the SOCIOLOGY of RELIGION

Office: CH 271T, Office Hours: TWH, 12:30 - 1:30
Phone: 725-3620 or email: tothm@pdx.edu

To paraphrase that famous sociological maxim, “If people believe something to be true, it is true in its consequences.” People believe, and an especially significant portion of what they believe is encompassed in what we are talking about when we speak of religion. People also act, and they act on the basis of what they believe, although they do not necessarily or always act on the basis of what they say they believe; often they act on beliefs that are not aware they hold. The premise we start with here is that a crucial and core source of human belief and action in every society is found in the unique and distinctive beliefs and practices which comprise religion.

This course is a first attempt—a survey attempt, if you will—to come to grips with the peculiarly human phenomenon of religion from the equally peculiar perspective of sociology, with just a dash of the other social sciences thrown in. As such, it is not a course about religion in the sense of the history or the theology of different religions. It has little to do with whether or not any particular religion is true or false, if such a judgment might even be warranted. As Durkheim has rightly said, “no religion is false”—and this turns out to be true. In fact, the sociology of religion is not about any particular religion per se, but rather about religion qua religion.

What we will be doing in this course is developing a base of sociological concepts, theories, and understandings with which to make sense of this phenomenon—these religious beliefs and actions, their origins and their consequences. To do this we will attempt to navigate a tricky path, for the sociological perspective requires us to both appreciate and critique these human behaviors without necessarily either embracing them or disparaging them. What makes this particularly difficult is that religion is, by its own claim, the ultimate source of absolute, of the absolute source of the ultimate—of that beyond which one cannot go. Religion makes a unique ontological claim to the ultimate ground of being. The sociological study of religion demands the exceedingly difficult, if not impossible task of standing outside that ground of being. In doing so, one might rightly ask, “Where then do I put my feet down…?”

Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, by Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos, Jr., and Peter Kivisto (listed in the reading schedule as CSK)

The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, by Peter L. Berger

The course will move along the following lines, in a series of inter-leavening topics, and in three main phases:

Phase One: First, something about the course and its requirements and activities, together with my expectations for us all. Then, a brief background in some general sociological concepts and a look at the nature of human nature. We will want to develop a broad overview of the ways in which sociologists have understood religion and the more specific concepts in terms of which they have attempted to make sense of it. Then we will look at some of the classical theoretical explanations and a closer and more detailed look at religion in the West. Finally, we come to grips with the modern dynamics of secularism and pluralism.

Phase Two: Generally following the sequence in the CSK text we will look at a series of what I have called “American particulars”—ways in which the American religious experience connects with other societal dynamics: class, status, and power; ethnicity and race; sexuality and gender; fundamentalism and evangelicalism; the mass media and popular culture. While specific to the U.S., these are dynamics that, in one way or another, relate to religion in every social context, and we will consider them as instructive in that larger sense as well.

Phase Three: Finally, we will bring our learnings to bear in the broader context of national and world-wide social issues, locating them in relation to contemporary trends and tendencies, to our present apparent American cultural, economic, political, and military hegemony, to the potential “clash of civilizations,” and to some tentative resting place of where we are now.

The topics, readings, and other elements of each class meeting of these phases are spelled out in greater detail in the accompanying schedule.

• Ways in which religiousness is inherently human and therefore how it is significantly
present in some form in every society.

• A range of organizing concepts through which we may better describe, analyze, and make sense
of religious phenomena.

• Various sociological theories, explanations, and accounts for religious phenomena.

• In particular, a solid grasp of Peter Berger’s seminal theory, theses, and insights—together with
those of Alfred Schutz and Ernest Becker—especially as they go beyond their application to
religion alone.

• An appreciation of some of the historical, developmental aspects of the American experience.

• A greater understanding of socio-religious dynamics and issues in the current world situation.

A good academic experience should provide ways to encourage you in achieving these learning objectives—and in measuring that achievement. Here’s how we’ll do that in this class.

(1) Your reflective responses to specific prompts (questions, observations, etc.) that will be provided by the instructor during each class session;

(2) One article each week from the print news media that is concerned with religion in some way that you are able to connect up to the contents of the course. Included together with the article will be your one or two paragraph explanation of the way(s) in you make these connections.

(3) Based on the readings for each class session you are to write down a specific question based on the reading that you would like to pursue further and include this in your journal. Depending on how things work out, you may be asked to introduce one of these questions to the class for discussion.

(4) In addition, you are encouraged to include reactions to other aspects of the course (readings, discussions, videos, etc.) as well occurrences which take place outside the classroom.

