Language, Religion, and Ideology;

Sociological and Historical Relationship

Language

A system of arbitrary,

productive, dynamic, having

variation, and humans vocal

symbol used by human being to

carry out their social affairs.

Language

Salient Features of Lanuage

1. SystemIt is formed by a number of component and can be

formulated.

Pattern:

Morpheme –smallest unit

Words –combination of letters.

Phrase –modifier + head

Sentence

Paragraph

Composition

Salient Features of Language

2. Vocal

We can pronounce the symbol. Each symbol

represents a thing.

Production of Sound and Words

Respiration –involves inhalation and

exhalation

phonation –vibration of the vocal chords

Resonation –amplification

Articulation –movements and formation of

speech organs.

3. ArbitraryA word for a certain thing differs from one place to

another.

What makes language arbitrary?

Biblical Reason

Language Borrowing –changes spelling,

pronunciation and semantics

4. Productive

Number of words always increase.

5. Dynamics

The language can change in the

form of phonology, morphology, or

syntax.

Ex.

Know ye this man?.

Do you know this man?

5. Having Variation

Although a language has a certain pattern, it

may be different in phonology, morphology,

syntax, or lexicon.

6. Human (Adj.)

Language as a means or verbal

communication is only possessed by human

being, animal s and plants do not.

It has personal or emotive function.

It has directive or instrumental function.

It has phatics, interactional, or

interpersonal function.

It functions referential, representational,

cognitive, denotative, or informative.

It functions methalingual or methalinguistics.

It has imaginative or phoetics speech function.

Functions of Language

Communication is a process by which information is exchange

between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs,

or behavior.

three components in communication process:

1) message sender and receiver or participants,

2) information being communicated, and

3) instruments used in communication.

Communication is distinguished into two kinds: verbal and non-

verbal Non-verbal communication does not use language as the

means of communication. It uses signs (traffic signs, pictures,

sounds), gestures.

Verbal communication language is deliver orally.

Nature of Communication

Language Communication = Sender + Receiver

Message –is utterance (usually in the form of

sentences) used to convey idea, thought, suggestion

Semantics Encoding –the process that the sender

formulates something he/she wants to utter in the form

of idea or thought frame.

Grammatical Encoding –the process in which the idea

is changed into grammatical sentences .

The Process of Communication

Using Language

Phonological Encoding –process of uttering

the formulated grammatical sentence.

Decoding –the utterance is then comprehended

or decoded by the receiver or listener.

Phonological Decoding –the listener receives

or comprehends the sound

Grammatical Decoding –the listener receives

or comprehends the grammatical sentences.

Semantics Decoding –the listener receives or

comprehends the meaning of the message.

One-way Communication

means process, the speaker or sender remains as the

sender and the listener or receiver remains as the

receiver.

Two-ways Communication

means the position of sender and receiver is

interchangeable.

Two Kind of Language-communication

Religion

Is the study of the beliefs practices and organizational

forms of religion using the tools and methods of the

discipline of sociology.

Is distinguished from the philosophy of religion in that it

does not set out to assess the validity of religious beliefs.

Objective investigation uses :

quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic

and census analysis)

qualitative approaches such as participant

observation, interviewing, and analysis of

archival, historical and documentary materials.

Sociology of Religion

The sociology of religion broadly differs

from theology in assuming indifference

to the supernatural, theorists tend to

acknowledge socio-cultural

reification of religious practice.

Methodological Atheismof Peter L. Berger

Karl Marx

"Marx was the product of the Enlightenment, embracing its call to replace faith by reason and religion by science.”

Religion, Marx held, was a significant hindrance toreason, inherently masking the truth and misguiding followers.

Marx viewed social alienation as the heart of social inequality. The antithesis to this alienation is freedom. Thus, to propagate freedom means to present individuals with the truth and give them a choice to accept or deny it. In this, "Marx never suggested that religion ought to be prohibited."

View of Religion in Classical

Sociology

Emile Durkheim

Study society as dispassionate and scientific.

He argued that religion was an expression of social cohesion.

Religion, for Durkheim, is not "imaginary," although he does deprive it of what many believers find essential. Religion is very real; it is an expression of society itself, and indeed, there is no society that does not have religion. We perceive as individuals a force greater than ourselves, which is our social life, and give that perception a supernatural face. We then express ourselves religiously in groups, which for Durkheim makes the symbolic power greater. Religion is an expression of our collective consciousness, which is the fusion of all of our individual consciousness's, which then creates a reality of its own.

Max Weber

Verstehen , a German term, used to describe his

method of interpretation of the intention and context of

human action.

A religious group or individual is influenced by all kinds

of things, he says, but if they claim to be acting in the

name of religion, we should attempt to understand their

perspective on religious grounds first. Weber gives

religion credit for shaping a person's image of the world,

and this image of the world can affect their view of their

interests, and ultimately how they decide to take action.

Ideology

Ideology

Is a coherent system of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions.

The doctrine, philosophy, body of beliefs or principles belonging to an individual or group.

A set of ideas that constitute one's goals,

expectations, and actions. An ideology can be

thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of

looking at things, as in several philosophical

tendencies, or a set of ideas proposed by the

dominant class of a society to all members of this

society. The main purpose behind an ideology is to

offer either change in society, or adherence to a set

of ideals where conformity already exists, through

a normative thought process. Ideologies are systems

of abstract thought applied to public matters and

thus make this concept central to politics.

Ideology can be used either to initiate change in

society or to encourage continued adherence to a

set of ideals in a situation where

conformity already exists.

According to Karl Marx, ideology is an

instrument for social reproduction, as those who

control the means of production (the ruling class)

are able to establish the dominant ideology

within a society.

Louis Althusser

proposed a materialistic conception of

ideology using the concept of Ideological

State Apparatus.

Ideological State Apparatuses

are institutions, such as the family, media,

religious organizations, education system,

etc., that together comprise ideological

practice, the sphere which has the defining

property of constituting indas subjeviduals

cts.

Many political parties base their

political action and program on an

ideology.

Political ideology consists of two

dimensions:

goals

methods

Communism, as symbolized by this sickle

and hammer, is an ideological system that

socializes its believers into a particular

system of thought.

Communist Ideology

It serves as an instrument of social reproduction.

Base denotes the relations of production, and

superstructure denotes the dominant ideology

(religious, legal, political systems). The economic

base of production determines the political

superstructure of a society. Ruling class-interests

determine the superstructure and the nature of

the justifying ideology—actions feasible because

the ruling class control the means of production.

Marxist account of Ideology

Beliefs and ideas are the products of

social practices, not the reverse. What is

ultimately important for Althusser are not

the subjective beliefs held in the minds of

human individuals, but rather the material

institutions, rituals, and discourses that

produce these beliefs.

Materialistic Conceptionof Louis Althusser

Is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths, or symbols of a social movement, institution class, or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.

Concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends it should be used. Some parties follow a certain ideology very closely, while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of them.

Political Ideology