’s analysis has been influential, it has not lacked critics. Hundreds of scholars have attacked it, some for overlooking the lack of capitalism in Scotland (a Calvinist country), others for failing to explain why the Industrial Revolution was born in England (not a Calvinist country). Hundreds of other scholars have defended Weber’s argument, and sociologists continue to test Weber’s theory (Tittenbrun 2017). Currently, sociologists are not in agreement on this matter. At this point in history, the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism are not confined to any specific religion or even to any one part of the world. Rather, they have become cultural traits that have spread to societies around the globe (Greeley 1964; Yinger 1970). U.S. Catholics have about the same approach to life as do U.S. Protestants. In addition, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—not exactly Protestant countries—have embraced capitalism. Russia and Vietnam are in the midst of doing so.

external source :

How is Weber's analysis of religion different from that of Marx? Marx believed that capitalists use religion to justify their mode of production and accumulation of wealth at the expense of workers. Weber, on the other hand, perceived religion as a means of achieving social change.Aug 6, 2021

13.9.2: Legitimating Social Inequalities

Conflict theorists stress that religion legitimates social inequalities. By this, they mean that religion teaches that the existing social arrangements represent what God desires. For example, during the Middle Ages, Christian theologians decreed the divine right of kings. This doctrine meant that God determined who would become king and set him on the throne. The king ruled in God’s place, and it was the duty of a king’s subjects to be loyal to him (and to pay their taxes). To disobey the king was to disobey God. In what was perhaps the supreme technique of legitimating the social order (one that went even farther than the divine right of kings), the religion of ancient Egypt held that the pharaoh was a god. The emperor of Japan was similarly declared divine. If this were so, who could ever question his decisions? Today’s politicians would give their right arms for such a religious teaching. Conflict theorists point to many other examples of how religion legitimates the social order. In India, Hinduism supports the caste system by teaching that anyone who tries to change caste will come back in the next life as a member of a lower caste—or even as an animal. In the decades before the U.S. Civil War, southern ministers used scripture to defend slavery, saying that it was God’s will—while northern ministers legitimated their region’s social structure by using scripture to denounce slavery as evil (Ernst 1988; White 1995; Riley 2012).

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Miami School chapter 14 religion-K12

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Religion reinforces and promotes social inequality and social conflict. It helps convince the poor to accept their lot in life, and it leads to hostility and violence motivated by religious differences. This perspective focuses on the ways in which individuals interpret their religious experiences.

Religious inequalities is a term that refers to the way in which individuals and groups suffer from systemic marginalization, exclusion and, in extreme cases, genocide on account of their religious beliefs and affiliation.Nov 9, 2018

13.9.1: Opium of the People

Karl Marx, an avowed atheist who believed that the existence of God was impossible, set the tone for conflict theorists with this statement: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world…. It is the opium of the people” (Marx 1844/1964). Marx meant that for oppressed workers, religion is like a drug that helps addicts forget their misery. By diverting thoughts toward future happiness in an afterlife, religion takes the workers’ eyes off their suffering in this world, reducing the possibility that they will overthrow their chains by rebelling against their oppressors.

13.9 Apply the conflict perspective to religion: opium of the people and legitimating social inequalities.

The Conflict Perspective

13.9 Apply the conflict perspective to religion: opium of the people and legitimating social inequalities.

In general, conflict theorists are highly critical of religion. They stress that religion supports the status quo and helps to maintain social inequalities. Let’s look at some of their analyses.

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The Sociological Approach to Religion

https://philschatz.com/sociology-book/contents/m52966.html

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fact :

(1)Religious belief can increase our lifespan and help us better cope with disease.

(2)Namely, different religions activate brain regions differently.

(3) The researcher, who literally “wrote the book” on neurotheology, draws from his numerous studies to show that both meditating Buddhists and praying Catholic nuns, for instance, have increased activity in the frontal lobes of the brain.

