Answer : Many types of religious organizations exist in modern societies. Sociologists usually group them according to their size and influence. Categorized this way, three types of religious organizations exist: church (ecclesia and denomination), sect, and cult.

In the academic study of religion, cults can be defined as new movements that appear to represent considerable estrangement from, or indifference to, the older religious traditions; indeed, many do not at all resemble sectarian secession from an older tradition. The ....

Answer : As a cultural process, fashion is responsible for locating individuals within peer group or community to identify and make such group as reference group as Robert K. Merton hypothesized to explain individual behavior in social structure.

The concept of “reference group” has been used in several ways, but its utility can be maximized when it signifies that group whose presumed perspective is used by an actor as the frame of reference in the organization of his ....

Answer : Our present development process is the which who looks at environment and poor people as drag on the development process. According to Amratya Sen we must see development as the process to increase freedom of human beings. As environment protection itself is a way to increase human freedom, then the development process itself will become environment and people friendly. It is the tribal and mostly the village people who are affected by the displacement induced ....

Answer : According to Parsons, social system is an analytical tool to study society and its various parts. A system is a unified whole made up of interdependent parts called as subsystems. These subsystems are connected with each other in a patterned way. Every system has a well defined goal which defines its boundaries.

Beyond the boundaries there is environment which is always in flux. There exists dynamic equilibrium as system always tries to maintain equilibrium but as ....

Answer : Science refers to a systematic body of changing and certified knowledge based on observable facts. Religion refers to the institutionalized interaction between human beings and a non-empirical entity

where the human being propitiates and the entity reciprocates.

The relation between science and religion is very complex. At the same time they exist as competing systems and reinforcing each other. Merton showed that modern science emerged with the help of Protestantism. It provided legitimacy to the pursuit ....

Answer : Durkheim in his sociological study of religion presented sociological perspective of religion in place of traditional theory of religion like nature worship, animism, monotheism and evolutionary perspective. Durkheim presented sociological theory of religion by studying totemism of Arunta tribes in Australia. He added primary and profane religion to this which keeps important place in life of Arunta tribes.

According to Durkheim, totemism was elementary form of religion not because of being established first. Totemism was simple ....

Answer : During past three-four decades, on the global map, religious revivalism has emerged in the form of a new social-religious phenomenon whose aim is to reestablish lost prestige of religion by expanding its importance in all areas of social life. Today in contemporary world, religious revivalism activities on one side has freed people from identity crisis due to modern values and on other side by providing spiritual sight, which plays an important role in providing mental ....

Answer : Cultural pluralism is a term used when small groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider society.

Example of such case is United states which has a relative strong dominant culture which includes strong elements of nationalism, a sporting culture and an artistic culture. In pluralist culture, unique groups not only co-exist side by side but also consider qualities of other groups as traits ....

Answer : According Max weber, sect is a newly formed religious group that form to protest elements of their parent religion. A sect has distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in the past it was mostly used to refer to any organisation that breaks away from larger one to follow a different set of rules and principles and later on expanded in modern culture as organisation.

Whereas the cult refers to a new religious movement whose beliefs ....

Answer : Ethnicity refers to self consciousness of a group of people united, or closely related, by shared experience such as language, religious belief, common heritage, etc. In traditional modernization theory, ethnicity is seen as an obstacle and claims to ethnic identity as anti-developmental. According to this view, when people cling to their ethnic identities, they do not identify with the state. This is particularly true for poor nations like Sub-Saharan countries. In poor countries, state is ....

Answer : Science has empirical and rational basis to explain various facets of human life and to help mankind in leading a meaningful life. Religion, for thousands of years of human existence has been doing the same thing though without any empirical justification. Tylor argued that religion originated to satisfy man’s intellectual needs. For Miller, it was response to man’s emotional needs, resulting from the effect of nature upon man’s emotions. Today, it is seen in terms ....

Answer : Positive Religion refers to the “scientific religion” or religion of humanity championed by Auguste Comte. Comte’s “religion of humanity “ is based upon morality and religion and not upon belief in a divine force. Comtewas opposed to the theological type of religion. The object of worship should be mankind and not God. Comte was of the opinion that a society based on positivist principles needs positive religion.

He conceived of a society directed by the spiritual ....

Answer : In recent years, the belief that the onset of modernity would ultimately lead to a decline in religiousbelief- a theory known as the secularization thesis -has been challenged by what seems to be a revival of religious adherence across the world. This resurgence is characterized by the growing saliency and persuasiveness of religious beliefs, practices and discourses in both personal and public life. Social theorists and scholars see the rise in religiosity as a defensive ....

