Religion is a wide-ranging set of beliefs, rituals, moral codes, and traditions that connect people to something transcendent. It often encompasses explanations about the origin of the universe and the purpose of human existence, and it plays a significant role in shaping societies. As a result, there is tremendous diversity within this category of belief systems, which makes studying religion an engaging and enlightening experience for students. It also requires the development of real-life skills that will benefit students as they engage in multicultural society, including empathy, tolerance, and respect for people who are different from themselves.
While it is common for textbooks to take a traditional “dates and doctrines” approach when teaching about religion, this can lead to a lack of in-depth understanding and appreciation for the nuances of contemporary religious life. Using resources that include first-person accounts about what it is like to live as a member of a specific belief system; in-depth, fact-based analyses of current events and their impact on religious beliefs and practices; and detailed descriptions of the variety of modern-day beliefs and traditions will encourage your students to think critically and engage thoughtfully with the complexities of this richly diverse category of social formations.
The majority of scholars who study religion use a monothetic definition, which defines it as any set of social practices that have the defining property of being based on a belief in a distinctive kind of reality. However, in recent years one has seen the emergence of what might be called polythetic approaches to the category. These rely on the concept of prototypes, which asserts that all instances that accurately fit a certain classification will share a set of properties and can therefore be grouped together into a single category.
A good example of a polythetic approach is Emile Durkheim’s definition, which turns on the functional role that religion serves in society and does not require that these roles involve belief in unusual realities. Another example is Paul Tillich’s definition, which focuses on the axiological function that religion serves to organize a person’s values and life orientation.
In addition, there are religions that do not ascribe to any particular supernatural beliefs but focus on exploration of the self in terms of enlightenment, peace, emptiness, or Buddha-nature. These are known as inversive religions, and their study reveals the importance of finding the right balance between a rational and emotional worldview.
It is important to remember that there are many serious issues and concerns within the broad category of religion, and it is not a topic that should be used as a punchline in the classroom. It is important to choose the right resources and teach this category of belief systems with care and compassion, and to remind your students that there is a lot more to Rastafarianism than weed. This will ensure that your students are well-rounded and knowledgeable about the world around them, no matter what their personal beliefs may be.