[W5.2] Sociology of religion - Shim ChaeYeon(심채연)

 1) Summary

Religious sociology is the study of religious beliefs, practices, and organizational forms using tools and methods in the field of sociology. 

In classical sociology, Durkheim argued that religion played an important role in forming social cohesion. Marx saw that religion contributed to alienation and strengthening unjust economic structures. Max Weber saw that religion played an important role in shaping human behavior and the world view. 

There are various theoretical perspectives, including symbolic anthropology, phenomenology, functionalism, and rationalism. Religion can take many forms, such as churches, sects, and cults, and each performs a different function in social, spiritual, and cultural contexts. 

Secularization is a general movement toward rational and scientific orientation away from religious and spiritual beliefs. Religious economics theory argues that religiousness decreases when the supply of religion is limited due to the state's religious monopoly or secularization. There are also various perspectives such as Peter Berger, Wilson, Gellner, and Foucault.

Globalization is trying to understand how religion affects the globalization process, and how globalization affects religious beliefs and practices. 

Religion also influences the formation of family structures and the formation of a religious atmosphere within the family. Religious heritage also influences the formation of individual beliefs and values, and religious beliefs are often one of the factors that identify individuals in society.

 2) Something interesting or new that I learned

It was interesting to see that one of the most important functions of religion in functionalism is opportunity. It was interesting because I had not usually thought about religion from this perspective. I thought that providing a place to help in the spiritual (psychological) part when I needed help could be a good opportunity and stability for religious believers. It would be quite helpful because most people who believe in religion are likely to want to lean somewhere with the anxiety and fear of life.

3) Questions & Discussions

Is the inheritance of ideas right? Generally speaking, children of a religious person inherit their parents' religion. You can often see them baptized as '모태신앙(Korean word for a child who believes in a certain religion since birth)' from birth because their parents are Catholic. They are taught that the doctrine of that religion is correct even before their values are established and come to believe in it without a choice. I have always thought this was a little strange. It doesn't matter if you take religion lightly, but if you think about a family that believes in a very deep religion, isn't it similar to being brainwashed for children who are born and forced to attend church-like places and follow doctrines? What do you think?