GRADE

12
UNDERSTANDING

CULTURE, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS

Meaning and
Importance of
Education in a
Society:

Prepared by:
MS. JUDY ANN T.
FLORES
Saint Paul School of Buug
UCSP Teaher
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Hello, my dear Paulinian!

St. Paul School of Buug warmly welcomes you to this unique SY 2020-2021. This is different from the traditional
way of learning in a traditional classroom, for we will be conducting our class in a remote/distant way of teaching &
learning according to the learning modality that you have chosen, for our safety and well-being as we protect ourselves
from this COVID 19 pandemic. Please know that Face to Face teaching and learning will only happen if and when our
local DOH, IATF and LGU would already allow us to do so. Meanwhile, SPSB is offering you iPAUL (inclusive Paulinian
Adaptive Unimpeded Learning).

I am _________. I will be your teacher in _________. You may contact me at 09____________ or FB Messenger
__________ or email me at ___________, from Monday to Friday EXCEPT WEDNESDAY at 3:00-4:30 pm ONLY. While I
will be making every effort to respond to your queries as soon as possible, but be sure to contact me only on this
specified time allotment for Consultation. I hope and pray that you are safe and in good health at home.

This learning packet/module is designed to help you find your way through this subject. This will guide you on
what to do in your remote/distance learning. The Learning Packet/Module will be sent to you through FB Messenger or
emailed to you or picked up from the Principal’s Office on our agreed day & time. You will be notified when will be next
set of learning packet/module ready for you. Likewise, you are expected to submit your accomplished tasks/activities/
worksheets on our scheduled day & time. For hard copy, your submitted works/requirements must be put inside an
envelope properly labeled with your Name, Grade Level & Section. These shall be the basis for your Attendance &
Participation in assessing how much you have learned and thus, basis for your Grade.

Hand in hand with this Learning Packet/Module, you are required to have your own Textbook in this subject.
Please get your textbook from your Class Adviser.

Be reminded also that our lessons this school year shall follow the given MELCs of DepEd. Therefore as we go through
our lessons, the pages in your textbook might not follow how it is presented in its table of contents.

Still basing on DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015, assessment will be modified using the following (until such a new
guideline from the Department of Education is given):

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 As Paulinians, you are expected to attain the following Life Performance Outcomes:

 Mindful, self-directed LEARNERS & ROLE MODELS

 Courageous, resourceful EXPLORERS & PROBLEM SOLVERS
 Credible, responsive COMMUNICATORS & TEAM PLAYERS
 Conscientious, adept PERFORMERS & ACHIEVERS, and
 Caring committed ADVOCATES for PEACE and UNIVERSAL WELL-BEING

Aside from academic competence, equally important areas to be developed among you are DISCIPLINE and VALUES
FORMATION. Conduct and effort go beyond the limits of any school set-up. However, given the nature of iPAUL,
Conduct will emphasize (online) behavior, specifically important digital citizenship skills and dispositions such as
netiquette, respect, and academic integrity (offline & online). On the other hand, Effort is seen through the quality of
work and consistency in performing the assigned tasks.

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LIFE PERFORMANCE OUTCOME
LPO5: Caring, Committed ADVOCATES for Peace and Universal Well-Being

PROGRAM OUTCOME:
PO: Describe the major economic, political, social, and environmental challenges that they
and millions of Filipinos face in leading productive, fulfilling lives, and develop viable
alternatives for addressing them
ESSENTIAL PERFORMANCE OUTCOME:
EPO8: Willingly share responsibilities and participate actively in fostering group collegiality,
cohesion, and effectiveness
CONTENT STANDARDS:
The learners demonstrate an understanding of:
1. cultural, social, and political institutions as sets of norms and patterns of behavior that
relate to major social interests
2. social stratification as the ranking of individuals according to wealth, power, and prestige
3. social and political inequalities as features of societies and the global community
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
The learners:
1. analyze aspects of social organization
2. identify one’s role in social groups and institutions
3. recognize other forms of economic transaction such as sharing, gift exchange, and
redistribution in his/her own society

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCIES:

*Evaluate how the functions of education affect the lives of people in society.
*Promote primary education as a human right.
*Define animism, monotheism, and polytheism
*Explain the different types of religious organizations and religions.
*Discuss the belief system of the major world religion

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME: The learners will be able to articulate

observations on human cultural variations, social differences, social change,
and political identities.

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Pre-Test

ACTIVITY 1

ACTIVITY 2

ACTIVITY 3

ACTIVITY 4

SELF
EVALUATION

POST TEST

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 I. Below is an outline of a schoolhouse with ten features. Write in the
boxes the things you will normally learn from these features. Outside
the outline of the schoolhouse, write things you will normally learn
outside the school environment. Categorize your answers either as
manifest or latent functions of education.