13.8.4: Rituals

Rituals, ceremonies, or repetitive practices are also symbols that help to unite people into a moral community. Some rituals, such as the bar mitzvah of Jewish boys and the holy communion of Christians, are designed to create in devout believers a feeling of closeness with God and unity with one another. Rituals include kneeling and praying at set times; bowing; crossing oneself; singing; lighting candles and incense; reading scripture; and following prescribed traditions at processions, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. The photo essay on the next two pages features photos I took of annual rituals held in Spain during Holy Week (the week that precedes the Christian holiday of Easter). Hearing from the Author: Holy Week in Spain Through the Author's Lens Holy Week in Spain

13.8.3: Religious Experience

The term religious experience refers to becoming aware of the supernatural or a feeling of coming into contact with God. Some people undergo a mild version, such as feeling closer to God when they look at a mountain, watch a sunset, or listen to a certain piece of music. Others report a life-transforming experience. St. Francis of Assisi, for example, said that he became aware of God’s presence in every living thing. Some Protestants use the term born again to describe people who have undergone a life-transforming religious experience. These people say that they came to the realization that they had sinned, that Jesus had died for their sins, and that God wants them to live a new life. Their worlds become transformed. They look forward to the Resurrection and to a new life in heaven. They see relationships with spouses, parents, children, and even bosses in a new light. They also report a need to change how they interact with people so that their lives reflect their new, personal commitment to Jesus as their “Savior and Lord.” They describe a feeling of beginning life anew—which is why they use the term born again.

13.8.2: Beliefs

Symbols, including rituals, develop from beliefs. The belief may be vague (“God is”) or highly specific (“God wants us to prostrate ourselves and face Mecca five times each day”). Religious beliefs include not only values (what is considered good and desirable in life—how we ought to live) but also a cosmology, a unified picture of the world. For example, the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim belief that there is only one God, the creator of the universe, who is concerned about the actions of humans and who will hold us accountable for what we do, is a cosmology. It presents a unifying picture of the universe.

13.8.1: Religious Symbols

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Suppose that it is about two thousand years ago, and you have just joined a new religion. You have come to believe that a recently crucified Jew named Jesus is the Messiah, the Lamb of God offered for your sins. The Roman leaders are persecuting the followers of Jesus. They hate your religion because you and your fellow believers will not acknowledge Caesar as God. Christians are few in number, and you are eager to have fellowship with other believers. But how can you tell who is a believer? Spies are everywhere. The government has sworn to destroy this new religion, and you do not relish the thought of being fed to lions in the Colosseum. You use a simple technique. While talking with a stranger, as though doodling absentmindedly in the sand or dust, you casually trace the outline of a fish. Only fellow believers know the meaning—that, taken together, the first letter of each word in the Greek sentence “Jesus (is) Christ the Son of God” spell the Greek word for fish. If the other person gives no response, you rub out the outline and continue the interaction as usual. If there is a response, you eagerly talk about your new faith. 437 All religions use symbols to provide identity and create social solidarity for their members. For Muslims, the primary symbol is the crescent moon and star; for Jews, the Star of David; for Christians, the cross. For members, these are not ordinary symbols, but sacred emblems that evoke feelings of awe and reverence. In Durkheim’s terms, religions use symbols to represent what the group considers sacred and to separate the sacred from the profane. A symbol is a condensed way of communicating something. Worn by a fundamentalist Christian, for example, the cross says, “I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I believe that he is the Messiah, the promised Son of God, that he loves me, that he died to take away my sins, that he rose from the dead and is going to return to Earth, and that through him I will receive eternal life.” This is a lot to pack into one symbol—and it is only part of what this symbol means to a fundamentalist believer. To people in other traditions of Christianity, the cross conveys somewhat different meanings—but to all Christians, the cross is a shorthand way of expressing many meanings. So it is with the Star of David, the crescent moon and star, the cow (expressing to Hindus the unity of all living things), and the various symbols of the world’s many other religions. Symbolic interactionists stress that a basic characteristic of humans is that they attach meaning to objects and events and then use representations of those objects or events to communicate with one another. Michelangelo’s Pietà, depicting Mary tenderly holding her son, Jesus, after his crucifixion, is one of the most acclaimed symbols in the Western world. It is admired for its beauty by believers and nonbelievers alike. Credit: Leemage/Corbis Historical/Getty Images

13.8 Apply the symbolic interactionist perspective to religion: symbols, rituals, beliefs, and religious experience.

The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

13.8 Apply the symbolic interactionist perspective to religion: symbols, rituals, beliefs, and religious experience. Symbolic interactionists focus on the meanings that people give their experiences, especially how they use symbols. Let’s apply this perspective to religious symbols, rituals, and beliefs to see how they help to forge a community of like-minded people.

