Michael Emerson Course Syllabus
Prepared for the Center for the Study of Religion and American
Culture by:
Michael Emerson
Department of Sociology
Bethel College
The Center is pleased to share with you the syllabi for
introductory courses in American religion that were developed
in seminars led by Dr. Wade Clark Roof of the University
of California, Santa Barbara. In all of the seminar discussions,
it was apparent that context, or the particular teaching
setting, was an altogether critical factor in envisioning
how students should be introduced to a field of study. The
justification of approach, included with each syllabus,
is thus germane to how you use the syllabus.
For the personal use of teachers. Not
for sale or redistribution.
© Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture,
1998
I. Syllabus Justification
This is an upper level sociology course. Its purpose is
for students to gain a theoretical understanding of the
relationship(s) between religion and society. To that end,
after a brief period that provides some concrete material,
we spend approximately half the semester studying key sociological
theories (all the while applying the material and using
a variety of films and exercises). We then spend approximately
the second half of the semester applying that understanding
to case studies and research. By the end of the semester,
students have read, wrestled with, worked with, applied,
disagreed with, and debated various sociological theories;
and students have ideally come to see how their own faith
is shaped by these processes.
Students' own faiths are key to the design of this syllabus.
Almost all students are evangelical Christians. They are
quite certain in their beliefs, viewing the way that evangelical
Christianity is practiced in the U.S. as the true Christian
way. We thus spend much time examining their beliefs in
light of alternatives. "Why do American evangelicals
stress personal morality over social justice?" and
"Is Gandhi in heaven?" are two examples of questions
they are asked to address in light of our studies. By encouraging
them to see how society and the larger culture influence
their own beliefs, they come to a greater understanding
of the course's main themes.
Though I try to incorporate religions other than Christianity,
I still think a weakness of this syllabus is a lack of comparative
study. Given my students, though, I feel I am in a quandary.
If I overemphasize other religions, they easily see the
connections between religion and society for others, but
not for their own subculture. Thus, at this point, I consciously
stress studying variations of their own subculture and contrasting
with other religions.
(By the way, if I were teaching this course where I knew
many of my students would have nominal faiths or none at
all, I would want to stress how those faith positions are
also shaped by society and culture. The more general principle
being that if education is to be transforming, it must simultaneously
stress study of the social other and the social self.)
What you will find beyond this page: I include a syllabus
compete with assignments attached to the back (you will
note I stress writing style). I have also annotated the
first few weeks of study to provide the reader a rational
and an understanding of why I use certain material.
II. Course Syllabus
SOC372G: Religion in Society
DAYS: T-TH TIME: 11:10-12:25
PLACE: AC324 TERM:Spring 1998
PROFESSOR: Dr. Michael Emerson
OFFICE: AC 225B HOURS: T, Th, 9:00-10:20
EMAIL: memerson@bethel.edu
PHONE: 635-8741 HOME PH: 529-5667 (before 9 pm)
Course Prerequisites:
*GES110 College Writing
*GES130 Christianity and Western Culture
*Cultural Diversity course OR one year of modern world language
INTRODUCTION
We all have extensive personal experience with religion.
This course is about, among others, how things social shape
our personal experience. Religion exists in a social contextit
is shaped by and shapes that social context. Moreover, religion
is always a socially constituted reality; that is, its content
and structure are always formed, at least partially, out
of the "stuff" of the sociocultural world (language,
symbols, norms, interactions, organizations, inequality,
conflict and cooperation).
In Religion in Society, we seek to understand both the
"socialness" of religion itself and the mutuallyinfluencing
interactions between religion and its social environment.
We examine religious beliefs, practices, and organizations
from a sociological perspective, with a primary (but not
exclusive) focus on religion in the contemporary U.S.
LEARNER OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- Cultivate an understanding of the distinctively sociological
approach to studying religion. Legitimate approaches to
studying religion aboundhistorical, psychological, theological,
etc. Because we take a sociological approach, a most basic
goal is to develop an understanding of and appreciation
for the kinds of questions sociologists ask and the kind
of explanations they offer.
- Understand major issues, problems, findings, theories
and generalizations in the sociology of religion.
- Apply basic research skills in the sociology of religion.
