SOCA02H3 Lecture : religion
Document Summary
Ch. 16 religion: psychologist william james- religion is the common human response to the fact that we all stand at the edge of an abyss. It helps up cope with terrifying fact that we must die. It offers us immortality, the promise of better times to come, security and most importantly meaning and purpose in a world that might otherwise be cruel and senseless. Theoretical approaches to the sociology of religion. Marx, conflict, and religion as a prop for. Inequality: marx was the first one to stress how religion often tranquilizes the underprivileged into accepting their lot in life. Religion diminishes class conflict and he called religion as the opium of people: in russian and other slavic languages, the words for rich (bogati) and god (bog) have the same root. This suggests that wealth is god given and perhaps even that it makes the wealthy god like.