13.7.2: Dysfunctions of Religion

Functionalists also examine ways in which religion is dysfunctional, that is, how religion can bring harmful results. Two dysfunctions are persecution and war and terrorism. Religion as Justification for Persecution, War, and Terrorism Religion is sometimes a motivation for harming people. Beginning in the 1100s and continuing into the 1800s, in what is known as the Inquisition, special commissions of the Roman Catholic Church tortured accused heretics and burned them at the stake. In 1692, Protestant leaders in Salem, Massachusetts, executed twenty-one women and men who were accused of being witches. The Aztec religion also had its dysfunctions—at least for the young virgins who were offered to appease angry gods. History is filled with wars based on religion—commingled with politics. The Israelites wiped out many groups of people as they invaded and conquered their lands. The Muslims also conquered lands, killing those who would not swear allegiance to their God. The Christians conducted nine bloody Crusades between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries in an attempt to wrest control of the region they called the Holy Land from the Muslims. I would like to say that these dysfunctions of religion—persecution, killing, and war—are all in the past, but as you are likely well aware from the unrelenting headlines, they continue today. In India, Hindus beat and lynch Muslims who are caught with beef (Doshi 2016). In Papua New Guinea, accused witches are tortured, doused with gasoline, and set on fire (Chumley 2013). ISIS, an Islamic group in Afghanistan, beheads enemies in the name of their God, while Boko Haram, an Islamic group in Nigeria, straps bombs on unwilling girls and sends them into marketplaces to blow themselves up (Parkinson and Hinshaw 2019).

13.7.1: Functions of Religion

One way to see what the universal human needs are that religion meets is to ask, What are religion’s functions? Here are six functions of religion that sociologists have identified. 435 Meaning and Purpose Around the world, religions provide answers to perplexing questions about ultimate meaning. What is the purpose of life? Why do people suffer? Is there an afterlife? The answers to questions like these give followers a sense of purpose, a framework for living. Instead of seeing themselves buffeted by random events in an aimless existence, believers see their lives as fitting into a divine plan. Emotional Comfort The answers that religion provides about ultimate meaning bring comfort by assuring people that there is a purpose to life, even to suffering. The religious rituals that enshroud crucial events, such as illness and death, assure the individual that others care.

One of the functions of religion is providing emotional support. Shown here is a girl in Mongolia being visited by a sister of the Missionaries of Charity. Credit: Sean Sprague/The Image Works Social Solidarity Religious teachings and practices unite believers into a community that shares values and perspectives (“we Jews,” “we Christians,” “we Muslims”). The religious rituals that surround marriage, for example, link the bride and groom with a broader community that wishes them well. So do other religious rituals, such as those that celebrate birth and mourn death. Social Control Although a religion’s guidelines for everyday life usually apply only to its members, nonmembers feel a spillover. Religious teachings, for example, are incorporated into criminal law. In the American colonial period, people could be arrested for blasphemy and adultery. Today, some states have laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol before noon on Sunday. The original purpose of these laws was to get people out of the saloons and into the churches. 436 Social Change Although religion is often so bound up with the prevailing social order that it resists social change, religious activists sometimes spearhead change. In the 1960s, for example, the civil rights movement, whose goals were to desegregate public facilities and abolish racial discrimination in voting, was led by religious leaders. African American churches served as centers where demonstrators were trained and rallies were organized. Other churches were centers for resisting this change. Religion can promote social change, as was evident in the U.S. civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, shown here in his famous “I have a dream” speech, was the foremost leader of this movement. Credit: Bob Henriques/Magnum Photos Guidelines for Everyday Life We’ll end this section by focusing on one of religion’s most important functions, providing guidelines for everyday life. The teachings of religion are not all abstractions. For example, four of the ten commandments delivered by Moses to the Israelites concern God, but the other six contain instructions for getting along with others, from how to avoid problems with parents and neighbors to warnings about lying, stealing, and having affairs. Many consequences for people who follow these guidelines can be measured. For example, people who are religious are happier than people who are not religious, and those who attend church are less likely to abuse alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs than are people who don’t go to church. They are also more likely to exercise (PEW 2019). In general, churchgoers follow a healthier lifestyle than people who don’t go to church—and they live longer (VanderWeele et al. 2017).

13.7 Apply the functionalist perspective to religion: functions and dysfunctions.

13.7 Apply the functionalist perspective to religion:

functions and dysfunctions. Functionalists stress that religion is universal because it meets universal human needs. Let’s explore this idea. Hearing from the Author: The Functionalist Perspective

13.6 Explain what Durkheim meant by sacred and profane and discuss the three elements of religion.

Religion: Establishing Meaning Let’s look at the main characteristics of a second significant social institution. What Is Religion?

