Deck 14: Sociology of Religion

Question 1

Among Protestant denominations in the United States,Methodists are more likely than Anglicans/Episcopalians to be college graduates.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Generations born earlier are NOT more likely than generations born later to say they go to church.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The "Unity of the Three Religions" articulated by Chinese religious scholars combined elements of Buddhism,Taoism,and Chinese syncretism.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

No god or gods are part of the Buddhist belief system.

Question 5

The Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

Question 6

Muslims and Jews lived together fairly peacefully in British-controlled Palestine until the 1920s.

Question 7

The turban worn by Sikhs symbolizes devotion.

Question 8

Sociologists do not agree as to what they mean when they describe "religion."

Question 9

Children of Orthodox Jews born in the United States seem to have less than a 50 percent chance of remaining Orthodox as adults.

Question 10

About 80 percent of all African Americans belong to traditionally black denominations.

Question 11

Salat is a ritual visit to Mecca,which religious Muslims try to perform at least once in their lifetime.

Question 12

In many older societies,shamans,rabbis,imams,and priests were also judges in the legal system.

Question 13

In the Hindu caste system,people born into the priestly,or Brahmin,caste are at the top of the social pyramid.

Question 14

The partition of India into India and Pakistan took place just before World War II.

Question 15

All of the major religions had early periods in which geographically separated areas practiced somewhat different versions of the faith.

Question 16

In the United States,it is estimated that only one-fifth of all people formally change their religions or denominations during their lifetimes.

Question 17

There is a tendency for people who have lost interest in religion to return to religion after they have had children.

Question 18

Leaders of the civil rights movement were mostly ministers from black churches located in cities up and down the East Coast,from Massachusetts to Florida.

Question 19

Most religious traditions support,or even mandate,traditional gender roles.

Question 20

Karl Marx famously asserted that "religion is the opiate of the people."

Question 21

We usually call political worldviews such as socialism __________.

A)secular callings
B)personal institutions
C)practical alternatives
D)ideologies

Question 22

The Japanese often celebrate births according to __________.

A)Shinto traditions
B)Christian rituals
C)Confucianism
D)Buddhist traditions

Question 23

__________ and __________,who consider themselves as Christian,have crucial additional beliefs that make them distinct from other Christian faiths.

A)Roman Catholics and Spiritualists
B)Baptists and the Druze
C)Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientologists
D)Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons

Question 24

What argument did Max Weber make in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?

A)that the spirit of capitalism was in danger of dying out
B)that Protestantism was critical in the development of full-blown capitalism
C)that the Protestant ethic developed as a reaction against capitalism
D)that religion was the perfect metaphor for capitalism

Question 25

Scientologists claim over __________ adherents although outsiders estimate the number as low as __________.

A)1 million;70,000
B)1 million;80,000
C)2 million;70,000
D)2 million;80,000

Question 26

A relatively high rate of fertility among conservative Protestants helped fuel the post-1960s growth of this religious group.

Question 27

Ninety-eight percent of sexually active Catholic women in the United States __________ contraception

A)have never used
B)would never use
C)have used
D)almost never use

Question 28

Which of the following statements about Buddhism is false?

A)No god is part of the Buddhist belief system.
B)Most Buddhists do not believe in reincarnation.
C)Buddhism has about 360 million adherents worldwide.
D)Many practicing Buddhists pray to statues of the Buddha.

Question 29

Before modernization,all societies were mostly religious and all societies had high birth rates and high death rates.

Question 30

The largest megachurch in America is led by a minister who preaches the prosperity gospel.

Question 31

How is communism most like a religion?

A)The Communist Manifesto is required reading.
B)The lives of Lenin and Marx are the subject of study and debate.
C)Communism is a politically powerful worldview.
D)The triumph of the working class is a mystical belief of communism.

Question 32

Surveys indicate that the fastest growing religion in the United States is Catholicism.

Question 33

Which religious faith has the most adherents worldwide?

A)Buddhism
B)Christianity
C)Hinduism
D)Islam

Question 34

In the context of the sociology of religion,the worship of the U.S.Constitution or reverence for the sayings of Chairman Mao can be construed as __________.

A)civil actions
B)civil disobedience
C)civil religion
D)civil engagement

Question 35

Among the following,which conforms least to the definition of sacred (those things that are worthy of awe and special treatment)?

