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THIS WEBSITE HAS MOVED!!Please surf to www.ReligionTheSocialContext.Net
Religion: The Social Context contains a useful glossary. I have reproduced that glossary below: anomie -- a crisis in the moral order of a social group resulting in the inability of the group to provide order and normative regulation for individual members. authority -- power that is generally accepted by subjects as legitimate, not based on coercion. caste -- a group status position in society stratified by ascription charisma -- extraordinary personal qualities that are the basis of an audience granting the holder legitimate authority churchly collective stance -- characteristic of a type of religious group that considers itself uniquely legitimate and that maintains a relatively positive relationship with society churchly individual orientation -- typified by an acceptance of ordinary levels of personal religiosity and of a diffused religious role civil religion -- any set of beliefs and rituals related to the past, present, and/or future of a people ("nation") giving that people a transcendent sense of their collective destiny cognitive minority --a group of people whose worldview differs significantly from that of the dominant society collective representation -- group-held meanings expressing something important about the group itself commitment -- the process by which an individual increasingly identifies with the group, its meaning systems, and its goals conversion -- a transformation of one's self-identity concurrent with a transformation of one's basic meaning system cultic collective stance -- characteristic of a type of religious group that accepts the legitimacy claims of other groups but that maintains a relatively negative tension with the larger society. cultic/mystical individual orientation typified by a striving for personal spiritual virtuosity, but acceptance of a religious role segmented from other aspects of life denominational collective stance characteristic of type of religious group that accepts the legitimacy claims of other religious groups and in which the group maintains a positive relationship with the larger society denominational individual orientation typified by an acceptance of ordinary levels of personal religiosity and of a religious role segmented from other aspects of life deviance the recognized violation of culturally defined norms dualism a worldview based on a conceptualization of reality as consisting of two irreducible modes: Good versus Evil functional definitions of religion those approaches to studying religion that delineate the social functions religion fulfills: what religion does for the individual and social group globalization a process by which the world is increasingly compressed into a single social (and/or cultural) system, together with increased social consciousness of the world as a whole heresy a religious idea that has been socially defined by an official reli-gious group as seriously deviant and proscribed heterodoxy a teaching that is "other" than the official teaching of a religious group; not orthodox ideology system of ideas that explains and legitimates the actions and interests of a specific sector (e.g., class) of society individualization narrative that interprets social changes in the place of religion in society as a shift from conformity with group-defined "packages" of religious beliefs and practices to individual autonomy and flexibility in assembling person "packages" of religious beliefs and practices. individuation the process by which cultural and social structural arrangements come to consider each individual as a separate entity with separate concerns, especially in relation to group entities such as the family, tribe, religious group, or political and judicial institutions inner-worldly asceticism a pattern of religiosity characterized by norms of forgoing worldly pleasure but at the same time engaging in religious action in the world institutional differentiation process by which the various institutional spheres in society become separated from each other, with each institution performing specialized functions legitimacy social recognition of an authority’s claims to be taken seriously; it implies negative social sanctions for failure to comply with authoritative commands legitimating myth stories that individuals and groups use to justify their values, actions, and identity legitimation a socially established explanation that is given to justify a course of action messianism a millenarian worldview that expects the new social order to be ushered in by a divinely appointed leader ("messiah") millenarianism a worldview based on the expectation of an imminent collapse of the entire social order and its replacement with a perfect new order mortification the process of stripping the individual of vestiges of the "old self," while the person is becoming resocialized into a new identity consistent with that group’s beliefs and values nonofficial religion set of religious and quasi-religious beliefs and practices that is not accepted, recognized, or controlled by official religious groups occultism a worldview based on a set of claims that contradict established (i.e., official) scientific or religious knowledge and that typically emphasize "hidden" teachings official religion set of beliefs and practices prescribed, regulated, and socialized by organized, specifically religious groups orthodoxy teaching that conforms to the official teaching of a religious group; not heterodox or heretical