Religious Pluralism

Thesis could be: A society that is characterized by religious pluralism will tend to have social stability.

I think that the sociological theory of structural functionalism could be applied to this topic, as could denominationalism.

Rubric

This paper will represent the culmination of your study of the Sociology of Religion in this course, and it will require you to integrate the ideas, concepts, and theoriesthat you have learned this term. You will also be required to incorporate at least two additional scholarly sources into your paper. Altogether, you must meaningfully incorporate at least 5 sociological concepts/theories into your paper; please underline them.

Option #1: How can religion contribute to social stability? In your opinion, based on the course readings and other sources, under what conditions is religion most likely to contribute to social stability? (Notice that the questionsare asking about social stability, and not individual stability.) In your opinion, how can religion help contribute to the smooth functioning of society in the future?

Option #2: How does religion contribute to social conflict? In your opinion, based on the course readings and other sources, under what conditions is religion most likely to contribute to social conflict? (Notice that the questions are asking about social conflict, and not individual conflict.) In your opinion, are religious differences likely to lead to more conflict in the future?If not, why not? Or if so, how could this conflict be reduced?

Your report must include a title, an introduction, a conclusion, and a reference list. Word count should be at least 1.000 words, not including the reference list.

Your paper should make good use of the course resources to show that you have read and assimilated them. Be sure to cite the course readings as appropriate, using APA style. You should also cite at least 2 scholarly sources in your paper.

Sociological Interpretation Reportmaps to the followingSOCY 426learning outcomes (course objectives):
  • Apply major sociological theories to the study of religion in order to demonstrate the influence of religion on personal, societal and professional environments.
  • Assess the various relationships between churches and states over time in order to understand the effects of religion on civic engagement and political decision-making processes.
  • Evaluate the influence of multiple social locations (race, class, gender, sexuality) on religious beliefs and attitudes in order to enhance awareness and respect of one’s personal beliefs and values relative to those of others.
  • Analyze multiple religious beliefs, current religious conflicts, and controversies to propose realistic solutions using awareness, appreciation of diversity, and global multicultural perspectives.

Grading Rubric for Sociological Interpretation Report (based on 30 points)

Superior -- meets or exceeds expectations / Developing, but needs work / Undeveloped -- shows some effort, but needs significant improvement / Does not meet the criterion to any degree
Expressing meaningful content / Student addressesallparts of the assignment in way that sheds new light on the particular issue beyond repeating the course material. (6 points). / Student thoroughly addresses most but not all parts of the assignment (3 points). / Student does not address parts of the assignment in a way that directly answers the questions, and/or makes limited insight beyond course material (1-2 points). / Paper does not match any of the criteria outlined in the Project Description (0 points).
Incorporating sociological theories and concepts / Student clearly, accurately, and meaningfully incorporates sociological theories/concepts into the paper, as assigned, in a way that demonstrates a high level of understanding the theory (6 points). / Student includes an adequate number of sociological theories and/or concepts per the assignment, but their discussion and application needs more development, OR some are included and well-developed, but there are not enough of them per the Project Description (1-2 points). / Student incorporates relatively few concepts/theories, and they are just mentioned, with little explanation or development. (1 point) / Student does not incorporate sociological concepts/theories into the paper, as assigned (0 points).
Providing a clear presentation of the information / Document has correct grammar, well-organized paragraphs, and very few or no spelling or grammatical errors. (6 points). / Document is mostly organized, but may have some gaps in logic and/or has more than a few multiple grammatical and/or spelling errors (3 points). / Document has confusing or weak organization and/or has numerous grammatical/spelling errors (1-2 points). / Document has no clear organization and many errors (0 points).
Incorporating sources and correctly formatting citations and reference list in APA style. / Paper incorporates relevant sources. All sources are cited and references listed in close-to-perfect APA style (6 points). / Sources are cited and a reference list is included in an effort towards APA format, but there are elements of the formatting missing or the sources could be applied in a more meaningful way. (2-3 points). / Much of the citation information for the sources is missing OR there are no citations in the paper (0 points) / There are no citations in the paper. (0 points)
Following guidelines for length and format / Paper is at least 1,000 words, not including the reference list; has a title; and includes an introduction, body, and conclusion (6 points). / Paper is at least 700 but less than 1,000 words (not including the reference list) and/or may be lacking a title, introduction, reference list, and/or conclusion (2-3 points). / Paper is more than 500 but less than 700 words and/or lacks multiple elements of the paper structure (1 point) / Paper is less than 500 words not including the reference listand/orthe paper includes more than 25% quoted material (0 points).