SENIOR HIGH

Classroom Cafeteria Playground Flag Chapel

Ceremony

Gym Library Classroom Principal’s Open

Office Field

Manifest Functions Latent Functions

____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____________________________ ____________________________
____ _

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Time Frame
Day: Monday-Friday
Note: Please Pass as soon as you finish
the Activity Worksheets prior to the
weeks given.
INTRODUCTION

As we learned in the previous chapter, culture is key to human adaptation, and

as such every society has its own culture. In this chapter, we look at how individuals
learn culture and become competent members of society through the process of
enculturation or socialization, or the process of preparing individuals for membership
in a given society. It explores four theories that explain the development of the self as
a product of this process. The process of socialization entails learning the various
elements of a society’s culture as well as its social structure. The discussion focuses
on values, norms, status, and roles, as well as gender role socialization. The Reader
for this course includes an article by Hiromu Shimizu which examines the process of
socialization in the Philippines. Shimizu shows how the social environment in which
Filipino children grow up orients the child toward getting along and being cooperative
with others. Another article, by Michael Herzfeld, dissects how individuals become
socialized to become indifferent persons, with social indifference being conditioned
by the state, and the political and ideological interests that underpin bureaucratic
structures.

Since it is important that members follow cultural norms, every society has a
system of social control to encourage conformity and discourage deviance or norm
breaking. Nevertheless, deviance to a certain extent is tolerated by society. To
understand why, this chapter explores Emile Durkheim’s argument that deviance has
at least four social functions. Robert Merton argued that the extent and type of
deviance people engage in depend on whether a society provides the means (such
as schooling and job opportunities) to achieve cultural goals (such as financial
success). Conformity lies in pursuing cultural goals through approved means. Four
types of deviance may, however, arise from the inability to achieve a cultural goal
using socially approved means.

The discussion of socialization and deviance emphasizes that members of any

society have to work toward the continued existence of that society. Carol Hanish, Richard
Bellamy, and Arjun Appadurai and Katerina Stenou explore the wider context, content,
processes, and consequences of socialization, conformity, and deviance. Hanish discusses
the rise of social movements, in particular the feminist movement in the United States, and in
a broader sense, how important collective action is for a collective solution. Bellamy explores
citizenship, why it matters, and the challenges confronting it today. Appadurai and Stenou
utilize the idea of cultural pluralism as a lens for understanding and addressing the situation
of migrants, refugees, minorities, and many others.

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Lesson 1
Meaning and Importance of Education in a Society:

The Importance of Education Education is an important issue in one’s life.

It is the key to success in the future and to have many opportunities in our life.
Education has many advantages for people. For instance, it illuminates a
person’s mind and thinking. It helps students to plan for work or pursue a higher
education while graduating from university. Having education in an area helps
people think, feel, and behave in a way that contributes to their success, and
improves not only their personal satisfaction but also their community. In
addition, education develops human personality, thoughts, dealing with others
and prepares people for life experiences. It makes people have a special status
in their own society and everywhere they live in. I believe that everyone is
entitled to have education ‘’from cradle to grave’’. There are various benefits of
having education such as having a good career, having a good status in society,
and having self-confidence. First of all, education gives us the chance of having a
good career in our life. We can have plenty of chances to work at any workplace
we wish. In other words, opportunities for a better employment can be more and
easy. The highly educated we are the better chance we get. Moreover, education
polishes our mind, reinforces our thoughts, and strengthens our character and
behaviors toward others. It equips us with information in various fields in general
and our specialization in particular; especially what we need to master in our job
career. Therefore, without education we may not survive properly nor have a
decent profession. Furthermore, education grants us a good status in society. As
educated people, we are considered as a valuable source of knowledge for our
society. Having education helps us teach others morals, manners and ethics in
our society. For this reason, people deal with us in a considerable and special
way for being productive and resourceful. In addition, education makes us a role
model in society when our people need us to guide them to the right way or when
they want to take a decision. Thus, it is an honor for us to serve our community
and contribute towards its advancement. In fact, being educated is an advantage
to help our people and build a good society. Besides, it is very well-known that
having self-confidence is always generated from education. It is a great blessing
for us to have self-confidence which leads to many advantages and success in
life. For example, it helps us manage specific tasks, tackle life’s challenges and
maintain positive stands. Additionally, having self-confidence is typically based
on proper education; paving the path for us to success. Accordingly, self-
confidence makes us aware of how well we perform a task or a range of actions.
In short, being educated is undoubtedly being self-confident and successful in
life. All in all, education is the process of acquiring knowledge and information
that lead to a successful future. As discussed above, there are a lot of positive
traits of having education; such as having a good career, having a good status in
society, and having self-confidence. Education makes us view obstacles as
challenges to overcome with no fear; facing new things. It is the main factor
behind successful people and the merit of developed countries. Therefore,
education is deemed a real success behind any future success.