orthopraxis practice (such as a ritual) that conforms to the official norms for practice of a religious group paranormal occurrences events outside the usual range of experiences particularism a worldview that holds that one’s own group’s beliefs and practices are the only legitimate ones plausibility structure social processes within a network of persons sharing a meaning system that enable those persons to accept that meaning system as taken for granted and believable pluralism a state in which cultural subgroups (e.g., religious or ethnic groups) are given formally equal social standing; no single group holds a monopoly in the definition of beliefs, values, and practices polity pattern of arrangements for the exercise of legitimate authority in an organization power the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others priest a religious role characterized by authority of "office," a functionary in an established official religion who celebrates its rituals, practices, and beliefs (in contrast to the religious role of the prophet) privatization process by which certain institutional spheres (including religion) become removed from effective roles in the public sphere profane that which is ordinary, part of everyday life [note: another usage, in common parlance, is as the opposite—even pejorative or negative-reverse—of "sacred"; i.e., that which defiles or pollutes what is defined as "sacred"] prophet a religious role characterized by charismatic authority and religiously based criticism of a society’s established authorities; there are two kinds: one who confronts the established powers as one who is sent by God to proclaim a message exemplary prophet one who challenges the status quo by living a kind of life that exemplifies a dramatically antiestablishment set of meanings and values proselytize actively try to persuade nonbelievers to become believers rationalization the process of change from tradition to rationality as the basis for thought (e.g., science), authority (e.g., rational law), and social organization (e.g., specialization and bureaucracy) relative deprivation a perceived disadvantage based on comparisons with other people’s social resources (material or nonmaterial) religious markets narrative that interprets social changes in the place of religion in society as the results of competition among religious groups in a marketplace of religious "goods and services"; accordingly, conditions affecting supply and demand in a given society’s market make religion vigorous and prominent in some societies and eras but not in others religious reorganization narrative that interprets social changes in the place of religion in society as instances of shifts in the locus of religious commitment and belonging (e.g., from denomination to congregation) rites of passage rituals that accompany a change of social status such as age-grade, office, marriage status, etc. ritual symbolic actions that represent religious meanings routinization of charisma the transformation of charismatic authority into some other basis of authority, such as tradition or the authority of office sacred that which is defined as extraordinary, awesome, and powerful—whether revered or feared, and set apart (from the profane) as holy sectarian collective stance characteristic of type of religious group that considers itself to be uniquely legitimate and in which the group maintains a relatively negative tension with the larger society sectarian individual orientation typified by a striving for personal spiritual virtuosity (together with rejection of ordinary levels of religiosity) and emphasis on a diffused religious role sectarianism a worldview that emphasizes the unique legitimacy of believers’ creed and practices and that heightens negative tension with the larger society by engaging in boundary-maintaining practices secularization narrative that interprets social changes in the place of religion in society as decline in religion’s power, influence, prestige, and/or popularity in the public sphere. self-identity each person’s biographical arrangement of meanings and interpretations that form a somewhat coherent sense of "who am I?" social capital non-material investments (such as in networks of social support, bonds of trust) which may have future "payoffs" (e.g. credit, reciprocal obligations, hiring and promotion) social change the transformation over time of culture and social institutions social control all the ways by which members of a culture encourage and enforce conformity to cultural norms societalization social change in which individuals come to experience their lives as being linked and organized societally rather than locally (as in earlier eras) stratification the ranking of categories of people in a society into a hierarchy of prestige and privilege substantive definitions of religion those approaches to studying religion that delineate what religion is—what qualities and content are essentially religious syncretism beliefs and practices that result from the amalgamation of two or more diverse cultural elements or traditions theodicy religious explanation that provides meaning for meaning-threatening experiences such as death, disaster, and poverty virtuosi, religious those who strive for religious perfection (however defined) and are not satisfied by the normal levels of religiosity of the masses worldview a comprehensive meaning system, locating all experiences of the individual or social group in a single general explanatory arrangement
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