Define religion. Briefly explain the terms sacred and profane.
What will be an ideal response?
Answers will vary. Religion is a social institution that involves shared beliefs, values, and practices related to the supernatural. It unites believers into a community, but customs and practices differ across cultures and groups. For example, being Catholic involves confessing (telling one's sins to a priest), a practice not followed by Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and other religious groups.Émile Durkheim (1961) distinguished between the sacred and the profane. Sacred refers to anything that people see as awe-inspiring, supernatural, holy, and not part of the physical world. In contrast, profane refers to the ordinary and everyday elements of life that are not related to religion. Sociologists differentiate religion from religiosity and spirituality.
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Examining the role of religion in society, scholars:
a. have believed that secularization would increase along with the development of science and technology. b. thought that modernization would reduce religious commitment. c. have found that commitment to religion increases as people find their basic values are challenged. d. All of these are true about the ways in which scholars have perceived the role of religion in society.
Voluntary associations such as Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherds
a. preserve the societal status quo. b. pave the way for social change. c. are primarily after publicity rather than change. d. do not challenge the established ways of doing things.
The plague disappeared from Europe at about the time that the Industrial Revolution was getting started
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
Which of the following has been characteristic of job earnings since the mid-1970s?
A. On average, men’s earnings have stagnated. B. Women’s earnings have declined steadily. C. Both men’s and women’s earnings have increased substantially. D. Both the distribution of men’s earnings and the distribution of women’s earnings have become more equal