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 Sociological Perspectives on Education

The Functions of Education

Functional theory stresses the functions that education serves in fulfilling a

society’s various needs. Perhaps the most important function of education
is socialization. If children need to learn the norms, values, and skills they need
to function in society, then education is a primary vehicle for such learning.
Schools teach the three Rs, as we all know, but they also teach many of the
society’s norms and values. In the United States, these norms and values include
respect for authority, patriotism (remember the Pledge of Allegiance?),
punctuality, individualism, and competition. Regarding these last two values,
American students from an early age compete as individuals over grades and
other rewards. The situation is quite the opposite in Japan, where, as we saw
in Chapter 4 “Socialization”, children learn the traditional Japanese values of
harmony and group belonging from their schooling (Schneider & Silverman,
2010). They learn to value their membership in their homeroom, or kumi, and are
evaluated more on their kumi’s performance than on their own individual
performance. How well a Japanese child’s kumi does is more important than how
well the child does as an individual.
A second function of education is social integration. For a society to work,
functionalists say, people must subscribe to a common set of beliefs and values.
As we saw, the development of such common views was a goal of the system of
free, compulsory education that developed in the 19th century. Thousands of
immigrant children in the United States today are learning English, U.S. history,
and other subjects that help prepare them for the workforce and integrate them
into American life. Such integration is a major goal of the English-only movement,
whose advocates say that only English should be used to teach children whose
native tongue is Spanish, Vietnamese, or whatever other language their parents

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 speak at home. Critics of this movement say it slows down these children’s
education and weakens their ethnic identity (Schildkraut, 2005).
A third function of education is social placement. Beginning in grade
school, students are identified by teachers and other school officials either as
bright and motivated or as less bright and even educationally challenged.
Depending on how they are identified, children are taught at the level that is
thought to suit them best. In this way they are prepared in the most appropriate
way possible for their later station in life. Whether this process works as well as it
should is an important issue, and we explore it further when we discuss school
tracking shortly.
Social and cultural innovation is a fourth function of education. Our
scientists cannot make important scientific discoveries and our artists and
thinkers cannot come up with great works of art, poetry, and prose unless they
have first been educated in the many subjects they need to know for their chosen
path.
Figure 16.1 The Functions of Education

Education also involves several latent functions, functions that are by-

products of going to school and receiving an education rather than a direct effect
of the education itself. One of these is child care. Once a child starts kindergarten
and then first grade, for several hours a day the child is taken care of for free.
The establishment of peer relationships is another latent function of schooling.
Most of us met many of our friends while we were in school at whatever grade
level, and some of those friendships endure the rest of our lives. A final latent
function of education is that it keeps millions of high school students out of the
full-time labor force. This fact keeps the unemployment rate lower than it would
be if they were in the labor force.

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 Education and Inequality
Conflict theory does not dispute most of the functions just described.
However, it does give some of them a different slant and talks about various
ways in which education perpetuates social inequality (Hill, Macrine, & Gabbard,
2010; Liston, 1990). One example involves the function of social placement. As
most schools track their students starting in grade school, the students thought
by their teachers to be bright are placed in the faster tracks (especially in reading
and arithmetic), while the slower students are placed in the slower tracks; in high
school, three common tracks are the college track, vocational track, and general
track.
Such tracking does have its advantages; it helps ensure that bright
students learn as much as their abilities allow them, and it helps ensure that
slower students are not taught over their heads. But, conflict theorists say,
tracking also helps perpetuate social inequality by locking students into faster
and lower tracks. Worse yet, several studies show that students’ social class and
race and ethnicity affect the track into which they are placed, even though their
intellectual abilities and potential should be the only things that matter: white,
middle-class students are more likely to be tracked “up,” while poorer students
and students of color are more likely to be tracked “down.” Once they are
tracked, students learn more if they are tracked up and less if they are tracked
down. The latter tend to lose self-esteem and begin to think they have little
academic ability and thus do worse in school because they were tracked down.
In this way, tracking is thought to be good for those tracked up and bad for those
tracked down. Conflict theorists thus say that tracking perpetuates social
inequality based on social class and race and ethnicity (Ansalone, 2006; Oakes,
2005).
Social inequality is also perpetuated through the widespread use of
standardized tests. Critics say these tests continue to be culturally biased, as
they include questions whose answers are most likely to be known by white,
middle-class students, whose backgrounds have afforded them various
experiences that help them answer the questions. They also say that scores on
standardized tests reflect students’ socioeconomic status and experiences in
addition to their academic abilities. To the extent this critique is true,
standardized tests perpetuate social inequality (Grodsky, Warren, & Felts, 2008).
As we will see, schools in the United States also differ mightily in their
resources, learning conditions, and other aspects, all of which affect how much
students can learn in them. Simply put, schools are unequal, and their very
inequality helps perpetuate inequality in the larger society. Children going to the
worst schools in urban areas face many more obstacles to their learning than
those going to well-funded schools in suburban areas. Their lack of learning
helps ensure they remain trapped in poverty and its related problems.
Conflict theorists also say that schooling teaches a hidden curriculum, by
which they mean a set of values and beliefs that support the status quo, including
the existing social hierarchy (Booher-Jennings, 2008) (see Chapter 4
“Socialization”). Although no one plots this behind closed doors, our

