ESO-15

SECTION I

Ans 1: Sociology of Religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of
religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation
may include the use of both quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic and census
analysis) and qualitative approaches such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis
of archival, historical and documentary materials.

Sociologists of religion study every aspect of religion from what is believed to how persons act
while in worship and while living out their stated convictions. They study the changing role of
religion both in the public arena (political, economic and media) and in intimate interpersonal
relationships. Global religious pluralism and conflict, the nature of religious cults and sects, the
influence of religion on racial, gender and sexuality issues, and the effect of the media and
modern culture has on religious practices are all topics of interest in current sociology of religion
research.

The ideas of three early sociological theorists continue to strongly influence the sociology of
religion: Durkheim, Weber, and Marx.

Even though none of these three men was particularly religious, the power that religion holds
over people and societies interested them all. They believed that religion is essentially an
illusion; because culture and location influence religion to such a degree, the idea that religion
presents a fundamental truth of existence seemed rather improbable to them. They also
speculated that, in time, the appeal and influence of religion on the modern mind would lessen.

Social scientists who study religion today perform a vital function in helping journalists and the
general public make sense of the rise of religious themes and influences in television, political
conflicts, personal issues such as abortion and homosexuality and in highly publicized "cultic"
tragedies. The discipline of sociology of religion has much to teach about how religion functions
for the individual and in society. Unfortunately research done by sociologists of religion seldom
filters out of the "ivory towers" to those "in the trenches."

Durkheim's theory of religion exemplifies how functionalists examine sociological phenomena.

To Weber, Christianity was a salvation religion that claims people can be saved when they convert to
certain beliefs and moral codes. In Christianity, the idea of sin and its atonement by God's grace plays
a fundamental role. Unlike the Eastern religions' passive approach, salvation religions like Christianity
are active, demanding continuous struggles against sin and the negative aspects of society.

Marx once declared that religion is the opium of the people. He viewed religion as teaching people to
accept their current lot in life, no matter how bad, while postponing rewards and happiness to some
afterlife. Religion, then, prohibits social change by teaching nonresistance to oppression, diverting

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people's attention away from worldly injustices, justifying inequalities of power and wealth for the
privileged, and emphasizing rewards yet to come.

Ans 2: A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious
festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year.

Festivals of India play a major role in spreading unity in diversity, with emphasis on communal harmony.
Some famous religious festivals mark the advent of the seasons and some mark the celebration of
cultural events. Famous festivals in India are joyously celebrated all over the country.

During any festive season, the whole of India brightens up and there is lot of excitement in the air. If you
drop in during any of the festival time, watching or taking part in the festivities, can be an interesting
experience. There is a big list of the religious festivals that are celebrated in India.

Social significance:

The society has given an important place to religious festivals. They are of integrative value. They also
have significance for socialization purposes

(1) Adjustment between Man, Nature and Society:

It is pointed out by ODea that in the annual social circle of life, there occurs the patterned alternation
of sacred and profane periods, of periods of celebration and periods of work. It is evident from the
festivals of Basant Panchami, Shivaratri and Hooli as well as Sanjhi, Karwa Chauth, Deepawali and
Govardhan Puja that our religious festivals mostly fall in the periods of transition alternating between
well-set seasons-Rains, Winter and Summer. The months of Agahan and Paush do not have any festivals.

(2) Emotional Social Security of the Individual:

Certain festivals like Karwa Chauth intended to provide emotional social security to the individual. Karwa
Chauth is intended to provide salvation against the evil of the social curse of widowhood. Festivals
seeking to attain emotional-social security tend to acquire a Magical undertone.

The festivals that fall in this category are related to fertility cult, agricultural and otherwise prosperity,
longevity of husband, brother and son, and annual collective propitiation of Gods or Goddesses to ward
off the evils of misfortunes and diseases like smallpox and cholera.

(3) Identity, Solidarity, Differentiation and Conflict:

Socially, religious festivals are also related to group identity and solidarity and to intra-and-inter- group
differentiation and conflict. It tends to lend identity and solidarity to different types of groups

(4) Social Stratification:

In our country, there exists a close linkage between the celebration of a religious festival and social
stratification. Social stratification in India consists largely of hierarchically arranged castes.

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Due to the growing impact of urban-industrialism, the traditional synchronization between Caste and
occupation is fast changing. Yet in the rural situation, it continues though in a fragile form.

Unity in Diversity:

In our country there is pluralistic society. The emotional realization of unity in diversity is our socio-
cultural ethos and philosophical worldview.

Like cultural traits, religious festival, too, have the tendency to diffuse. Diffusion is both vertical and
horizontal. For example Shakti cult, has diffused both vertically and horizontally. In the horizontal
diffusion, the process of spread, assimilation, integration and consequent modification come into
operation and regional forms of a religious festival are developed.

Unity in diversity of Shaki cult expresses itself at the level of region and habitat. In Malwa, in M.P., Sanjhi
is celebrated during pitripaksha, in the Western Uttar Pradesh after pitripaksha and at Mathura in the
month of Shravan.

SECTION II

Ans 8: The Five Pillars of Islam are five basic acts in Islam, considered mandatory by believers and are
the foundation of Muslim life. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel.

The Shia and Sunni both agree on the essential details for the performance and practice of these acts,
but the Shia do not refer to them by the same name. They make up Muslim life, prayer, concern for the
needy, self-purification and the pilgrimage, if one is able.

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Pillars of Sunni Islam
Shahada: Faith

Shahada is a declaration of faith and trust that professes that there is only one God (Allah) and that
Muhammad is God's messenger.

Salat: Prayer

Salat (alh) is the Islamic prayer. Salat consists of five daily prayers according to the Sunna; the names
are according to the prayer times: Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (noon), Ar (afternoon), Maghrib (evening), and
Ish (night).