13.6 Explain what Durkheim meant by sacred and profane and discuss the three elements of religion. Religion was one of Emile Durkheim’s major interests. For whatever reason—likely because he was reared in a mixed-religion family, by a Protestant mother and a Jewish father—Durkheim decided to find out what all religions have in common. After surveying religions around the world, Durkheim published his findings in his 1912 book, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. This book is complicated, but here are three of Durkheim’s main conclusions. The first is that there is no particular belief or practice common to all religions. The second is that despite their diversity, all religions develop a community that centers on their beliefs and practices. And third, all religions separate the sacred from the profane. By sacred, Durkheim meant things that have to do with the supernatural, things that inspire awe, reverence, deep respect, or even fear. By profane, he meant things that are not concerned with religion but, instead, are part of ordinary, everyday life. After he did his research, here is how Durkheim (1912/1965) defined religion: A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them. Religion, then, has three elements: Beliefs that some things are sacred (forbidden, set apart from the profane) Practices (rituals) centering on the things considered sacred A moral community (a church), which results from a group’s beliefs and practices Durkheim used the word church in an unusual sense, to refer to any “moral community” centered on a group’s beliefs and practices regarding the sacred. In Durkheim’s sense, church refers to Buddhists bowing before a shrine, Hindus dipping in the Ganges River, and Confucians offering food to their ancestors. Similarly, the term moral community does not mean morality in the sense familiar to most of us—of ethical conduct. Rather, a moral community is simply a group of people who are united by their religious practices—and that would include sixteenth-century Aztec priests who each day gathered around an altar to pluck out the beating heart of a virgin. To better understand the sociological approach to religion, let’s see what pictures emerge when we apply the three theoretical perspectives. Hearing from the Author: What Is Religion?

13.5.5: The Need for Educational Reform

Most of the changes in education are merely minor adjustments to a flawed system: giving this test instead of that test, requiring more memorizing or less memorizing, measuring progress this way instead of that way, tinkering with the curriculum or motivating teachers and students by this carrot or that carrot. Each might be important in its own way, but each is but a minute adjustment to the details of a system that needs to be overhauled from top to bottom. We are unlikely to do this.

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

13.5.4: Violence

The man stalked the high school’s hallways. He pressed his ear against a door, trying to determine if students were in the classroom. Hearing nothing, he moved silently to another classroom and did the same thing. Going from one locked door to another, he proceeded down the length of the entire hallway. Students were behind each door, but they remained absolutely quiet. Still hearing nothing, the man smiled. The man smiled? Yes, because he was not a sociopath seeking random victims. This was a teacher checking how well the school was performing in a lockdown drill. In some schools, the safety of students and teachers is so precarious that armed guards, metal detectors, and drug-sniffing dogs are permanent fixtures. In an era of bomb threats and armed sociopaths, some states require lockdown drills: Teachers quickly lock their classrooms and pull down the shades or blinds on the windows. The students are told to remain absolutely silent, while a school official wanders the halls, like an armed intruder, listening for the slightest sound that would indicate that someone is in a classroom. Students are even warned that the glow of their cell phones could make them targets (Berne 2019). Although hope springs eternal in the human breast, it is unlikely that we will return to a time when school shootings are unknown. But certainly a good teaching–learning environment starts with safety. How much worse are school shootings getting? The answer—in the following Thinking Critically about Social Life—might surprise you. Thinking Critically about Social Life School Shootings: Exploding a Myth The media sprinkle their reports of school shootings with such dramatic phrases as “alarming proportions,” “outbreak of violence,” and “out of control.” They give us the impression that dangerous people walk our hallways, ready to spray students with gunfire. Parents used to consider schools safe havens, but no longer. Those naïve thoughts have been shattered by the media accounts of bullets ripping through our schools, children hovering in fear, and little bloody bodies strewn across classroom floors. Have our schools really become war zones, as the mass media would have us believe? Shootings such as those at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and the Mary Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, make us think so, but we need to probe deeper than screaming headlines and startling images. This frame from a surveillance camera at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, shows Eric Harris, on the left, and Dylan Klebold, on the right, as they search for victims. Credit: Kevin Moloney/Hulton Archive/Jefferson County Sheriff's Department/Getty Images When we do, we find that the media’s sensationalism has created a myth. Contrary to “what everyone knows,” there is no trend toward greater school violence. In fact, we find just the opposite—the trend is toward greater safety at school. Despite the dramatic school shootings that make the headlines, as you can see from

Table 13.1, deaths at schools are decreasing.