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schoolchildren learn patriotic values and respect for authority from the books they
read and from various classroom activities.
Symbolic Interactionism and School Behavior
Symbolic interactionist studies of education examine social interaction in
the classroom, on the playground, and in other school venues. These studies
help us understand what happens in the schools themselves, but they also help
us understand how what occurs in school is relevant for the larger society. Some
studies, for example, show how children’s playground activities reinforce gender-
role socialization. Girls tend to play more cooperative games, while boys play
more competitive sports (Thorne, 1993) (see Chapter 11 “Gender and Gender
Inequality”).
Another body of research shows that teachers’ views about students can
affect how much the students learn. When teachers think students are smart,
they tend to spend more time with them, to call on them, and to praise them
when they give the right answer. Not surprisingly these students learn more
because of their teachers’ behavior. But when teachers think students are less
bright, they tend to spend less time with them and act in a way that leads the
students to learn less. One of the first studies to find this example of a self-
fulfilling prophecy was conducted by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson
(1968). They tested a group of students at the beginning of the school year and
told their teachers which students were bright and which were not. They tested
the students again at the end of the school year; not surprisingly the bright
students had learned more during the year than the less bright ones. But it turned
out that the researchers had randomly decided which students would be
designated bright and less bright. Because the “bright” students learned more
during the school year without actually being brighter at the beginning, their
teachers’ behavior must have been the reason. In fact, their teachers did spend
more time with them and praised them more often than was true for the “less
bright” students. To the extent this type of self-fulfilling prophecy occurs, it helps
us understand why tracking is bad for the students tracked down.

Other research focuses on how teachers treat girls and boys. Several
studies from the 1970s through the 1990s found that teachers call on boys more
often and praise them more often (American Association of University Women
Educational Foundation, 1998; Jones & Dindia, 2004). Teachers did not do this
consciously, but their behavior nonetheless sent an implicit message to girls that
math and science are not for girls and that they are not suited to do well in these
subjects. This body of research stimulated efforts to educate teachers about the

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ways in which they may unwittingly send these messages and about strategies
they could use to promote greater interest and achievement by girls in math and
science (Battey, Kafai, Nixon, & Kao, 2007).

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Name: ____________________________ Date:_______
Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

I. Knowledge
Answer the following questions.

A. Define the Following terms:

1. What are the most important manifest and latent functions that are served by
1. Network
educational institution? Explain your answer.
2. Social Group
3. In-Group
4. Task interaction
5. Social aggregates

2. What are the obstacle to providing greater access to education?

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Name: ____________________________ Date:_______
Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

II. Performance

Primary education as a human right: A Campaign Speech

Pretend that you are an education advocacy leader who has been invited as a resource
speaker in a congressional hearing that will discuss the amount of funding to be given to
primary education. Prepare a 5-minute speech highlighting why primary education is a
human right and why it should be accessible to everyone.

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 Initial Final
(What Am I Expected Revised (What Have I
to?) Become?)

Lesson 2

Religion and Belief Systems

INTRODUCTION
Religion is considered as one of the most influential and universal forces in
society. Culture is an important part of the study of religious and religious beliefs.
Sociologist believe that culture and religious beliefs are interconnected. As a
sociological concept, religions represent vast and complex developments in a society’s
cultural belief system.

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 This lesson studies religion as a sociological concept. It explains the different
types or religious organizations and the classifications of religions. It also examines the
separation of church and state as an important provision of the Constitution.

Name: ____________________________ Date:_______

Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

PRE-TEST
What do you remember when you hear the word “religion”? complete the concept
map below by writing on the circles all the terms or concepts that you can relate to
the word religion.

Religion

The Nature of Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate
humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives,
symbols, traditions, and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to
explain the origin of life or the universe. Many languages have words that can be translated
as “religion,” but they may use them in a very different way, and some have no word for religion
at all. For example, the Sanskrit word “dharma,” sometimes translated as “religion,” also means
law. Throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance
through piety and ceremonial and practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a similar union

