SOC101Y1 Lecture : Chapter 11-Religion Nov 5 2008
Document Summary
O science and religion are compatible; science limits itself to what is perceivable, religion maintains that reality includes the no perceivable. O conflict arises between the two when one oversteps the boundary of the other. O religion cannot override science is basic evolutionary claims or dismissing sound medical diagnoses. O religion constitutes the latter response, resulting in ppl who are economically and politically deprived redefining reality, rather than changing their oppressive conditions. O religion soothes the disadvantaged like a narcotic- functioning as the opium of the ppl, in the process blinding them to the inequalities at hand and bottling up their creative energies. O those who hold power encourage religious belief among the masses as a subtle tool in the process of exploiting and subjugating them. O aligned with interests in of the dominant few, religion serves to hold in check the potentially explosive tensions of a society.