Sociology is an empirical discipline that constructs theories
and draws conclusions based on observable evidence. Students
in this course will go beyond merely reading about religion,
to actually engaging in sociological research on religion.
- Strengthen cognitive and communication skills. This
course aims, through its exercises and requirements, to
enhance students' abilities to read, think, discuss, and
write skillfully.
- Interpret own faith in light of a sociological understandings
of religion.
Required Readings
Books
- Berger, Peter L. 1967. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of
a Sociological Theory of Religion. Harper-Perennial. Anchor
Books.
- Smith, Chris with Michael O. Emerson, Sally Gallagher,
and David Sikkink. 1998. Evangelicalism: Embattled and
Thriving. Univerisity of Chicago Press.
- Collins, John J. 1991. The Cult Experience: An Overview
of Cults, Their Traditions, and Why People Join Them .
Charles C. Thomas, Publishers LTD.
- Freedman, Samuel. 1993. Upon This Rock: The Miracles
of a Black Church. Harper-Perennial.
Book Chapters/Journal Articles on Reserve
- Bellah, et al. 1985. "The Pursuit of Happiness,"
Habits of the Heart.
- Johnstone, R.L. 1997. "The Cult," Religion
and Society.
- Nelson, Timothy. 1996. "Sacrifice of Praise: Emotion
and Collective Worship in AfricanAmerican Congregations."
Sociology of Religion 1996
- Articles to be announced (I try to use most uptodate
articles of interest)
Course Requirements
Quizzes = 10% Research = 20% Attend/Part = 5%
Response Papers = 15% Exam 1= 15% Exam 2=15% Final=20%
(Exams are take home)
Quiz policy:
The quizzes are meant to keep you current in your reading
and studying. As such, they will contribute to higher quality
class discussions and greater learning. Six quizzes will
be given on six randomly selected dates.
Quizzes are handed out typically at the very beginning
of class and collected together. There are no makeup quizzes
given for any reason. This includes arriving late, sickness,
having to leave town early, extracurricular activities,
oversleeping, and so on. This policy is nonbending. You
may drop your lowest quiz score.
GRADING
93 - 100=A
90 - 92 =A-
87 - 89 =B+
83 - 86 =B
80 - 82 =B-
77 - 79 =C+
73 - 76 =C
70 - 72 =C-
67 - 69 =D+
63 - 66 =D
60 - 62 =D-
RESEARCH PROJECTS
We will work on two research projects. One project is a
religious and moral values survey of college students. This
project will be conducted in conjunction with the Psychology
of Religion class.
The other project will be a sociological study of your
home congregation (or other religious organization if you
wish) or a comparative work. Both projects will give you
real life experience doing research, will allow you to conduct
studies similar to what we read, and most importantly will
allow you to apply the concepts we study to understand real
life situations.
Assignments are due at classtime on or before the due date.
Outside of serious illness or other such calamity, I will
deduct 1/3 of a grade for each day late.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
I. Background—The goal of this first section is to
set the groundwork for students to understand that how we
interpret issues, and ultimately how we construct religion,
are influenced by our culture. This is very new for most
of the students. To do this, I use the film, Not Without
My Daughter, based on a true story of an American women
and her Iranian husband. The movie begins in the U.S., but
then moves to Iran. From the moment they land in Iran, stark
contrasts between the two cultures (and religion is a major
component) are evident. It takes two class periods to watch
the film, but I don't mind for three reasons: (1) one of
those periods is the first day, in which I would not normally
do more than introduce the class, and this film is a method
to that, (2) they read an article at the same time to help
draw the contrasts for them, and (3) they write a response
paper which incorporates both the film and the article.
An additional goal of this section is to prepare them for
the reading of Berger.
Week 1
T, Feb 4 Introductions/Film, Part I
I also briefly introduce their first writing assignment
Th, Feb 6 Film, Part II
Read Preface and Chapter 1 "The Pursuit of Happiness,"
from Habits of the Heart (about 30 pages)
**At the start of class I present them with this riddle:
Three guys without much money decide to get one motel room
and evenly split the cost. Total cost is $30. Each pays
$10. But the clerk realizes they were overcharged $5, so
takes $5 up to their room. On the way, the clerk decides
that the 3 guys would just fight over the $5, so pockets
$2 and give them $3 back. At this point, each has paid 9$
for the room, or a total of $27. But if you add the $2 that
was pocketed, that only adds up to $29. What happened to
the other dollar?