Answer : This statement is given by Albert Einstein. According to common perception, a huge gulf exists between science and religion. Because science deals with things concrete whereas religion is based upon abstract ideals. Science implies fact but religion involves faith. Religion is basically a matter of instinct and science that of reason. But there is a very close relationship between the two.

Since the time immemorial religion has been there with the human beings as an integral ....

Answer : Max Weber in his book “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” has shown the close relationship between a particular religion and the emergence of capitalism. According to Max Weber there is a great role of religion on the development of capitalist in American society as well as in the European society. He talked about the Protestant Ethick that emerged in Europe during 16th century. This Protestant ethic helped in the rise of capitalism ....

Answer : Secularization is a process of social change through which the influence of religion declines in public affair. This process is also concerned with an ideology which implies that the state will not be governed by religious authorities such as Bishop, Pandit, Mullah, Khalifa, etc.

In modern world religion is being replaced by other ways of explaining facts and events. The importance of religion in regulating social life is decreasing and is being taken over by the ....

Answer : Religion is concerned with world beyond the senses and belief is its essence. Such beliefs can neither be proved nor disapproved. But science is concerned with world known to us in terms of our sense perception.Thus, a scientist refuses to accept anything which cannot be tested.

However, this conflict does not concern those who look at science and religion from a different perspective. If one holds view that religion deals with first causesand science with immediate ....

Answer : There are various views and consideration about the origin of religion and its practices in pre-modern society. The thinkers like David Hume, Max Muller and Giddings claimed that the religion is a creation of man which is based on the illusion and fear. On the other hand, Herbert Spencer and Tylor argued that religion originated primarily in ghost fear and that aninism lies at the very basis of religion. Tylor quotes religion has evolved through ....

Answer : Though religion is a highly personal thing, yet it has a social role to play. It has been a powerful agency in society and performed many important social functions. According to Arnold W. Green, religion has three universal functions. Firstly, it rationalizes and makes bearable individual suffering in the Known World. Secondly, it enhances self-importance; and thirdly, it help to knit the social values of a society into a cohesive whole.

The following social functions ....

Answer : Science is a search for knowledge as well as method of solving problems. Both religion and science are forms of human understanding. Both science and religion are human ways to relating themselves to reality. Both science and religion try to make explicit the world of unknown. Religion is more collectively oriented than science, but science too emphasizes team spirit and cooperation of scientific community. Both science and religion claim access to truth. On many occasions ....

Answer : The functionalists have laid bare the functions which religion performs for society. In fact, traditional society and religion stood one for the other. No aspect of traditional society was untouched by the system of religion. Religion has functions even in the modern society where the value of secularism and the process of secularistation has scuttled the role of religion. However, some sociologists like Merton are open to the fact that religion is also a source ....

Answer : Religious pluralism simply refers to the existence of several religious group or community in the society. These are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism etc. Each religion possesses its distinct feature, which may or may not be, found in the other religions. For example, Islam does not believe in the statue worship whereas in Hindu it is the chief feature. The Christianity is the highest religious group, which constitutes about 33 percent of the world's population. Hinduism ....

Answer : One of the major fundamental elements of religion is the belief in the existence of supernatural agency. According to Ronald Robertson "religion refers to the existence of supernatural beings which have a governing effect on life. Melford E. Spiro adopts a similar definition when he states that religion is based on 'belief in supernatural being and in their power to assist or harm man. The second fundamental element of the religion is the practice of ....

Answer : The problem of conversion first figured with the coming of Muslims. During the Muslim period converts to Islam were drawn from lower strata of society. Very few from the higher strata joined Muslim ranks since they were not given equal treatment with original Muslims. Apart from this discrimination that was followed in Indian Islam, despite the principle of equality in Islam, some Hindu coverts chose to continue on their own old life-style just like the ....

Answer : Our beliefs determine our thoughts and attitudes about life, which in turn direct our actions. By our actions, we create our destiny. The following nine beliefs, though not exhaustive, offer a simple summary of Hindu spirituality.

• Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.
• Hindus believe in the divinity of the four Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These ....

Answer : A minority is defined by the social majority, i.e. those who hold the positions of power in a society. Dominant religion in a society endorses all sort of power in various sector from education, economic, health, political and social sectors make feel minority alienated in society. They face problems in all section of social structure. Religious minority groups in India are chiefly the Muslims, the Christians, the Sikhs, the Jains and the Buddhists, who have ....

