CULTURE AS A PRODUCT Hall and Neitz (1993) provide an inclusive definition of culture that describes it as 1) ideas, knowledge (correct, wrong, or unverifiable belief), and recipes for doing things; 2) humanly fabricated tools (shovels, sewing machines, and computers); and 3) products of social action that can be drawn upon in the conduct of… Continue reading Culture as Both Product and Practice
Tag: Sociology
The Case for the Cultural Study of Religion
RELIGION AND CULTURE Rituals, symbols, and myths have been at the forefront of the Sociology of Religion since Durkheim (1915) wrote of the prominence of beliefs, rights, and rituals in the worship of social life. Naturism, animism, and totemic beliefs are mostly bygone religions – relics of a pre-industrialized world, but Durkheim predicted that religion… Continue reading The Case for the Cultural Study of Religion
American Secularization and Media Depictions of End Times
INTRODUCTION Media Influence Art has always had an influence on society, even if that influence is more indirect than the artist intended. In the “age of mechanical reproduction” (Benjamin 1969[1936]), the aura of art may not be as strong as the medium of film and television has eclipsed the close distance of the stage. The… Continue reading American Secularization and Media Depictions of End Times
The Christian Celebrity
Our churches have become carbon copies of one another. You can attend almost any church from any denomination and you will have a similar experience, from the look to the music to the structure of the services. The various denominations are beginning to blend back together. Protestants, who broke away from Catholic heresies are melding… Continue reading The Christian Celebrity
Altering the Availability Heuristic
A heuristic is “a mental shortcut that allows an individual to make a decision, pass judgment, or solve a problem quickly and with minimal mental effort.” We use heuristics all the time. In any given situation, we are armed with data about the situation — usually sensory — and use heuristics to fill in the… Continue reading Altering the Availability Heuristic
THE NEOLIBERAL ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM
“For the love of money is the root of all evil.” I Timothy 6:10INTRODUCTION The dominance of global neoliberal economics and cries for economic justice in the United States has reignited a firestorm of criticism of the capitalist system. What once was a booming economic system that attempted to address and correct the horrors of… Continue reading THE NEOLIBERAL ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM
The Wayfair Affair
THE WAYFAIR CONSPIRACY At the time of this article, Wayfair Furniture has found itself embroiled in a massive conspiracy theory involving sex trafficking. The claim is that Wayfair is inexplicably charging thousands of dollars for merchandise that shares names with missing persons. Wayfair denies the allegations (of course). What I do find interesting is the… Continue reading The Wayfair Affair
Religious Differences in Supernatural Beliefs (My Master’s Thesis)
ABSTRACT The supernatural has been a topic of sociological study for over a century, and belief in the existence of paranormal phenomena is permeating into various aspects of the media. Although publicly labeled as a deviant group, paranormal believers comprise a majority in the United States. When different supernatural belief systems are combined under… Continue reading Religious Differences in Supernatural Beliefs (My Master’s Thesis)
The True Freedom of Religion
A common meme from anti-Christians is that Christianity is a restrictive religion. Many modern churches have also begun to sing this refrain as they attempt to abandon “legalism,” which they mostly define as rigid rules put in place by churches on music and attire (this is not true legalism, but difference in preference as I… Continue reading The True Freedom of Religion
Exposing the “Mental Health Crisis”
In sociology, mental health has long been viewed as a “social construction” like gender, race, etc. It is absolutely true in this case. Autism is new a “spectrum” that can be as wide as the mental health community wishes it to be. Homosexuality and transgenderism used to be afflictions that no longer appear in the… Continue reading Exposing the “Mental Health Crisis”
Simmons' Opinions 