Question 1

Who wrote: "A belief in all-pervading spiritual agencies seems to be universal; and apparently follow from a considerable advance in man's reason,and from a still greater advance in his faculties of imagination,curiosity and wonder"?

Accepted Answer

A)  sociologist Peter Berger
B)  political economist and sociologist Karl Marx
C)  sociologist Emile Durkheim
D)  evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin D

Question 2

Secular humanists who gathered in Boston in 2008

Accepted Answer

A)  were religious and attended church regularly.
B)  rejected the idea that a congregation-like community might be valuable.
C)  espoused a positive philosophy of ethical living for the human good.
D)  believed that religious communities can do more to support believers' values than do nonreligious communities. C

Question 3

To understand morality,you have to understand

Accepted Answer

A)  the behavioral expectations in a community and the boundaries around the community.
B)  the behavioral expectations in a community.
C)  the behavioral expectations of a community and the penalties for violating them.
D)  the boundaries around the community and the mechanisms for banishing people from the community. A

Question 4

The medical profession

Accepted Answer

A)  is not a moral community because it does not have a religious basis.
B)  is not a moral community because it has no authority over members.
C)  is a moral community that is based on religious beliefs.
D)  is a moral community with rules,sanctions,and boundaries.

Question 5

all Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger argued that the roots of the 2008 financial crisis rested in

Accepted Answer

A)  the personal moral failure of workers in the financial industry.
B)  the failure of regulators to monitor the financial industry.
C)  the secularization of U.S.society.
D)  all of the above

Question 6

Between religious and secular moral codes,which is likely to be most stable?

Accepted Answer

A)  religious codes,because those in power are the strongest believers
B)  religious codes,because it seems as if the code was designed and imposed outside the human community
C)  secular codes,because they have the force of law behind them
D)  Each type is equally stable.

Question 7

According to Kelman and Hamilton,who studied the massacre that happened at My Lai during the Vietnam War,dehumanization occurs when

Accepted Answer

A)  people are viewed as having an identity that is only relevant to a different community.
B)  people are viewed as having both identity and community.
C)  people are viewed as having lost their identity to a deviant community.
D)  people are viewed as having neither identity nor community.

Question 8

According to sociologist Emile Durkheim,moral codes

Accepted Answer

A)  are experienced as oppressive constraints on individual action.
B)  are invented by religious leaders and encoded into law by political leaders.
C)  impose the same regulations and constraints across societies.
D)  bring people into the community and provides a sense of belonging to something larger.

Question 9

In his work on clergy deviance (e.g.,financial shenanigans,sexual abuse),what did Anson Shupe focus on?

Accepted Answer

A)  characteristics of religious leaders that made them more likely to deviate
B)  how religious organizations respond to deviance
C)  how deviance among leaders affects religious communities
D)  how negative media coverage affects religious communities

Question 10

Moral codes

Accepted Answer

A)  have the same content everywhere.
B)  vary widely across societies.
C)  usually seem weird to both community members and those outside the community.
D)  existed long before there were any human communities.

Question 11

According to Rodney Stark and Travis Hirschi,who studied adolescent religiosity and delinquency,

Accepted Answer

A)  less religious adolescents were more delinquent.
B)  more religious adolescents were more delinquent.
C)  a kid's religiosity affects his delinquency,but only in communities with higher overall levels of religiosity.
D)  a kid's religiosity affects his delinquency,but only in communities with lower overall levels of religiosity.

Question 12

According to Robert Bellah,"Civil Religion" in the U.S.

Accepted Answer

A)  frames events in U.S.history as a part of a larger transcendent order.
B)  blinds us to the reality of our existence.
C)  excludes large numbers of U.S.citizens from active participation in our political order.
D)  claims that Christianity is the official religion of the U.S.

Question 13

Compared to secular moral systems,religiously-based moral systems

Accepted Answer

A)  appear more closely linked to a broader cosmic order.
B)  are more obviously the products of human beings.
C)  are less oppressive.
D)  are more oppressive.

Exam 14: Do We Need God to Do Good