This power dynamic has been used by Christian institutions for centuries to keep poor people poor and to teach them that they shouldn’t be concerned with what they lack because their “true” reward (from a religious perspective) will come after death. Religion and Health Concepts of health and illness in human society originated from traditional religious views about life and death. Eat Your Heart Out: Food Profiteering in America. How does one pick a church or decide which denomination “fits” best? The feminist perspective is a conflict theory view that focuses specifically on gender inequality. Religious rituals bring order, comfort, and organization through shared familiar symbols and patterns of behavior. Many of the chapters, however, are also pathbreaking and point the way to future approaches. Hightower, Jim. Ellway, P. 2005. “The Rational Choice Theory of Religion: Shopping for Faith or Dropping your Faith?” Retrieved February 21, 2012 (http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/religion/overview.php). religious/quasi-religious beliefs and practices that is not accepted, recognized, or controlled by official religious groups; processes that lead to the emergence of non-official religion: 1. rejection of the emphasis on rationality and other universal concepts [incorporation of local tradition], 2. disenfranchisement of groups seeking to exert own leadership and express their own religiosity Nevertheless, the sociological approach to the study of religion has great rewards. 1993. Weber noted that certain kinds of Protestantism supported the pursuit of material gain by motivating believers to work hard, be successful, and not spend their profits on frivolous things. German philosopher, journalist, and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx (1818–1883) also studied the social impact of religion. Religion is a social institution, because it includes beliefs and practices that serve the needs of society. He famously argued that religion “is the opium of the people” (1844). Critics also believe this theory overuses economic terminology and structure and point out that terms such as “rational” and “reward” are unacceptably defined by their use; they would argue that the theory is based on faulty logic and lacks external, empirical support. It then addresses some methodological issues that are crucial for approaches that focus on social action, be it in the internal or the external arena. As stated earlier, French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) defined religion as a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things” (1915). Interactionists are interested in what these symbols communicate. Read more about functionalist views on religion at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/Grinnell_functionalism, symbolic interactionist view on religion at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/flat_Earth, and women in the clergy at http://openstaxcollege.org/l/women_clergy. For more discussion on the study of sociology and religion, check out the following blog: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/immanent_frame/. The work ethic in the information age has been affected by tremendous cultural and social change, just as workers in the mid- to late nineteenth century were influenced by the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Sociological Theories of Religion The ideas of three early sociological theorists continue to strongly influence the sociology of religion: Durkheim, Weber, and Marx. 1933 [1893]. How do people decide which religion to follow, if any? On an extreme level, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, and anti-Semitism are all examples of this dynamic. 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