Study guide and discussion questions for for articles on religion. Come prepared to discuss the discussion questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).
Study guide/discussion question questions for "From The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" by MAX WEBER:
What is the protestant ethic?
What is the spirit of capitalism?
Discuss Martin Luther’s idea of a “calling.”
Discuss asceticism.
Discuss modern capitalism.
Study guide/discussion question questions for "Religious Community and American Individualism" (from Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life) by ROBERT N. BELLAH, RICHARD MADSEN, WILLIAM M. SULLIVAN, ANN SWIDLER, and STEVEN M. TIPTON:
What kind of relationship do people have with their church?
How actively religious are Americans?
What is the emphasis of many religious beliefs?
Discuss the comparison that Bellah et al. makes between the liberal and conservative church.
What is pantheism?
Discuss the religious beliefs of many influential 19th century Americans.
Discussion questions:
To what extent is the religion you practice about expressing yourself and self-realization?
To what extent does religion provide clear unambiguous order and security in your life?
To what extent does the church you go to separate you from the rest of the world?
To what extent is the emphasis on love in your church not shared with the rest of the world except through missionary outreach?
Bellah et al. imply that for religious individualists, their links to churches are tenuous, to some extent fortuitous and ones of convenience. To what extent does that characterize your relationship to your church?
