In my personal opinion, it is possible for an individual to feel as if they are an outsider to a religious group of people, or a religion as a consensus. On the other hand, I believe that is it quite impossible to be a complete outsider of a religion. But I believe it is possible to be an outsider of a certain type of religion, if you know nothing about it. Then one can easily become an insider if they immerse themselves in that religion’s culture and study it’s practices. Currently in my life, I do not practice or affiliate myself with any type of religion or religious group, so therefore I can classify myself as an outsider of religion in my present state. But years ago when I was younger, my family had my siblings and I attend a protestant church in my neighborhood every Sunday, and were active members of the church community. In this church I was baptized and confirmed as a member of the church. So all together, I don’t think I can classify myself as an outsider of religion because I’ve experienced what it is like to be involved in this type of group. I also am educated about other religions and exposed to them in everyday life just by knowing other people of different religious backgrounds and coming from a very diverse country, the United States of America. Since I am an educated individual in society today, I am well aware of different religious practices throughout the world and in Great Britain. This is my overall opinion and viewpoint on what an outsider/insider of religion can be considered.
In general, I believe that ones definition of a complete outsider is completely individualistic. It is my opinion that one could only be deemed a complete outsider if they shut themselves out from the outside world completely. Thi...
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...ritain, religion is very recognized. We see it so often it is hard to miss. This contributes to the idea that it is impossible to be a complete outsider of religion in modern Britain.
References
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Bruce, S. 1995. Religion in modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cotter, C. R. 2012. George Chryssides on the Insider/Outsider Problem. The Religious Studies Project. [podcast] February 20, 2012. Available at: http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/podcast-george-chryssides-on-the-insideroutsider-problem/ [Accessed: 3 Jan 2014].
Partridge, C. and Woodhead, L. 2001. Religions in The Modern World: Religion and popular culture. 2nd ed. London, Great Britain: Routledge.
Woodhead, L. and Catto, R. 2012. Religion and change in modern Britain. London: Routledge.
A high stress is placed on morals, beliefs and one’s religion which is fine but that starts to leak into the cracks of the democracy component associated with UK’s governing system. Another point to draw is what differentiates “other principal religions represented in Great Britain” from the almost bolded religion of Christianity. As a result, students are breed to be more uniformed. After a religious education, one will be able to give an opinionated justification of whether or not there is a God, whether or not the legalization of drugs should take place, whether abortion is moral for women (Strhan Pg.
Richard Madsen, William Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven Tipton, eds. Meaning and Modernity: Religion, Polity and Self. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA. 2002.
To begin with, when I was younger I would have considered myself an outsider because when I first started school, I didn’t have the characteristics to fit in and felt like I would not blend into the people I was surrounded by. Also, I have met many people who have presented experiences from their past when they had felt like they didn’t fit in because they couldn’t keep up the standards to be popular. In social media, there are many guidelines that people feel the need to meet in order to feel like you belong and some who don’t match up can feel like outsiders, and that happens to many. Furthermore, in today’s society people feel the need to be popular or to fit in, and if they can’t meet the expectations they are considered an outsider and that happens universally. Others may suggest that just because someone doesn’t fit in a group doesn’t mean they are considered an outsider, they are just someone who doesn’t meet certain expectations. However, many others would disagree and would label someone an outsider when they don’t fit in or don’t meet expectations of society because that makes them think they don’t
The sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. Thus, the purpose of this comprehensive exam is to give me an opportunity to demonstrate mastery over relevant theories, methods, and empirical findings in major subfields of the sociology of religion. This reading list also provides a strong foundation in the central theoretical perspectives, main classic and current debates, and prominent published empirical studies in the field. Hence, this reading list includes a core set of readings to which we most often refer in our studies and enables comprehensive analyses about the
Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor, 1967. Print.
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
"Salford City Council." Why Is Religious Education (RE) Important? -. N.p., 13 May 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
An outsider is someone who doesn’t belong to a particular group, but are outsiders most likely to be a boy or a girl? Females are most likely to be an outsider because there is more pressure on them in society to look good and be attractive. Girls are judged on the way they look and how they act. Between a boy and a girl, a girl is most likely to be an outsider because girls are expected to look a certain way and act a certain way in society.
Fisher, Mary Pat (2002). Living Religions, Fifth Edition Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
In a time where industry was at a peak, and the wealthy citizens, or bourgeois, were getting richer and richer, religion was being used as a way to make money and ensure the power of the upper class, while the lower class proletariats could but watch their lives fade away into the horrific conditions of the working class, with little hope due to the lack of lower class education.[2] As religions spread out freely, the authoritarian peoples frequently used their power to embrace religion as a moneymaker, and prevent liberty from turning ...
Throughout history there have been examples of religion being regarded as traditional and of people dissenting from the traditional religion. This essay will trace the footsteps of tradition and dissent of Christianity in England between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries by looking at the statement “… a previous generation’s “dissent” itself becomes “tradition”, and a previously dominant tradition becomes dissent.” (Tradition and Dissent p72). With particular reference to the differences between Protestants and Catholics.
When someone mentions religion, words such as God, church, and purity most commonly come to mind. One must ask just how far religion affects the purity of its adherents. To put it in sociological terms, how far does religion go in reducing and eradicating deviance in those who practice? Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge, who is well-known for his work in the sociology of religion, has researched this theory in his essay “The Religious Ecology of Deviance” published by the American Sociological Association.