Because school homicides are high one year and low another, to see trends we need to average them out. Here is where we get the surprising results. The average number of annual murders in U.S. schools for 1992 to 2000 is 29. For 2000–2010, it is 20.4, a drop of 29 percent. Then the most recent average, based on data for 2010 to 2016, drops again to 17.8. Using estimates for later years, incomplete data but that include the horrendous Parkland, Florida, death toll, and others, the average comes to 19.6. Table 13.1 Exploding a Myth: Murders at U.S. Schools1 Homicides of students ages 5-18 at U.S. elementary or secondary schools, including victims who were “on the way to or from regular sessions at school” or while they were “attending or traveling to or from an official school-sponsored event.” These are the latest totals available in the source. 1Homicides of students ages 5–18 at U.S. elementary or secondary schools, including victims who were “on the way to or from regular sessions at school” or while they were “attending or traveling to or from an official school-sponsored event.” *Author’s estimates based on news reports. Awaiting official counts. Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). “Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2018,” May 2019, Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “Characteristics of School-Associated Youth Homicides,” 2019k.

Homicides of students ages 5–18 at U.S. elementary or secondary schools, including victims who were “on the way to or from regular sessions at school” or while they were “attending or traveling to or from an official school-sponsored event.” *Author’s estimates based on news reports. Awaiting official counts. Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). “Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2018,” May 2019, Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “Characteristics of School-Associated Youth Homicides,” 2019k. I don’t think you’ve seen any screaming headlines proclaiming this decrease in school killings, right? Violent deaths at school are a serious problem. Even one student being wounded or killed is too many. But contrary to the impression fostered by the media, school deaths have dropped. Headlines like “No Shootings This Month!” or “Schools Safer Than Ever!” simply don’t get much attention—nor bring in much advertising money. Can you see why we need sociology? Sociologists can search behind the headlines to quietly, dispassionately do research that helps us better understand the events that shape our lives. The first requirement for solving any problem is accurate data. How can we create solutions based on hysteria? The information presented here may not make for sensational headlines, but it does serve to explode one of the myths that the media have created. For Your Consideration → Why do you think so many people think that school shootings are worse now than in the past? → Why are people’s ideas often based more on headlines than on facts? Hearing from the Author: School Shootings Listen to the Audio

13.5.3: Cheating

13.5.3: Cheating The cheating I’m referring to is not what you might have seen in your social studies or math class in high school. I’m referring to cheating by teachers and school administrators. Listen to this: Computer scanners showed that teachers in 191 schools in Atlanta, Georgia, had erased students’ answers on reading and math tests and penciled in correct ones (Gabriel 2010). Thirty-five teachers were charged with conspiracy. Some were sentenced to probation and weekends in jail. Three high-ranking administrators were sent to prison for seven years (McWhirter and Porter 2014). The superintendent of Atlanta’s school system, who apparently led the cheating, was charged with theft for taking $500,000 in bonuses for producing good test scores. She died of cancer before she could be tried. The school district was facing pressure to show that their teaching had improved, and cheating was the way they produced the “improvements.” Now look at this: Mississippi keeps two sets of books: The one sent to Washington reports the state’s graduation rate at 87 percent. The other, which the state keeps, reports that 63 percent of its students graduate. Other states do the same. California reports its totals at 83 percent and 67 percent. (Dillon 2008) Why do high school administrators across the nation fake their graduation rates? The reason is that federal agencies publish these reports, and states don’t want to look bad. Also, Washington might reduce the money it gives them. It’s like a girl telling her parents that she received a B in English when she really received a D. She doesn’t want to look bad—and her allowance might be cut. 432 School administrators can be quite creative in faking their numbers. Some count the number of students who begin their senior year and report the percentage of these seniors who graduate. This conveniently overlooks those who drop out in their freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Some even encourage high school students who are doing poorly to drop out before they reach their senior year. This way, they won’t be counted as dropouts (Dillon 2008). The Solution to Cheating The solution to this cheating is fairly simple. Zero tolerance. Require all states to follow the same measurement of student performance and high school graduation and fire teachers and administrators who cheat. A simple measure is to compare the number of those who graduate from high school with the number who entered high school in the ninth grade, minus those who died and those who transferred out, plus those who transferred in. Federal officials can spot-check records across the nation. With loss of job the punishment, we could expect honesty in reporting to jump immediately. Knowing students’ real performance and real graduation rates can help pinpoint where the problems are, letting us know where to focus solutions. If you don’t know where it’s broken, you don’t know where to fix it. Let’s turn to the third problem.