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between “imperial law” and universal or “Buddha law,” but these later became independent
sources of power.
The typical dictionary definition of religion refers to a “belief in, or the worship of,
a god or gods” or the “service and worship of God or the supernatural. ” However, many
writers and scholars have noted that this basic “belief in god” definition fails to capture
the diversity of religious thought and experience. Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion
as simply “the belief in spiritual beings. ” He argued, in 1871, that narrowing the
definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or judgment after death would exclude
many peoples from the category of religious and thus “has the fault of identifying religion
rather with particular developments than with the deeper motive which underlies them. ”
He also argued that the belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies.
The sociologist Emile Durkheim, in his seminal book The Elementary Forms of the
Religious Life, defined religion as a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to
sacred things. ” By sacred things he meant things “set apart and forbidden — beliefs
and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those
who adhere to them. ” Sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits. On the
contrary, a sacred thing can be “a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a
house, in a word, anything can be sacred.” Religious beliefs, myths, dogmas, and
legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things and the
virtues and powers that are attributed to them. The development of religion has taken
different forms in different cultures. Some religions place an emphasis on belief while
others emphasize practice. Some religions focus on the subjective experience of the
religious individual while others consider the activities of the religious community to be
most important. Some religions claim to be universal, believing their laws and
cosmology to be binding for everyone, while others are intended to be practiced only by
a closely-defined or localized group. In many places religion has been associated with
public institutions such as education, hospitals, the family, government, and political
hierarchy. One modern academic theory of religion, social constructionism, says that
religion is a modern concept that has been defined relative to the Abrahamic religions
and that thus, religion as a concept has been applied inappropriately to non-Western
cultures that are not based upon such systems.

combination of these types. of members of the same generation as the spouses,

such as the husband‟s brother or an additional wife etc. Hence an extended family is a
constituent of several related persons by descent, marriage or adoption such as a
husband and a wife and their children and at least one of their sets of parents, aunts,

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uncles, nieces and nephews all living together in a single dwelling or in close proximity
(Kottak 2004, Knuttila 2005)

Emile Durkheim argues that religion is comprised of the sacred elements of

social life. Durkheim also identifies collective interests and group unity as part of the
sacred, whereas individual concerns fall into the profane category. This distinction
makes sense when we think about western religious traditions where, for example, the
Torah and Bible are considered holy books treated with reverence and respect.
Problems quickly emerge, however, when we think about nationalism or consumerism.
Under Durkheim’s distinction, both nationalism and consumerism would be considered
sacred practices.
The reverence afforded to the U.S. constitution, cars, shoes and former presidents
clearly constitutes the sacred and thus religious, though the vast majority of U.S.
religious practitioners would disagree that they are members of multiple faith traditions.
As a result, some have argued Durkheim’s distinction is not sufficiently narrow to
capture the essence of religion. If we want to examine the difference between collective
and individual interests, Durkheim’s distinction steers us in the right direction.

Other social scientists view religion as any attempt to answer existential

questions, i.e. “is there life after death” and “how does the universe work and what’s my
role in it.” This categorization of religion highlights its functional role as serving specific
social ends. In doing so, however, this perspective also attracts criticisms for being
overly encompassing. Many branches of scientific investigation, for instance, would be
considered religious, and even atheism would fit into the frame of attempting to answer
existential questions.
A third social scientific perspective views religion as the collective beliefs and
rituals of a group relating to the supernatural. If we simply focus on beliefs relating to the
supernatural, this too may be broad enough to include atheism. However, when belief
and rituals of a group relating to the supernatural are coupled together, the scope
seems appropriately narrowed. Though not without criticisms, this categorization most
closely adheres to the traditional and popular view of what constitutes a religion.

Types of Religious Organizations

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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, sect, and cult (Emerson, Monahan, & Mirola,
2011). A church further has two subtypes: the ecclesia and denomination. We first
discuss the largest and most influential of the types of religious organization, the
ecclesia, and work our way down to the smallest and least influential, the cult.

Church: The Ecclesia and Denomination

A church is a large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that is

closely integrated into the larger society. Two types of church organizations exist. The
first is the ecclesia, a large, bureaucratic religious organization that is a formal part of
the state and has most or all of a state’s citizens as its members. As such, the ecclesia
is the national or state religion. People ordinarily do not join an ecclesia; instead they
automatically become members when they are born. A few ecclesiae exist in the world
today, including Islam in Saudi Arabia and some other Middle Eastern nations, the
Catholic Church in Spain, the Lutheran Church in Sweden, and the Anglican Church in
England.
As should be clear, in an ecclesiastic society there may be little separation of
church and state, because the ecclesia and the state are so intertwined. In some
ecclesiastic societies, such as those in the Middle East, religious leaders rule the state
or have much influence over it, while in others, such as Sweden and England, they have
little or no influence. In general the close ties that ecclesiae have to the state help
ensure they will support state policies and practices. For this reason, ecclesiae often
help the state solidify its control over the populace.
The second type of church organization is the denomination, a large, bureaucratic
religious organization that is closely integrated into the larger society but is not a formal
part of the state. In modern pluralistic nations, several denominations coexist. Most
people are members of a specific denomination because their parents were members.
They are born into a denomination and generally consider themselves members of it the
rest of their lives, whether or not they actively practice their faith, unless they convert to
another denomination or abandon religion altogether.

