Sociology of religion encompasses the study of various concepts in religion as one of the activities which most people engage in all over the world. Furthermore, the study of various forms of religion all over the world and religion as an identity. This paper covers the various concepts such as religion as a group phenomenon, church sect topology, fundamentalism, religion socialization and conflicts with religion.
Religion as a group phenomenon is one of the concepts in the sociology of religion. A group is a collection of people which exists as a result of certain circumstances surrounding them, forcing them to seek the company of each other(Johnstone, 2015). It could also be as a result of information about their welfare, identity, and self-definition. Religion is as a result of factors associated with the formation of groups. Before one becomes a member of a group, he or she has to go through the process of initiation into the group which is socialization. Socialization is a very concept in religion as it is the foundation of any religious group and religious groups such as Islam and Christianity have been spread all over the world through socialization. It involves a few number of people who can convince other people to have the same beliefs as their own through various means such as music and preaching. As a member of any religious group, one is expected to engage in various activities. In Christianity, the various group activities could include baptism, church attendance and other activities(Kurien, 2014). Apart from the individual activities, there are group activities such as the Ramadan celebrations for Muslims.
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The church sect topology concept in the sociology of religion focusses on the divisions in various religious groups especially in Christianity which has resulted in denominations and churches. The various denominations and churches have some features in common for example believe in one God but different ways of conducting their operation. The major division of the Christian religion is the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. Other several divisions have also emerged for example between the Pilgrims and Puritans of the Anglican Church of England. The Pilgrims separated from the church due to corrupt practices while the Puritans believed they could change the state of the church and maintain it.
Fundamentalism is another concept in concept in the sociology of religion. It can be defined as a process of reviewing the fundamental believes of a religion which has been altered or has become extinct. A religious group can also be described to be fundamentalists if they tend to have exaggerated or misinterpreted their fundamental beliefs. Fundamentalism of the modern world can be as a result of religious groups which feel that their religion is threatened. Hence they are forced to take extreme actions to defend their religion. An example is the happenings in the Middle East of the Arab-Israeli war of 1967(Flanagan & Jupp, 2016). The fundamentalism in today’s world can also be traced to the opposition to the happenings of the modern world which go against religious believes. This has sparked great controversies and concern about the likely effect of fundamentalism if not dealt. Extremism is another concept related to fundamentalism. However, it involves the use of extremely cruel actions as of form of defending the interpretation of a religious group beliefs.
In the past conflict has been associated with religion hence, it has become a concept in the sociology of religion(Johnstone, 2015). The conflicts have been as a result of enmity and differences between the various religious groups. The conflicts normally emerge as a result of interpretation of the various religious beliefs with each group considering themselves to be right thus rejecting and viewing other groups as being enemies. The use of region as an identity is what has also resulted in various conflicts. For example, the various Islamic groups engaging terrorism such as IS in the Middle East has resulted in enmity between other religious groups and Islam as the group has been termed to be terrorists.
In the various concepts of the sociology of religion, the concept of religion as a group phenomenon is the most important of the concepts in explaining the state of religion in the modern world. This is because there are many different groups of religion all over the world today. Thus the concept would be very useful in explaining how the groups came about and what their differences are. The concept could also assist in giving the various similarities between the various religious groups all over the world(Kurien, 2014). It is through this concept of religion group phenomena that we can explain other concepts such as the concept of conflicts associated with religion. It is this concept that we can understand how the various religious groups have resulted in conflicts and how they can be solved.
The concept of religion as a group phenomenon can be applied on how the Christian religious group came into existence and how it operates. It is this concept that we can explain how Christianity started from a simple practice by a small group of people into one of the most popular religion.
In conclusion, the sociology of religion encompasses various concepts such as religion as group phenomena, church sect topology, fundamentalism, religious socialization and conflicts associated with religion among other concepts. All these concepts can be used to describe the various religious groups today all over the world.
- Flanagan, K., & Jupp, P. C. (2016). Postmodernity, sociology, and religion. Springer.
- Johnstone, R. L. (2015). Religion in society: A sociology of religion. Routledge.
- Kurien, P. (2014). Immigration, community formation, political incorporation, and why religion matters: Migration and settlement patterns of the Indian diaspora. Sociology of Religion, 75(4), 524–536.