SOCA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Symbolic Interactionism, Kirpan, Eastern Partnership
Document Summary
Religion has inspired some of the most beautiful works of art, literature, music, and architecture the world has ever seen. Inspired the birth of universities and scientific insights. Religion: a set of organized beliefs about the supernatural or spiritual worlds that guides behaviour and joins people into communities of believers. Faith: a belief system based on conviction that does not require objective evidence to substantiate its claims. Tylor stated that religion evolves through distinct stages. Animism: first stage, the belief that all things possess a spirit. This attribution of conscious life to natural objects or phenomena ultimately results in the notion of a soul. Polytheism: belief in many gods; can be diffuse, with all gods considered equal, or hierarchal, with gods ranked in importance or power. Monotheism: belief in a single, all-powerful, all-knowing god. Civil religion (secular religion): exists when sacred symbols are integrated into the broader society regardless of their individual religious affiliations.