The Megachurch
A relatively recent development in religious organizations is the rise of the so-
called megachurch, a church at which more than 2,000 people worship every weekend
on the average. Several dozen have at least 10,000 worshippers (Priest, Wilson, &
Johnson, 2010; Warf & Winsberg, 2010); the largest U.S. megachurch, in Houston, has
more than 35,000 worshippers and is nicknamed a “gigachurch.” There are more than
1,300 megachurches in the United States, a steep increase from the 50 that existed in
1970, and their total membership exceeds 4 million. About half of today’s
megachurches are in the South, and only 5% are in the Northeast. About one-third are
nondenominational, and one-fifth are Southern Baptist, with the remainder primarily of
other Protestant denominations. A third spend more than 10% of their budget on
ministry in other nations. Some have a strong television presence, with Americans in the
local area or sometimes around the country watching services and/or preaching by

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televangelists and providing financial contributions in response to information presented
on the television screen.
Compared to traditional, smaller churches, megachurches are more concerned
with meeting their members’ practical needs in addition to helping them achieve
religious fulfillment. Some even conduct market surveys to determine these needs and
how best to address them. As might be expected, their buildings are huge by any
standard, and they often feature bookstores, food courts, and sports and recreation
facilities. They also provide day care, psychological counseling, and youth outreach
programs. Their services often feature electronic music and light shows.
Although megachurches are popular, they have been criticized for being so big that
members are unable to develop the close bonds with each other and with members of
the clergy characteristic of smaller houses of worship. Their supporters say that
megachurches involve many people in religion who would otherwise not be involved.

Sect
A sect is a relatively small religious organization that is not closely integrated into
the larger society and that often conflicts with at least some of its norms and values.
Typically a sect has broken away from a larger denomination in an effort to restore what
members of the sect regard as the original views of the denomination. Because sects
are relatively small, they usually lack the bureaucracy of denominations and ecclesiae
and often also lack clergy who have received official training. Their worship services can
be intensely emotional experiences, often more so than those typical of many
denominations, where worship tends to be more formal and restrained. Members of
many sects typically proselytize and try to recruit new members into the sect. If a sect
succeeds in attracting many new members, it gradually grows, becomes more
bureaucratic, and, ironically, eventually evolves into a denomination. Many of today’s
Protestant denominations began as sects, as did the Mennonites, Quakers, and other
groups. The Amish in the United States are perhaps the most well-known example of a
current sect.

Cult
A cult is a small religious organization that is at great odds with the norms and
values of the larger society. Cults are similar to sects but differ in at least three respects.
First, they generally have not broken away from a larger denomination and instead
originate outside the mainstream religious tradition. Second, they are often secretive
and do not proselytize as much. Third, they are at least somewhat more likely than
sects to rely on charismatic leadership based on the extraordinary personal qualities of
the cult’s leader.
Although the term cult today raises negative images of crazy, violent, small
groups of people, it is important to keep in mind that major world religions, including
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and denominations such as the Mormons all began as
cults. Research challenges several popular beliefs about cults, including the ideas that
they brainwash people into joining them and that their members are mentally ill. In a
study of the Unification Church (Moonies), Eileen Barker (1984) found no more signs of
mental illness among people who joined the Moonies than in those who did not. She

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also found no evidence that people who joined the Moonies had been brainwashed into
doing so.
Another image of cults is that they are violent. In fact, most are not violent. However,
some cults have committed violence in the recent past. In 1995 the Aum
Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) cult in Japan killed 10 people and injured thousands more
when it released bombs of deadly nerve gas in several Tokyo subway lines (Strasser &
Post, 1995). Two years earlier, the Branch Davidian cult engaged in an armed standoff
with federal agents in Waco, Texas. When the agents attacked its compound, a fire
broke out and killed 80 members of the cult, including 19 children; the origin of the fire
remains unknown (Tabor & Gallagher, 1995). A few cults have also committed mass
suicide. In another example from the 1990s, more than three dozen members of the
Heaven’s Gate cult killed themselves in California in March 1997 in an effort to
communicate with aliens from outer space (Hoffman & Burke, 1997). Some two
decades earlier, more than 900 members of the People’s Temple cult killed themselves
in Guyana under orders from the cult’s leader, Jim Jones (Stoen, 1997).

CLASSIFICATIONS OF RELIGIONS: INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGIONS IN THE

WORLD
Scholars from a variety of disciplines have strived to classify religions. One
widely accepted categorization that helps people understand different belief systems
considers what or who people worship (if anything). Using this method of classification,
religions might fall into one of these basic categories.

Note that some religions may be practiced—or understood—in various

categories. For instance, the Christian notion of the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy
Spirit) defies the definition of monotheism, which is a religion based on belief in a
single deity, to some scholars. Similarly, many Westerners view the multiple
manifestations of Hinduism’s godhead as polytheistic, which is a religion based on
belief in multiple deities,, while Hindus might describe those manifestations are a
monotheistic parallel to the Christian Trinity. Some Japanese practice Shinto, which
follows animism, which is a religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings,
like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world, while people who
practice totemism believe in a divine connection between humans and other natural
beings.
It is also important to note that every society also has nonbelievers, such as atheists,
who do not believe in a divine being or entity, and agnostics, who hold that ultimate
reality (such as God) is unknowable. While typically not an organized group, atheists
and agnostics represent a significant portion of the population. It is important to
recognize that being a nonbeliever in a divine entity does not mean the individual
subscribes to no morality. Indeed, many Nobel Peace Prize winners and other great
humanitarians over the centuries would have classified themselves as atheists or
agnostics.