A)the bible
B)Jerusalem
C)the Hajj
D)a last will and testament

Question 36

Americans look a lot like Europeans in terms of their religiosity.

Question 37

In the context of sociology,the concept of civil religion makes all the following things sacred EXCEPT __________.

A)the American flag
B)The Communist Manifesto
C)"Ground Zero"
D)the Torah

Question 38

How is a sociologist most likely to define religion?

A)as a doctrine or set of doctrines
B)as the behaviors,beliefs,and commitments of a group or society
C)as a set of ideas that constitutes one's daily actions
D)as goals pursued with religious fervor

Question 39

How does Emile Durkheim define religion?

A)Religion is concerned with the supernatural;everything else is secondary.
B)Religion is the way that societies deal with things that are sacred.
C)Religion is a set of ideas describing the relations between the natural and the supernatural.
D)Religion is a scientific approach to human affairs.

Question 40

Which religious sect controls religious matters in Saudi Arabia?

A)the Sunni
B)the Wahabbi
C)the Shi'a
D)the Tawhid

Question 41

How many religious congregations in the United States are regularly attended by less than 100 people?

A)one-quarter
B)one-third
C)one-half
D)more than one-half

Question 42

In which modern-day country did Buddhism originate?

A)China
B)India
C)Indonesia
D)Japan

Question 43

The Chinese have long exhibited an approach to religion that __________.

A)is essentially irreligious,by Western standards
B)rejects past traditions
C)excludes Buddhist beliefs and practices
D)combines elements of different religions

Question 44

Which of the following texts do Mormons consider sacred that other Christians do not?

A)the Book of Mormon
B)the Gospel of Judas
C)the Synoptic Gospels
D)the Book of the Trinity

Question 45

__________ is the combination of different forms of beliefs and practices

A)constructivism
B)relativism
C)syncretism
D)theocracy

Question 46

__________ are the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

A)Baptists
B)Episcopalians
C)Methodists
D)Presbyterians

Question 47

A __________ is an organized group with at least a few different doctrines that distinguish it from other such groups that are also adherents of the "same" religion.

A)religious branch
B)religious denomination
C)religious sect
D)religious tradition

Question 48

From a Durkheimian perspective,the primary social function of the religious social institution is the promotion of __________.

A)family life
B)the interpretation of religious matters
C)the omnipotence of God
D)social order

Question 49

Which of the big five religions is the newest?

A)Buddhism
B)Christianity
C)Hinduism
D)Islam

Question 50

By which name are members of the Unification Church known?

A)Daoists
B)Kami
C)Moonies
D)Myungyi

Question 51

Who coined the term "paganism"?

A)Babylonians
B)Christians
C)Greeks
D)Romans

Question 52

In "the Unity of the Three Religions" Chinese religious scholars taught that __________ were equivalent and complementary.

A)Buddhism,Confucianism,and syncretism
B)Buddhism,Confucianism,and Taoism
C)Confucianism,syncretism,and Taoism
D)Confucianism,Christianity,and Buddhism

Question 53

Of the following religions,which are considered composites of major religions?

A)Baha'i and Cao Dai
B)Cao Dai and Falun Gong
C)Falun Gong and New Age
D)Wicca and Baha'i

Question 54

What became the state church in Sweden after the Protestant Reformation?

A)Calvinism
B)Lutheranism
C)Presbyterianism
D)Roman Catholicism

Question 55

The spread of the big five religions came about mostly through __________.

A)the expansion of farming and accelerated birth rates
B)missionaries and the printed word
C)missionaries and conquest
D)war and conquest

Question 56

Which religious tradition originated in Iran?

A)Baha'i
B)Jainism
C)Shi'a Islam
D)Sikhism

Question 57

Which Christianity-related religious faith believes that the Trinity is unbiblical?

A)Copts
B)Eastern Orthodox Catholics
C)Jehovah's Witnesses
D)Mormons

Question 58

Which of the following statements about paganism is false?

A)Pagan religions often created representations of gods in concrete forms.
B)Pagan religions generally envision a set of gods and attendants who rule the world.
C)Remnants of pagan religions do not survive in modern times.
D)Pagan religions believe that gods can be appealed to through ritual,prayer,and sacrifice.

