SOCA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Civil Religion, Falsifiability, Reasonable Accommodation
Document Summary
Religious beliefs are not falsifiable: they can be neither falsified nor confirmed by empirical evidence. For this reason, sociologists are not concerned with the truth-value of religious beliefs. Foci: individual and group differences in religiosity, individual and social causes and consequences of religiosity, religious organizations. Substantive definition: a system of beliefs with a supernatural referent, and rituals associated with those beliefs. Civil religion: a system of attitudes with social or political referent, and rituals associated with these attitudes. Four dimensions: belief, practice (beaman: participation), experience, and knowledge. Maintain that there is life after death (~70%) Pray privately at least once a month (~60%) Reflection: religious commitment develops in people who seek to give meaning to their lives. However, many canadians who think about life"s big questions are not religious and seek meaning in philosophy or social activism. Socialization: most regular attendants attended religious services as children. Only 1/3 of canadians whose parents attended are themselves attending.