13.5.2: Overcoming Mediocrity

How can we overcome mediocrity? By raising standards. Raising Standards for Teachers It is one thing to identify problems, quite another to find solutions for them. How can we solve mediocrity? To offer a quality education, we need quality teachers. Don’t we already have them? Most teachers are qualified and, if motivated, can do an excellent job. But a large number of teachers are not qualified. Consider what happened in California, where teachers must pass an educational skills test. The teachers did so poorly that to fill the classrooms, officials had to drop the passing grade to the tenth-grade level. These are college graduates who are teachers—and they are expected to perform at the tenth-grade level (Schemo 2002). I don’t know about you, but I think this situation is a national disgrace. If we want to improve teaching, we need to insist that teachers meet high standards. A Warning about Higher Standards If we raise standards, we can expect to upset students and their parents. It is soothing to use low standards and to pat students on the head and tell them they are doing well. But it upsets people if you do rigorous teaching and use high standards to measure performance. When Florida decided that its high school seniors needed to pass an assessment test to receive a diploma, 13,000 students across the state failed the test. Parents of failed students protested. Did they demand better teaching? No. What they wanted was for the state to drop the test. In their anger, they asked people to boycott Disney World and to not buy Florida orange juice (Canedy 2003). What positive steps to improve their children’s learning! Let’s look at a second problem in education.

13.5.1: Mediocrity

Mediocrity refers to being inferior or second rate, characteristics that are inexcusable when it comes to the U.S. educational system. The Rising Tide of Mediocrity Since I know you love taking tests, let’s see how you do on these three questions: How many goals are on a basketball court? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 How many halves are in a college basketball game? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 How many points does a three-point field goal account for in a basketball game? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 I know this sounds like a joke, but it isn’t. Sociologist Robert Benford (2007) got his hands on a copy of a twenty-question final examination given to basketball players who took a credit course on coaching principles at the University of Georgia. It is often difficult to refer to athletes, sports, and academics in the same breath, but this is about as mediocre as mediocrity can get. Let’s move to a broader view of the mediocrity that plagues our educational system like pollution plagues gasoline engines: Arizona officials gave their high school sophomores a math test covering the math that sophomores should know. One of ten passed. Arkansas officials get their students out of high school by dropping the passing score in math to 24 out of 100 (Urbina 2010). In Washington, D.C., most of the students who graduate from high school operate at about the fifth grade level. How do they graduate? When they fail a course, they take something called “Credit Recovery,” which does not require a test (Rossiter 2012). In Florida, only 27 percent of the state’s fourth graders passed the reading test. That didn’t sound good, so the state lowered the grade required to pass, and suddenly 80 percent passed (Kristof 2012). Much better. 430 Now here’s the icing on the cake. In states where students are failing so miserably, 95 percent of the teachers are graded as “highly effective” or “effective” (Bernstein 2014). “Effective at what?” you might ask. It must be at impeding their students’ learning. Certainly these teachers are not effective in teaching. Some graduates of prestigious law schools were having difficulty getting jobs. This reflected badly on these proud law schools—Georgetown, Golden Gate University, Loyola Law School, Tulane University, and New York University. They found a quick solution. To make their graduates look better, they raised everyone’s grades (Rampell 2010). Much better-looking transcripts—all in a flash. The letter grade C used to indicate average. Because more students are average than superior, high school teachers used to give about twice as many C’s as A’s. Now they give twenty times more A’s than C’s. Students didn’t get smarter—grading just became much, much easier. Grade inflation is so pervasive that 55 percent of all college freshmen have an overall high school grade point average of A. But grading is tightening up. Two years ago, 59 percent entered college with A averages (Statistical Abstract 2017:Table 298; 2019:Table 300). Any way you look at it, many of today’s A’s are the C’s of years past. Easy grades and declining standards have been accompanied by social promotion, passing students from one grade to the next despite their failure to learn the basic materials. One result is functional illiteracy, high school graduates who have never mastered things they should have learned in grade school. Some even have difficulty with reading and writing. Some high school graduates can’t fill out job applications; others can’t even figure out whether they get the right change at the grocery store. Hearing from the Author: Mediocrity Listen to the Audio Listen to the Audio

outside link for reference

Friday, December 23, 2022

The Sociological Approach to Religion

Tuesday, December 20, 2022