Blog 6

 

Society consists of interpersonal bonds between people in a group.  It is complex, and essential to the world that we are used to.  The main component of society is social groups.  Social groups are a group of people that share a common identity and a common set of values and beliefs.  Social groups also interact with each other regularly.  They are not a social aggregate, people in the same location at a given time, or social categories, people with a common characteristic.  Social groups are where people perform almost all important actions in their lives.  Some examples of social groups are religious organizations, schools, governments, cliques, and a group of friends.  People can belong to various social groups, and different types of social groups.  The two main types of social groups are primary and secondary.  Primary groups are usually small and have a lot of face to face time.  Secondary groups are larger and more impersonal.  People have a stronger tie to primary groups, because the direct interactions with others in the group allow ideas to be shared more frequently, thus making the social group have a stronger shared set of beliefs.  Also in a primary group the small size allows members to personally know all other members in the group, which contributes to a strong sense of unity.  Secondary groups are usually weaker in comparison to primary groups, because there is less interaction between members.  People in today’s society belong to more secondary groups than in the past.  This started with the development of an agrarian society which created organizations such as governments and religious hierarchies.  Many other types of secondary social groups have emerged.  This had led to people interacting in more secondary groups.  Some claim this has caused more impersonal.  However, I believe the increased number of secondary groups has made primary groups more important.  People appreciated the personal interaction more, and allow their values to be defined by their primary groups.  Social groups are important to the study of sociology, because every organization is a social group and probably have social groups with in them.

Social groups can help us understand how religion influences a person.  In large religions, a person may be a part of a primary and secondary social group related to the religion.  The secondary group would be the official religion and others in the religion which they do not directly interact with.  The primary group would be those nearby which the person takes part in rituals with.  These two types of social group membership can contribute to the development of a popular and official religion, because each primary group will be influenced by the specific people in the group.

In the Functionalist model of society, all parts of society over time for the purpose of keeping society together.  A problem many sociologists have about this model is dissidents.  In the functionalist model, society has evolved.  Social pressure forced institutions to adapt.  This process does not produce the ideal society, but one that has emerged from past problems.  These new social pressures can cause dissidence.  Society is not a perfect structure which has the capacity to deal with new problems.  It is from past problems which needed to be dealt with.  This is why there are dissidents form a society that has evolved over time.  Society has devised a way to deal with dissidents, which is punishment.  Those who disobey the rules of society face both informal and formal punishments.  These punishments deter people from going against society.  IN modern society these punishments include jail, shunning, and other things which attempt to restore the state of society before the illicit action.  Many new religions use shunning to keep members from leaving.  Members fear losing their status, so they stay in the society.  This was a tactic used by the Branch Davidians.  This was a harsh penalty, because of the communal structure of the religion.  Someone that left would lose all current social relationships, and would need to create all new ones.  This is an informal form of punishment as opposed to jail, which is formal.  Punishment deters dissidents, but does not stop dissidents from emerging in a society.

The documentary, “For God, Tsar, and Fatherland,” followed Mikhail Fedorovich and his group in Russia.  He accepts any Russians into Durakovo.  The group is hierarchal, and is based on Russian Orthodoxy.  Mikhail is the leader in Durakovo, but there are other members throughout Russia.  One of these is the Vice-Speaker of the Russian Duma.  The group despises the Europe and America and wishes to return Russia to a superpower.  They try to accomplish by crafting young men into the ideal citizen.  The people that join Durakovo appear to be unsure about themselves and seek guidance.  Once in Durakovo, the men must strictly obey the orders of Mikhail.  There are group meetings which are similar to mass.  They include prayers, and an opportunity for the members to ask questions about Mikhail’s views.  The society borrows its structure from religion.  In Durakovo, the only time people get to interact with Mikhail is during these group meetings.  The rest of the time, the members obey the orders of Mikhail.  After the introduction of capitalism and democracy, many Russians were confused by the lack of order.  Before this, Russia was ruled by a dictator, and this change caused an economic downturn and the loss of superpower status.  The group in Durakovo is trying to reestablish a dictator and hierarchal structure of society in Russia.

Many Black Jewish and Muslim movements share a similar story.  They mix the teachings of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Black Nationalism.  Many share an origin story that blacks are the true humans, and whites are a human creation that should not be in power.  These religions also arose between the 1890s and 1940s in response to slavery.  Blacks wished to separate themselves and take power as reparations for slavery.  One of these religions was taught by Father Divine.  He believed he was the second coming of Jesus Christ.  He created the International Peace Mission Movement, which his flowers belong to.  A large part of this religion is a strict moral code, which is similar to other Black Jewish and Muslim movements.  These strict moral codes are a way for African Americans to feel superior to other Americans.   Two other religions, Santeria and Vodou, incorporate African traditions, but blend the religious traditions where they arose.  Vodou , which was formed in Hati, incorporates aspects of French Christianity.  Santeria was formed in Cuba, but a large group of Yoruba were sent to Cuba as slaves.  They formed a group and were able to create Santeria in the image of the religion of the Yoruba region.  These two religions are a way for slaves and their ancestors to keep their traditional religion alive.  This separates them from the rest of Western society, whose religious traditions are rooted in Christianity.  The followers of these religions do not wisht to be incorporated in western society, because of the abuses it brought to its ancestor through slivery.  The Rastafari movement views Haile Selassie as the Second Advent.  The movement mixes components Christianity and Black Nationalism.  They reject western society and use cannabis in its rituals.  The Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded by Jim Jones.  On November 18^th, 1978 the followers of Jones committed mass suicide, and 5 others were shot.  This incident, known as “Jonestown”, lead many people to be suspicious of cults.  Many accused the religion of using “brain washing.”  These claims were meant to incite fear and hatred towards the religion and came from ex-members and “cult experts.”  Other than the Peoples Temple, these groups insulated themselves from the rest of society by drawing form Black Nationalism.  This insulation was due to slavery, as the members of these groups blamed society for slavery.