The World’s Religions

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 Religions have emerged and developed across the world. Some have been
short-lived, while others have persisted and grown. In this section, we will explore seven
of the world’s major religions.

Hinduism

Hindu women sometimes apply decorations of henna dye to their hands for
special occasions such as weddings and religious festivals. (Photo courtesy of Akash
Mazumdar)
The oldest religion in the world, Hinduism originated in the Indus River Valley about
4,500 years ago in what is now modern-day northwest India and Pakistan. It arose
contemporaneously with ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures. With roughly
one billion followers, Hinduism is the third-largest of the world’s religions. Hindus believe
in a divine power that can manifest as different entities. Three main incarnations—
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva—are sometimes compared to the manifestations of the
divine in the Christian Trinity.
Multiple sacred texts, collectively called the Vedas, contain hymns and rituals from
ancient India and are mostly written in Sanskrit. Hindus generally believe in a set of
principles called dharma, which refer to one’s duty in the world that corresponds with
“right” actions. Hindus also believe in karma, or the notion that spiritual ramifications of
one’s actions are balanced cyclically in this life or a future life (reincarnation).

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Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama around 500 B.C.E. Siddhartha

was said to have given up a comfortable, upper-class life to follow one of poverty and
spiritual devotion. At the age of thirty-five, he famously meditated under a sacred fig tree
and vowed not to rise before he achieved enlightenment (bodhi). After this experience,
he became known as Buddha, or “enlightened one.” Followers were drawn to Buddha’s
teachings and the practice of meditation, and he later established a monastic order.

Buddha’s teachings encourage Buddhists to lead a moral life by accepting the

four Noble Truths: 1) life is suffering, 2) suffering arises from attachment to desires, 3)
suffering ceases when attachment to desires ceases, and 4) freedom from suffering is
possible by following the “middle way.” The concept of the “middle way” is central to
Buddhist thinking, which encourages people to live in the present and to practice
acceptance of others (Smith 1991). Buddhism also tends to deemphasize the role of a
godhead, instead stressing the importance of personal responsibility (Craig 2002).

Confucianism

Confucianism was the official religion of China from 200 B.C.E. until it was
officially abolished when communist leadership discouraged religious practice in 1949.
The religion was developed by Kung Fu-Tzu (Confucius), who lived in the sixth and fifth
centuries B.C.E. An extraordinary teacher, his lessons—which were about self-
discipline, respect for authority and tradition, and jen (the kind treatment of every
person)—were collected in a book called the Analects.

Some religious scholars consider Confucianism more of a social system than a religion
because it focuses on sharing wisdom about moral practices but doesn’t involve any
type of specific worship; nor does it have formal objects. In fact, its teachings were
developed in context of problems of social anarchy and a near-complete deterioration of
social cohesion. Dissatisfied with the social solutions put forth, Kung Fu-Tzu developed
his own model of religious morality to help guide society (Smith 1991).

Taoism

In Taoism, the purpose of life is inner peace and harmony. Tao is usually
translated as “way” or “path.” The founder of the religion is generally recognized to be a
man named Laozi, who lived sometime in the sixth century B.C.E. in China. Taoist
beliefs emphasize the virtues of compassion and moderation.

The central concept of tao can be understood to describe a spiritual reality, the order of
the universe, or the way of modern life in harmony with the former two. The ying-yang
symbol and the concept of polar forces are central Taoist ideas (Smith 1991). Some

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scholars have compared this Chinese tradition to its Confucian counterpart by saying
that “whereas Confucianism is concerned with day-to-day rules of conduct, Taoism is
concerned with a more spiritual level of being” (Feng and English 1972).

Judaism

After their Exodus from Egypt in the thirteenth century B.C.E., Jews, a nomadic
society, became monotheistic, worshipping only one God. The Jews’ covenant, or
promise of a special relationship with Yahweh (God), is an important element of
Judaism, and their sacred text is the Torah, which Christians also follow as the first five
books of the Bible. Talmud refers to a collection of sacred Jewish oral interpretation of
the Torah. Jews emphasize moral behavior and action in this world as opposed to
beliefs or personal salvation in the next world.

Islam

Islam is monotheistic religion and it follows the teaching of the prophet

Muhammad, born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 570 C.E. Muhammad is seen only as a
prophet, not as a divine being, and he is believed to be the messenger of Allah (God),
who is divine. The followers of Islam, whose U.S. population is projected to double in
the next twenty years (Pew Research Forum 2011), are called Muslims.

