Deck 1: Why Religion

Question 1

According to Durkheim,how do the sacred and profane differ?

A)The sacred is found in the realm of the spiritual; the profane is found in the physical world.
B)The sacred is superior in dignity,more highly ranked,than the profane.
C)The sacred and the profane are understood as completely different and distinct from each other.
D)Depending on the religion,the sacred and profane differ in a variety of ways; there is no universal distinction.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In the example from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,the doctors and the patient's family

A)have similar cultural beliefs but different religious beliefs.
B)argue with each other about the source of the patient's problem.
C)agree that the patient's seizures were a medical problem that needed treatment.
D)do not agree about the source of the patient's problem and do not realize that they do not agree.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is a substantive definition of religion?

A)Religion is "the opium of the people."
B)Religion is "the audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe as humanly significant."
C)Religion is "an institution consisting of culturally patterned interaction with culturally postulated superhuman beings."
D)Religion is "a unified system of beliefs and practices,relative to sacred things…which unite into one single moral community called a Church,all who adhere to them."

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Who argued: religion is "the audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe as humanly significant"?

A)Emile Durkheim
B)Karl Marx
C)Peter Berger
D)Melford Spiro

Question 5

In the example from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,the patient's religion

A)played no role in her medical outcome.
B)was not explored or acknowledged by her doctors.
C)was explained to doctors by her parents.
D)played a key role in her treatment,as her doctors invited shamans to participate in her care.

Question 6

According to Peter Berger,humans are

A)fallen.
B)meaning-seeking creatures.
C)blinded to the real source of inequality.
D)curious and skeptical.

Question 7

To Berger,what does religion fend off?

A)evil
B)fear of the past
C)magic
D)a sense of chaos

Question 8

Which of the following is a limitation of substantive definitions of religion?

A)They tend to be rooted in particular times,places,and cultural contexts.
B)They are too abstract and general to be of any use to researchers.
C)They place too much focus on practices and not enough focus on beliefs.
D)They focus too much on minor and obscure religions.

Question 9

Who argued: religion is "a unified system of beliefs and practices,relative to sacred things…which unite into one single moral community called a Church,all who adhere to them"?

A)Emile Durkheim
B)Karl Marx
C)Peter Berger
D)Melford Spiro

Question 10

According to sociologists,religion is

A)evidence that God does not exist.
B)something humans created.
C)the same as God,or other deity,or higher power.
D)a figment of human imagination and thus unimportant to understand.

Question 11

Peter Berger distinguishes between "nomos" and "cosmos." Nomos is ______________; cosmos is ________________.

A)order seen as humanly constructed; order seen as transcending humans
B)chaos; order
C)sacred; profane
D)order seen as transcending humans; order seen as humanly constructed

Question 12

Who argued that religion is "the opium of the people"?

A)Emile Durkheim
B)Karl Marx
C)Peter Berger
D)Melford Spiro

Question 13

In the example from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,the patient and her family are

A)Christians.
B)atheists.
C)animists.
D)Buddhists.

Question 14

Social facts are

A)coercive patterns of thinking,acting,and feeling external to any one person.
B)universal truths about human beings and human community.
C)not observable.
D)evidence confirming or disconfirming social theories.

Question 15

To Durkheim,religious rituals

A)are precautions taken when the sacred and profane meet.
B)are unrelated to religious beliefs.
C)maintain a wide gulf between the sacred and the profane,preventing sacred things from coming into contact with profane things.
D)are states of opinion and consist in representations.

Question 16

To Durkheim,individual spirituality practiced in isolation from a larger community

A)is a form of religion.
B)contributes to social cohesion even more than religion does.
C)contributes to social cohesion as much as religion does.
D)is not part of what he considers to be religion.

Question 17

How do religious people experience religious constraints?

A)as rules they cannot break
B)as rules they can take or leave,with no significant consequences either way
C)as rules they may break,but at the risk of being sanctioned by others
D)Religion does not place constraints on people.

Question 18

According to Karl Marx,how does religion preserve existing social arrangements?

A)Religious leaders use their power to bolster political leaders.
B)Religion's beliefs and rituals directly reinforce existing social arrangements.
C)Religious ideology denies the afterlife and any rewards in the afterlife.
D)Religion dilutes the pains of daily life,so people don't see the true source of their problems.

Question 19

As an institution,religion is most stable when

A)a founding tale reveals the human roots of religious systems.
B)religion is set off from other social institutions.
C)believers are encouraged to choose a religion when they reach adulthood.
D)religion is understood to be timeless and emerging from other than human sources.