Sociology 310H
Honors Sociology of Religion
Spring 2003
Dr. Scott Schaffer

Discussion Questions, Weeks 9-11: Disruptive Religion

Format: Same as the last section – these questions guide our examination of how religion serves as a basis for social action and social change. You should prepare these questions for discussion in each lecture, and should write up summaries of your group discussions for each week. These questions are drawn from the introductory essay in Disruptive Religion and are complemented by the questions we’ve been dealing with during the semester.

1. Transcendent motivation: What characteristics of the religion’s theology provide the bases for social action? What kinds of legitimation for social action are rooted in the sacred? How does the religion provide a moral imperative for some form of justice, and what are the characteristics of this version of justice? What concepts of the individual and their relations with the social serve as the basis for social-actional meaning systems?

2. Organizational resources: What are the bases and modes of leadership exercised within this movement? What are the financial resources available for the kinds of social action engaged in by this organization and how are they garnered? What incentives for solidarity and social action are provided by this organization and its belief system? What kinds of communication channels are developed and fostered by this organization?

3. Shared identity: What are the bases for forms of membership identification among strangers? How do these identity claims serve a function both within and across actional communities? How are these forms of identification maintained against both outside threats and the possible lack of internal cohesion?

4. Social and geographic positioning: How concentrated or dispersed are the members of this actional community? What kinds of associations cross-cut membership in this community? What kinds of organizations complement and/or strengthen the sense of membership and possibilities for action in this community?

5. Privileged legitimacy: How do the organization and its belief system benefit from an authority and/or political legitimacy in public opinion? To what extent is this religious group protected or oppressed in their ability to practice a sacred belief system? What reciprocal relationship is there between this group’s ability to act upon its beliefs and the dominant political group’s ability to encourage or hinder this group’s agency?

6. Institutional self-interest: To what extent is the religious organization/group acting in its own self-interest or sacrificing its interests in the name of some other goal? How does this group’s actions represent an advancement or demise of its institutional survival?

7. Distance between social discourse and social reality: How do the actions of this group and the results of these actions differ from the sacred meaning systems that motivate these actions? To what extent do the results of these actions reflect a sense of justice or injustice (as described in the term project assignment)? How does this version of justice compare with that offered by the sacred meaning systems that motivate the action?