**If they cannot immediately solve it (they usually cannot)
I tell them to think about it, then I show the remainder
of the movie.
**We discuss the movie, and at a convenient time I return
to the riddle. Taking some interpretative liberty, I tell
them that I set the culture, the culture of 30, and in so
doing, made it very difficult for them to solve. But if
we have a culture of 25, the answer is much clearer. I then
continue to use this illustration to highlight points about
how we are influenced by our culture and how religion is
influenced by culture. They still may not buy this last
point, so I have the next day . . .
II. Under the Sacred Canopy: A Sociological Theory of Religion
**We read the standard statement on secularization and
use it again and again throughout the semester. Berger is
good for applying and therefor bringing up discussion of
basic sociological concepts, such as culture, society, religion,
and social construction. Berger also stretches and challenges
the students, so if I can get them to grasp his main points,
we can usually get solid discussion. A point of reference
is that these students are almost all evangelical Christian,
so they find Berger, in the words of many students, disturbing.
This helps with discussion.
Week 2
T, Feb 11 Berger, Preface and Chapter 1 "Religion
and WorldConstruction" (28 pages)
**I have them read just the first chapter so they will
concentrate on it, and if they don't get it, they won't
be too far behind. We spend the class period making sure
they understand words and phrases like ipso facto, sui generis,
avuncler, etc., and discussing the meaning, importance,
and implication of this chapter (and chapter 2, which I
do not have them read, but lecture on). We use the running
example of language to illustrate the concepts of externalization,
objectivation, and internalization. To help make the point,
and have a little fun, we try to apply what Berger writes
by creating a word and attempting to get other people in
the college to use it. This past semester we came up with
chikana, meaning "way cool, awesome, happening, impressive."
We agree to use this term in place of the others, and try
to see if we can "spread the word." I also make
sure to bring in the film and the Habits of the Heart reading
to add more concreteness to the discussion.
**When talking about the human need to create order (a
big point of Berger's), we go over Genesis, chapter 1, which
is the account of God creating order out of chaos.
**As you see below, I give short summaries of the book's
they read and put the summaries at the point they do their
first reading. I do this to give them an introduction they
can use as they begin reading and to give them something
to go back to when they are mired in the minutia of a chapter
and need/want to get the "broad view" of the book.
Berger's The Sacred Canopy is a classic, and as we will
see, has lead to a tremendous amount of research and theoretical
consideration. We cannot begin to understand today's works
without grasping the argument in this little book. For Berger,
religious belief anthropomorphizes (big word) the world.
He writes: "Religion implies that human order is projected
into the totality of being. Put differently, religion is
the audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe
as being humanly significant" (p.28). Note the adjective
"audacious"—meaning extremely bold, even
recklessly courageous. For Berger, religion is a distinctly
human and heroic—perhaps tragically heroic—triumph
of meaning over meaninglessness. That is the burden of his
title. Religion is like a "sacred canopy" beneath
which meaningful human life can be lived in a perhaps ultimately
meaningless universe. Meaning is not a given; its an achievement.
For thousands of years, religion has been a sacred canopy
that has sheltered this achievement and made it seem uniquely
plausible. But in modern times, the canopy has been shredded,
leaving us exposed beneath a cold night sky filled with
hard bright stars, catapulting through infinite space where
no gods dwell. That is secularization.
Th, Feb 13 Guest Speaker from Muslim faith
**Response paper contrasting American and Iranian culture
and religion due
**This day serves a great purpose. I bring in a speaker
that is Muslim female (a female because she is able to give
the perspective needed to counterbalance the movie), usually
born elsewhere (but not Iran), but is essentially American
(college students work well). I ask them to talk about being
a Muslim, and contrast that with Muslims of Iran. They are
usually delighted to point out that Iranian Islam is wrong
with respect to treatment of women, etc. Students ask questions,
and I ask questions to fill in the gaps to stress the point
that the same religion is practiced differently and stresses
different values in different cultures.