Zakt: Charity

Zakt or alms-giving is the practice of charitable giving based on accumulated wealth.

Sawm: Fasting

Muslims traditionally break their fasts in the month of Ramadan with dates, as was the recorded
practice (Sunnah) of Muhammad.

Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca

The Hajj is a pilgrimage that occurs during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah to the holy city of Mecca.

Pillars of Shia Islam

Twelver Shia Islam has five Usul al-Din and ten Furu al-Din, i.e., the Shia Islamic beliefs and practices. The
Twelver Shia Islam Usul al-Din, equivalent to a Shia Five Pillars, are all beliefs considered foundational to
Islam, and thus classified a bit differently from those listed above. They are:

Tawhid (Monotheism: belief in the Oneness of God)

'Adl (Divine Justice: belief in the Almighty's justice)

Nubuwwah (Prophethood)

Imamah (Succession to the Muhammad)

Mi'ad (The Day of Judgment and the Resurrection)

Ans 10: Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-
existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:

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As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of
truth, and thus the acknowledgement that at least some truths and true values exist in other religions.

As acceptance of the concept that two or more religions with mutually exclusive truth claims are
equally valid. This may be considered a form of either toleration (a concept that arose as a result of the
European wars of religion) or moral relativism.
The understanding that the exclusive claims of different religions turn out, upon closer examination,
to be variations of universal truths that have been taught since time immemorial. This is called
Perennialism or Traditionalism.

Sometimes as a synonym for ecumenism, i.e., the promotion of some level of unity, co-operation, and
improved understanding between different religions or different denominations within a single religion.

As a term for the condition of harmonious co-existence between adherents of different religions or
religious denominations.

As a social norm and not merely a synonym for religious diversity.

Religious pluralism can be defined as "respecting the otherness of others". Freedom of religion
encompasses all religions acting within the law in a particular region. Exclusivist religions teach that
theirs is the only way to salvation and to religious truth, and some of them would even argue that it is
necessary to suppress the falsehoods taught by other religions.

Ans 9: Some important features of tribes in India are:

Tribes are relatively isolated from larger cultural influences, have a rela-tive cultural homogeneity and a
simple technology. They believe in spirits, magic and witchcraft. They have their own taboos which
prohibit certain actions that are punishable by the community, by the supernatu-ral, or by magical
consequences. Large number of the tribes believe in animism, according to which all objectsboth
animate and inanimate are permanently or temporarily inhabited by spirits or souls.

(1) Common name:

Each caste has a distinct name of its own through which it is distinguished from others.

(2) Common territory:

Tribes generally occupy common geographical ar-eas.

(3) Common language:

Members of one tribe speak the same language. Each tribe has its own dialect, if not the script.

(4) Common culture:

Each tribe has prescribed patterns of behaviour and festivals and deities to worship.

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(5) Endogamy:

Each tribe has the practice of marrying members within their own tribe.

(6) Political organisation:

All tribes have their own political organisation. They have councils of elders which control members.

Some other features of the tribals are: most of them live in isolated terrains; the main sources of their
livelihood are agriculture and gathering of forest produce; they do not cultivate for profit; they still
largely rely on barter system; they spend a greater part of their earnings on social and religious
ceremonies; and a large number of them are illiterate and are victimized by unscrupulous forest
contractors and moneylenders.

Ans 6: Sufism is a movement within Islam that emphasizes mysticism. Practices such as
chanitng, meditating, and dancing are used to experience a state of bliss that brings one closer to
union with God.

The bhakti movement of India uses ecstatic singing, chanting, and meditation to bring the
devotee closer to God. In the case of bhakti, the devotee is trying to get closer to the Hindu
Supreme Being. For the case of the Alvars of south India, God is identified as Krishna. Another
key group are the Lingayats, devotees of the god Shiva.

In both cases the literature emphasizes poetry, even song, extolling the virtue of God. Often this
poetry describes God in very personal terms, and uses these familiar terms to describe the
devotee's emotions. The Sufi poet Jelaluddin Rumi described God as a lover, but one who was
sometimes distant, increasing his longing. At other times he was drunk on God, in a high like one
feels when in love. This sort of passionate emotion is also seen in the poetry of the Bhakti
movement. Krishna is all around, but he cannot be seen; he is hiding; he seems too far away.

Similarity: both rely on metaphor to describe the complex relationship the devotee has with God.
The Tamil bhakti literature uses metaphors of scenery and landscape to convey a mood. As
mentioned above, intoxication is a key metaphor for Rumi.

Finally, both emphasize the point of surrender. God is all around one. To experience God, one
must abandon oneself and be filled with God. This is perhaps the point of Sufi and bhakti
literature.

SECTION III

Ans 12: The prophet and the priest. The figure of the prophet has always captured the imagination. He
(or she) is a person of drama, speaking truth to power, unafraid to challenge kings and courts, or
society as a whole, in the name of higheven utopianideals. No other type of religious personality has
had the impact as the prophets of Israel, of whom the greatest was Moses. The priests, by contrast,
were for the most part quieter figures, apolitical, who served in the Sanctuary rather than in the
spotlight of political debate. Yet they, no less than the prophets, sustained Israel as a holy nation.

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Indeed, though Israel were summoned to become a kingdom of priests, they were never called on to
be a people of prophets.

Ans 14: Civil religion is a concept that originated in French political thought and became a major topic
for American sociologists since its use by Robert Bellah in the 1960s. It means the implicit religious
values of a nation, as expressed through public rituals, symbols (such as the national flag) and
ceremonies on sacred days and at sacred places (such as monuments, battlefields or national
cemeteries). It stands outside the churches, although church officials and ceremonies are sometimes
incorporated into the practice of civil religion.

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