Islam means “peace” and “submission.” The sacred text for Muslims is the
Qur’an (or Koran). As with Christianity’s Old Testament, many of the Qur’an stories are
shared with the Jewish faith. Divisions exist within Islam, but all Muslims are guided by
five beliefs or practices, often called “pillars”: 1) Allah is the only god, and Muhammad is
his prophet, 2) daily prayer, 3) helping those in poverty, 4) fasting as a spiritual practice,
and 5) pilgrimage to the holy center of Mecca.

Christianity

Today the largest religion in the world, Christianity began 2,000 years ago in
Palestine, with Jesus of Nazareth, a charismatic leader who taught his followers
about caritas (charity) or treating others as you would like to be treated yourself.

The sacred text for Christians is the Bible. While Jews, Christians, and Muslims share
many of same historical religious stories, their beliefs verge. In their shared sacred
stories, it is suggested that the son of God—a messiah—will return to save God’s
followers. While Christians believe that he already appeared in the person of Jesus
Christ, Jews and Muslims disagree. While they recognize Christ as an important
historical figure, their traditions don’t believe he’s the son of God, and their faiths see
the prophecy of the messiah’s arrival as not yet fulfilled.

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Different Christian groups have variations among their sacred texts. For instance,
Mormons, an established Christian sect, also use the Book of Mormon, which they
believe details other parts of Christian doctrine and Jesus’ life that aren’t included in the
Bible. Similarly, the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha, a collection that, while part
of the 1611 King James translation, is no longer included in Protestant versions of the
Bible. Although monotheistic, Christians often describe their god through three
manifestations that they call the Holy Trinity: the father (God), the son (Jesus), and the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a term Christians often use to describe religious
experience, or how they feel the presence of the sacred in their lives. One foundation of
Christian doctrine is the Ten Commandments, which decry acts considered sinful,
including theft, murder, and adultery.

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Name: ____________________________ Date:_______
Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

I. Answer the following questions:

1. Explain the similarities and/or differences of a church, denomination, sect, and cult.

2. How would you explain Weber, Durkheim, and Marx’s concept of religion.

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Name: ____________________________ Date:_______
Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

II. Answer the following questions:

1. Compare and contrast the following world religions. Use the table below

HINDUISM BUDDISM CHRITIANITY ISLAM JUDAISM

FOUNDER
TYPE OF RELIGION
SACRED AND TEXTS
AND WRITINGS
MAJOR
BELIEFS,TEACHINGS
AND BELIEFS

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Initial – Revised – Final Guide

Read the outcomes above and fill out the Initial column on the table below (Initial-
Revised-Final Guide). Write your expectations on what you will become based on
the program outcome, essential performance outcome, intended learning
outcomes, and applied performance commitment.

Initial Final
(What Am I Expected Revised (What Have I
to?) Become?)

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Name: ____________________________ Date:_______
Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

I. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following is not a manifest function of education?

a. Cultural innovation
b. Courtship
c. Socialization
d. Transmission of culture

2. Conflict theorist see sorting as a way to

a. Challenge gifted students
b. Help students who need additional support
c. Reinforce divisions of economic status
d. Teach respect for authority
a. Society
3.b.The functionalist theory sees education a serving the needs of
Individuals
c. Families
d. The government

4. What term describes the assignment of students to specific education programs on

the basis of previous test scores or grades and their perceived abilities?

a. Hidden curriculum
b. Self-fulfilling prophecy
c. Labeling
d. Tracking
5. Which of the following is an example of nonformal education?

a. Primary schooling
b. Senior high school
c. Adult night classes
d. Doctorate program

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Name: ____________________________ Date:_______
Grade & Section: _____________________ Remarks:________

Date of Accomplishments needed:

II. Identify the person or concept described by each statement. Write the answer on the
first column.

A B.
1. Religion that strictly believes in one God called Allah, whose
prophet is Muhammed.
2. Social institution that is made up of a unified system of beliefs and
practices related to sacred things.
3. He believes that religion is the opium of the people.
4. An important provision of the Constitution that prevents the State
from controlling. Intervening, and disrupting the religious practices
of the Filipinos.
5. This religion believes that the soul is caught in a cycle of birth-
death-rebirth called samsara.

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 Direction: Write a Check mark
(/) in the circle if and only if
you have completely answered
the following activities.

Pre-Test

Activity1.

Activity2.

Activity3.

Activity4. SELF EVALUATION

Post Test

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Online Rsources
http://anthropology.unt.edu
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/political-science/
Political Science. (n.d.). The American Heritage® New Dictionary of
Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved March 22, 2016 from
Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/political-
science

Other Resources
Contreras, A. 2015. Personal Conversation, Feb 20.
Erasga, DS. 2016. Selfieying: A Universal Culture or Culture Universal
Conference paper. 44th Annual Conference of the Canadian
Sociological Association, May 27-June 3, 2016, University of British
Columbia, Ottawa, Canada.
Mills, C.W. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. London: Oxford Universily
Press.

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