**By having an American talk about her Islamic faith and
having them read Bellah et al., they are able to see how
culture does influence religion. If time allows, I ask them
to consider how their Christianity might differ if they
were to grow up in Iran. We also reflect a bit (just a bit
because we do much more of this throughout the semester)
on how religion may influence culture.
**I can now introduce Berger, and point out that in the
first couple of chapters he tells us why religion and culture
are so inextricably linked. Berger is a tough read for students,
so any motivation one can give to work through it is helpful.
Week 3
T, Feb 18 Berger, Chapter 3 "The Problem of Theodicy"
and Chapter 4 "Religion and Alienation" (49 pages)
(lots to readallow proper time)
**To apply the term Theodicy, I have them use Christian
writings by a theologian from our college (The book—Letters
from a Skeptic—one the Gold Medallion award as the
best evangelical publication in 1995). In groups they read
short excerpts and try to describe the theodicy that is
used. This again helps make it real—what Berger is
talking about is what really does happen, and it happens
today.
III. Religion's Fate in Modern Times: Secularization?
Th, Feb 20 No Formal Class
Read Chapter 5 "The Process of Secularization"
and turn in a 2 page response describing the secularization
process (feel free to work with another).
Week 4
T, Feb 25 Berger, Chapter 6 "Secularization and the
Problem of Plausibility" and Chapter 7 "Secularization
and the Problem of Legitimation" (44 pages)
**We generally get good discussion going on chapters 5
through 7, especially when discussing statements like "Christianity
has been its own gravedigger."
**To have a little fun, and to help the students interpret
Berger further, I share with students this little ditty
I wrote (with feeling, of course):
ODE TO BERGER
I feel so empty
and alone
I don't know if I'm a person, a dog,
or a stone
I don't even know
which way is home
I need a NOMOS, yea
I need a COSMOS, yea
And I gotta get me
A THEODICY, that's right
Now Don't you puncture
My PLAUSIBILITY STRUCTURE, uh uh
IPSO FACTO, I search for meaning, don't you know
The OBJECTIFIED FACTICITY will show
That this emptiness has got me itchin
For that CANOPY we call RELIGION
And now, with meaning in hand
I stand with hands on hips
Sayin I'm all that
And a bag of chips
Th Feb 27 1st Exam
IV. Sacred Canopy or Sacred Umbrellas?
Berger has proposed the seemingly reasonable hypothesis
that religious monopolies are stronger than denominational
pluralism in making religion plausible to the multitude
of people. Smith and colleagues find much evidence against
this thesis, and that particular ways of engaging pluralism
actually increase vitality. A subcultural theory and the
concept of sacred umbrellas are proposed to account for
how religion in America operates. Along the way, we review
the current sociological theories.
Week 5
T, Mar 4 Read Evangelicalism , Chap 1 "Resurrecting
Engaged Orthodoxy"
Th, Mar 6 Introduction to Joint Research Project
Week 6
T, Mar 11 Research Design Development
Read Evangelicalism , Chap 2 "Evangelicalism Thriving"
Th, Mar 13 Read Evangelicalism, Chap. 3 "Explaining
Religious Vitality"
Week 7
T, Mar 18 Read Evangelicalism, Chap. 4 "Toward a 'Subcultural'
Theory of Religious Strength
Orthodox Judaism discussion as comparison
Th, Mar 20 Response Paper due
Week 8
T, Mar 25 Spring Break
Th, Mar 27 Spring Break
Week 9
T, Apr 1 Read Evangelicalism, chap. 5 "Evangelicalism
Embattled" and chap. 6 "Excursus: Belief Plausibility
in Modern America"
Th, Apr 3 Read Evangelicalism, chap. 7 "Strategic
Problematics"
Week 10
T, Apr 8 Read Evangelicalism, chap. 8 "The View from
the Outside," and chap. 9 "Conclusion"
Th, Apr 10 Take Home Exam due
VII. Religious Innovation: New Religious Movements
Week 11
T, Apr 15 Collins, Part I
*Meet in computer lab for internet exploration discussion
and work.
