Have you ever heard of Pastafarianism? No, not Rastafarianism, the Jamaican religion that considers Ethiopia’s former Emperor Haile Selassie the Messiah. I’m talking about Pastafariansim. Also known as the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster,” it is legally recognized as a religion in New Zealand, Poland, and the Netherlands. What about the Church of Jediism? Founded in 2008, it has followers in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and a temple in Texas. Even Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Philip (1921-2021), had a group of followers on the Vanuatuan island of Tanna. By all accounts, followers of the Prince Philip Movement (PPM) believed Prince Philip was god and deeply mourned his passing. There are probably a lot of religions, religious groups, and religious movements you’ve never heard of. From a sociological perspective, all religions have certain features in common. Those commonalities will be the focus of our attention for the next few minutes.
Christianity. Islam. Hinduism. Judaism. These are the big names in religion. Even though their numbers of adherents vary tremendously, they all have a level of name recognition around the world. While religions vary in their beliefs, they all divide their world into the realms of the sacred, things set apart and requiring special religious treatment, and the profane, ordinary and familiar realm of everyday existence. For example, the Bible, Koran, Vedas, and Torah are all sacred texts. As such, they are treated with the utmost respect by followers of their respective religions. In that same vein, followers of Jediism might find the Star Wars trilogy sacred and only handle the books with care. By comparison, a recipe book from a used bookstore can be handled in any way and, thus, is considered profane.
Religions are typically categorized as either monotheistic because of their belief or worship of a single god or polytheistic because of their belief or worship of more than one god. Sociologists who study religions don’t just look at the gods that are worshiped. They also consider religiosity, the beliefs and behaviors associated with transcendent or spiritual concerns. Additionally, they may investigate how religion influences the secular world, as in the case of Islamic law or sharia, the revealed word of God based on the Qur’an serving as the body of Islamic law. Regardless of religion, there are always some followers who practice fundamentalism, a strict adherence to conservative religious ideology.
The interesting thing about religion isn’t just in the beliefs or the ideas of what is sacred vs. profane. The interesting part is its role in creating social cohesion, bonds between members that maintain stability in society. These bonds create a sense of belonging. They offer a guiding philosophy for life. They give strength in the face of the unknown and unanswerable. They give followers a safe harbor to address their personal troubles or conspire about public issues. Whether you believe in a particular religion or see it as just silly, think like a sociologist and look beyond the obvious differences. Train your intellectual eyes to look for the how, what, when, and why that draw people to the religion in the first place.