Answer : India is a multicultural and multi-religious society. Here, followers of different religions live together. All have their own religious assumption, beliefs, thoughts and rites etc. For this type of societies, secularism is used under which different social institution become free from influence of religious beliefs and practices. In this way, to decrease increasing influence of religion in public life, efforts are on to strengthen process of secularism.

The main aim of secularization is to check the ....

Answer : Historically Indian society was compartmentalised on the basis of caste hierarchy in which different groups assigned different occupations and privileges. The certain segments of the society who were assigned lower occupation and lower position in the caste hierarchy were oppressed and exploited by those who belonged to higher castes. Consequently economically and socially they remained poor and marginalised. During course of history there had been emerging voices against the caste system. The system however remained. ....

Answer : The most important aspect of culture in India has been the religious diversity, because for a longtime India has been the home of followers belonging to all major religions of the world i.e. Hinduism, Islam, Christanity, Sikhism, Budhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Hinduism and all these religious faiths have been existing together for more than two thousands years within a shared cultural space. But these religious systems in India can be divided in two groups ....

Answer : Religious Revivalism: Religious revivalism can be said to be a process whereby important religious phenomena are revived either in public or private spheres of activities. In recent years religion as phenomena is making a comeback all over the world and India is also not an exception. Religious revivalism is a consequence of many factors- social, economic, political and also religious.

Religious revivalism can take form of ethnic identity movement based on religious ideology. Lack of development, ....

Answer : Minority groups are those which are distinct identities in a community. Such groups are likely to suffer from disadvantages due to prejudice or discrimination. The term ‘minority group’ as commonly used is not technical and indeed it is very often used to refer to categories of people rather than groups, and sometimes to majorities rather than minorities.

For example, though women are neither a group, nor minority, some writers classify them as minority group, because supposedly ....

Answer : Religion has a social aspect and social role to play in civil society. It has been a powerful agency in society and performed many important social functions. Civil society is given freedom, liberty and fraternity to the citizens of the country. It has a moral values and humanistic religion to work for the social structure of the society. So far Indian society is concerned, constitution has given a broader scope to the people of the ....

Answer : In the Muslim dominated Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits constitute a major Hindu-minority group. Due to the Pakistani sponsored terrorism in the valley, they are facing numerous problems. In a number of incidents, the Kashmiri Pandit and the other community have been largely killed. They are given threatening by the terrorist organisations to leave the valley. A large number of Hindus are, therefore, migrating to the nearby other cities where they are facing the problem ....

Answer : The minority community refers to those communities which are relatively low in numerical strength than the major Hindu community in India. Thus, Hindu is the majority community and Muslims, Sikhs, Christians etc. are the minority communities. In the religious minority community, the adherents of a religious group are very limited in comparison to the majority community. According to the religious census of 1991, there are 672.5 million Hindus, 95.2 million Muslims, 18.9 million Christians, 16.2 ....

Answer : The word ‘Secularism’ has been formulated with the Latin word secular, which means the present age or generation. Defining secularisation, Dr. M.N. Srinivas writes, ‘The term secularisation implies what was previously regarded as religious, now ceasing to be such, and it also implies a process of differentiation which results in the various aspects of society; economic; political, legal and moral, becoming increasingly discrete in relation to each other. Thus, the process of secularization is anti-religious. ....

Answer : The religious minority groups in India chiefly refers to the Muslim, the Christian, the Sikh etc. The Constitution of India has Provided him some safeguards. The preamble describes our Republic inter alia as secular. The concept of secularism in the Constitution is not to religion. It only means that there is no state religion, there is the equal respect for and protection of all religions, no one is to be discriminated on grounds of religion ....

Answer : Pluralism simply refers to the existence of several religious, racial and caste groups in the society. Traditionally, Indian society was a plural society. In this type of society maintaining social solidarity and cohesion is a rather difficult job. There are more social differentiation and heterogeneity in the society. The social values, customs, folkway, mores etc. of the different religious and racial groups are greatly different. Hence, there are the lack of collective conscience and universalistic ....

Answer : The communal tension, mutual antagonism and conflict among the different religious group have frequently occurred in India. In 1961, in Aligarh Muslim University, in 1963 Hazratbal Mosque in Jammu & Kashmir, in 1966 in Maharashtra riots occured, in 1969, serious riots broke out in Ahmedabad and problem was created when herd of cows which belonged to Hindu temple injured few Muslim boys near a mosque. It is estimated that about 600 people were killed in ....