Question 59

__________ ascribe human characteristics to animals,plants,and inanimate objects,such as rocks and mountains.

A)Animists
B)Pagans
C)Scientologists
D)Spiritualists

Question 60

What are the two principal sects of Islam?

A)Sunni and Shi'a
B)Sunni and Wahabbi
C)Shi'a and Wahabbi
D)Wahabbi and Tawhid

Question 61

Which caste,in Hindu doctrine,is at the top of the social hierarchy?

A)Brahmin
B)warriors
C)traders
D)dalits

Question 62

Sociologists theorize that the most important factor distributing people into congregations is __________.

A)age
B)personal piety
C)place of residence
D)family status

Question 63

The fastest-growing segment of the church world is __________

A)Catholic
B)irreligious
C)nondenominational
D)syncretic

Question 64

More than 80 percent of African American church members belong to __________.

A)denominations that are integrated
B)integrated congregations
C)religiously liberal congregations
D)traditionally black denominations

Question 65

Which of the following statements about the status of Muslim women is false?

A)Girls are not trained to memorize the Koran (although some may choose to do so).
B)The number of women who pray at mosques is generally a fraction of the number of men.
C)Muslim women consider themselves religious in more or in equal numbers as Muslim men.
D)Women outnumber men at the Hajj by very large margins.

Question 66

Most religions seek to recruit,or proselytize,more members.Two notable exceptions to this rule are __________.

A)Buddhists and Hindus
B)Hindus and Jews
C)Jews and Jehovah's Witnesses
D)Jehovah's Witnesses and Sikhs

Question 67

Among the following groups,who is most likely to take up a "new religion"?

A)men
B)women
C)teenagers
D)tweens

Question 68

What do most sociologists agree is the most important reason that older people tend to be more religious than younger people?

A)Older people tend to fear death more than younger people.
B)Older people lack the rebelliousness of youth.
C)Older people were brought up in more religious times than younger people.
D)Older people started going to church at a later age than younger people.

Question 69

Which religious denomination in the United States has the highest percentage of college graduates?

A)Christians
B)Hindus
C)Lutherans
D)Reform Jews

Question 70

___________ famously said,"birth does not make one a priest or an outcaste.Behavior makes one either a priest or an outcaste."

A)The Buddha
B)Gandhi
C)Jesus of Nazareth
D)Mohammad

Question 71

Theodicy is an explanation of __________.

A)who achieves salvation
B)how immigrants adopt new religious traditions
C)how congregations form
D)why bad things happen to good people

Question 72

Of the following,which Christian denomination in the United States has the highest percentage of adherents who have annual incomes above $75,000?

A)Baptists
B)Methodists
C)Presbyterians
D)Unitarians

Question 73

Irreligion is the absence of __________

A)belief
B)morality
C)religion
D)spirituality

Question 74

What did the author of this chapter conclude about the religiosity of Americans over the life course?

A)After people have children themselves,they tend to move to communities where churches are more important and to think that they should teach their children about religion.
B)In the oldest part of the life course,church and the support of religion become less important to Americans.
C)Americans in their twenties are slightly more religious than middle-age Americans.
D)Parents,schools,and churches invest in children's religiosity somewhat haphazardly.

Question 75

Which group is more likely than the others to be religious and to rely on religious institutions?

A)the poor
B)the wealthy
C)the middle class
D)the lower middle class

Question 76

Who said that "religion is the opiate of the people"?

A)Durkheim
B)Engels
C)Marx
D)Rousseau

Question 77

The biblical story of the Exodus (the escape of the Jews from slavery in Egypt)reflects what type of theology for traditionally black churches?

A)immigrant theology
B)liberation theology
C)preservation theology
D)prosperity theology

Question 78

How many people in the United States formally change their religions or denominations in their lifetimes?

A)15 percent
B)20 percent
C)25 percent
D)30 percent

Question 79

The percentage of Americans with college degrees across all religious denominations is __________

A)about 30 percent
B)a little more than 35 percent
C)a little less than 40 percent
D)a little less than 45 percent

Question 80

Which of the following religious founders gave women rights of protection,divorce,and property where before they had had no rights?

A)Joseph Smith
B)Jesus
C)Mohammad
D)Moses