Th, Apr 17 Research Project # 1 due
Collins, Part II
*Bus Tour of Twin Cities Religious Sites
Week 12
T, Apr 22 Read Johnstone (on reserve), and Collins, Part
III
*Film: Guyana Tragedy, part I
Th, Apr 24 The People's Temple reading (on reserve) and
Collins, Part IV
*Film: Guyana Tragedy, part II
Week 13
T, Apr 29 Response paper due
Film discussion, book discussion contintued, and guest
speaker
VII. The Church and Community: The Case of an African American
Neighborhood and Congregation
Upon this Rock
After I read the first two chapters of this book, I knew
this was a book for us to read. It is the last month of
the semester, and you seniors are losing focus (and some
nonseniors as well), but this is the book you will most
enjoy reading of all our readings. We get to take all that
abstract stuff we have been learning and apply it to the
study of one specific congregation. Without the abstract
stuff, this is a good book, but with our knowledge of the
sociology of religion, this is a great book. Don't tire
on me now!
Th, May 1 Freedman, Chapter 1 "Twice Called"
and Chapter 2 "An Accident of Melanin" (62 pages)
Week 14
T, May 6 Freedman, Chapter 3 "Flesh and Fantasy"
and Chapter 4 "Serious" (72 pages)
*Guest speakers from Brooklyn
Th, May 8 Research Project #2 due by 4:00 p.m.
Week 15
T, May 13 Freedman, Chap 5 "The Overcoming Crowd"
and Chap 6 "With an Asterisk" (60 pages)
Reaction paper due
Th, May 15 Freedman, Chapter 7 "Blood Test,"
Chapter 8 "Where the Roses Grow," and Chapter
9 "Between Marrow and Bone" (75 pages)
Week 16
T, May 20 Freedman, Chapter 10 "Morning at Midnight,"
Chapter 11 "In Caesar's Household," and Chapter
12 "Passage to the Past" and Epilogue (74 pages)
Final Due Th, May 22
*My thanks to colleague Richard Albares for a portion of
the summaries in this syllabus.
RESPONSE PAPER 1: CONTRASTING AMERICAN AND IRANIAN CULTURE
DUE: Beginning of class, Feb. 13
LENGTH: 3 typed, doublespaced pages
Using "The Pursuit of Happiness" article on american
cultural values and the film "Not Without My Daughter,"
compare/contrast American and Iranian culture. What seem
to be the core cultural values? How do the major social
institutions—family, religion, education, government—of
these societies differ? Are these institutional differences
related tot he differences in core values?
Tips for a higher grade
I will grade both content and writing style/grammer
Content Tips
1.Have a thesis, such as "American and Iranian cultures
are, at their core, identical." Use the rest of the
paper to argue/support your thesis.
2.Support you points with evidence, such as quotes or summaries
from the article. When you quote from the article, (a) put
it in quotation marks, and (b) cite the page number in parantheses
after the quote.
Style/Grammer Tips
1.Have someone proofread your paper. This can improve content
as well.
2.Avoid wordiness. The previous sentence took 2 words,
but it can be said in more. For example, "Do not be
overly wordy" (5 words); or "You want to not use
too many words" (8); or "When you write about
today's society or any other for that atter, the poin and
the goal is to put an emphais on not taking too long to
say what could be said more quickly, that is, where possible
and logical use less words instead of more to convey a meaning
to your reader" (55 words). Students writing 3 pages
using a concise style say more than those usinga "lardy"
style. Avoiding wordiness, then, increases your grade—more
space for supporting evidence.
The best way that I know of to avoid wordiness is to write
your response paper without much attention to being wordy
or not, and then going back and asking yourself how you
can say what you wrote in less words (41). Let's do this
for the previous sentence.
SOC372G RELIGION IN SOCIETY HANDOUT
RESPONSE PAPER #2
Read Berger, chapter 5, "The Process of Secularization."
Then write a 2 page response paper. Here are questions to
guide you: What is secularization? Why did it happen/is
it happening? Particularly, what is the role of JudeoChristianity
in this process?
******************
2 pages is not much space to address these issues. Thus,
you have three choices:
1. Ignore the 2 page requirement and write more.
2. Say relatively little (limited content).
3. Avoid wordiness, and say more while staying within the
page limit.
I suggest number 3 (it will lead to the highest grade).
Remember, one way to write concisely is (a) first get your
ideas on paper without worrying how you are communicating,
then (b) ask yourself, "How can I say this more concisely,
more clearly?" For each paragraph I usually ask myself,
"What is the main idea I am trying to convey and am
I successful?" I also reread the paper. Where sentences
seem clumsy/wordy, I rewrite them for clarity and conciseness.