There will be two exams: a mid-term and a final. These will consist of a number of short essay questions with some choice as to which you questions you will answer. More information will be provided as the term proceeds.

In addition to the requirements described above, each of the graduate students (there are currently five) will make a 15 minute presentation on some self-selected aspect on one of the five “American particulars” during those respective class sessions. Prior to presentation the topic will be vetted with, and a written copy will be provided to, the instructor. In addition, each of the graduate students will select an additional work on the sociology of religion in consultation with the instructor as an independent reading. And finally, the instructor will meet separately with the graduate students for purposes of extended discussion, times to be arranged.

Jan 13	What the class is and isn’t; structure of the course, etc; why do we study religion?	Syllabus; CWK, Chap 1; Gibran, "Satan;" Definition	Joseph Campbell; "The Masks of Eternity" A Sacred Canopy Lexicography
Jan 15	What’s going on here, anyway? Discussion	Toth, "Why Sociology is Difficult,” “We Grow Older Together,” “Insights of the Life”	Videos: “Who Built Stonehenge” Stonehenge & Avebury
Jan 20	The nature of human nature & why we start here	Berger, Chap 1; Toth, "Discovering the Obvious," “The Decline of Necessity, The Incline of Illusion,”	Ernest Becker Summary
Jan 22	Ways to understand religion: functional, phenomenological, ontological, structural	Berger, Chap 2; CWK, Chap 2; Functionalism, Phenomenology, Ontological, Structural, Structural Strain	Video: "Cathedral" Cathedrals; St John's Manifest & Latent Functions
Jan 27	Ways to understand religion, continued: functional, phenomenological, ontological, structural	CWK, Chap 4; Berger, Chap 3	Summary of The Sacred Canopy
Jan 29	How religion is similar to/different from all other institutions (Schutz);	Stanley Fish, “Postmodern Warfare”	Hubble Views the Universe (How Colors Were Added)
Feb 3	Central Concepts: the Sacred, theodicy, anthropodicy	Thomas F. O’Dea: “Five Dilemmas”	Video: “Where Was God on 9/11”
Feb 5	Central Concepts continued: church, sect, denominationalism	Bellah: Religious Evolution Typology of Religious Organizations	Songlines and Dreaming; Characteristics of the Sacred
Feb 10	Classical approaches to religion: Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Freud	CWK, Chap 5; Berger, Chap 4 Marx; Durkheim; Weber; Freud; (Simmel)	Voodoo Marx on Religion
Feb 12	Instructor absent: video: second half of Martin Luther: The Reluctant Revolutionary		Scarves and Symbols (for mid-term exam)
FEB 12		MID-TERM EXAM HANDED OUT
Feb 17	Classical approaches to religion: Weber; O’Dea’s dilemmas		David Brooks, “Kicking the Secularist Habit”
Feb 19	Religion in the West: A History; Secularization: Pro and Contra; How Wrong Did We Get it and What We Have Learned?	Berger, Chap 5; CWK, Chap 3; On-line: Berger, “Epistemological Modesty;” “Reflections Today”
FEB 19		MID-TERM EXAM DUE
Feb 24	The Situation Now: First, America First & American Exceptionalism	Berger, Chap 6	PowerPoint: “American Exceptionalism” American Civil Religion Bellah: on Civil Religion
Feb 26	American Particulars: Ethnicity and Race (assimilation, the Jewish dilemma, the Black Church)	CWK, Chap 6 Richard Rodriguez, "The Invention of Hispanics and the Reinvention of America"	Video: Bill Moyers interview with Richard Rodriguez
Mar 2	American Particulars: Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism; American Particulars: Class, Status, and Power	CWK, Chap 5, Chap 9	Video: “Christian Evangelicals and Israel” Welcome to the Next Church
Mar 4	American Particulars: Sexuality and Gender American Particulars: the Mass Media and Popular Culture	CWK, Chap 7, Chap 10 Unpacking a Media Experience	Hip New Churches
Mar 9	Worldwide: Trends and Tendencies (Islam, New Christianity)	Philip Jenkins, “The Next Christianity”
Mar 11	Conflict of Cultures, Web Resources for "Clash of Civilizations?" America - Beyond Super Power	The Crooked Tree of Humanity, Isaiah Berlin Dostoyevski, “The Grand Inquisitor;”	Video: “The Barbarian West”
MAR 11		FINAL EXAM HANDED OUT
MAR 18	FINAL EXAM DUE at the SOC OFFICE CH 217 BY 5:00 PM