*****************
SOC372G RELIGION IN SOCIETY HANDOUT
RESPONSE PAPER #3
DUE Thursday, March 6th, at class time
Learning: Researchers study it, philosophers and theologians
reflect on it, and teachers witness it. The conclusion?
There are no known limits to learning . We can all learn
all the time.
This not only means you can understand and apply Berger,
but it means you can teach Berger a thing or two!
For this response paper, please write a two page letter
to Dr. Berger (O.K., you can call him Pete if you want).
In this letter, tell him how your own experience and world
fit or do not fit with what he has written in The Sacred
Canopy. For example, have you need for viable theodicies?
Do you have a nomos, or is your world uncertain? Does secularization
impact you? Does pluralism influence your faith in anyway?
Is your faith sociallyconstructed?
How will I grade?
You do not have to answer all the questions above. You
may focus on only one or two, or you may address a question
not on the above list. Whatever you decide to address, I
will be looking for the following: Are you intelligently
interacting with the Bergermeister? Does your letter reflect
an understanding of the concepts as Berger discusses them
and are you appropriately applying them to your own situation.
In short, if Peter Berger read your letter, he should turn
to me and say, "Yea, this student knows what I was
talking about."
(Or as he might actually put it: "In the course of
reading this expository treatise addressing the rudimentary
conceptual frameworks delineated in my corpus grandeur,
I have deemed the analysis to have more than adequately
grasped hold of the core ideas of which I speak and write,
ipso facto, deserving of a mark which you deem to be of
greater value than passing.")
Have a little fun in writing this by using the writing
tip below.
Writing Tip: Really, very, and a lot are weak adjectives
and should be used sparingly. A thesaurus might be helpful
in finding stronger adjectives. Another strategy also works
well—word pictures, analogies. Instead of saying "It
was very cold" or "It was really cold" you
could say "as cold as a homeless Minnesotan on a January
night" or (if your feeling spiteful) "as cold
as my exboy/girlfriend's personality!"
Here we see the relationship between avoiding wordiness
and word pictures. It often takes more words to paint pictures/make
analogies, but if you write concisely, you will have the
space. Thus, in the end, you replace the lard with better
ideas, more evidence, and more vivid writing.
Sociological Study of Home (or other) Church
We have read much on why religion exists, its functions,
its fate in the modern world, and the social conditions
that influence its form and strength. The purpose of this
research assignment is to have you apply this knowledge
to understand a real life situationsome aspect of your own
home church, another church, a comparison of churches, another
Christian organization, or some aspect of another religion.
Here are a few possible topics:
1. How does this body of believers create and maintain
the world? What is the worldview of the church?
2. How legitimize difficult events?
3. How has secularization impacted or not impacted church
attendance and beliefs?
4. Historical analysis to see how changedmore secularized?
5. Is the church privatized or publicized? Does it emphasis
programs and training for individuals and families to the
exclusion of talk on social/moral positions? Economic and
political positions? (Recall that Berger predicts religion
will come to be more and more limited, to the point that
families and individuals hold religious faith in isolation
from others, meaning that churches can only impact at this
level.)
6. How does the church use marketing strategies?
7. How organized as organization? How like a business, how
different?
8. Interview membersis the church able to influence its
members (or are the members more like the folks we read
about in our very first readingstating that they alone must
determine what is best)? How in line are the beliefs of
the members with the stated positions of the church?
9. What are the attendance patterns of people in the church?
What are involvement patterns? How is this related to the
strictness of the church?
10. What are the demographics (young/old, male/female, race
and ethnic makeup, class) and how are they similar or different
to the larger community? What does it all mean?
Others abound, and you may select what you are most interested
in (though best to first discuss your idea with me.)
Guidelines:
1. You may work with one or two others on this if you prefer
2. You may compare churches (or religions)
3. You are not necessarily limited to churches (for example,
you could study Bethel, or Focus on the Family, or a Witch's
Coven, or . . .)
4. Your paper should be typed, double spaced
5. It should be, roughly, from 58 pages
6. It would be wise to include subheadings. For example:
Introduction
Background
Methods of the Study
Findings and Implications
(or any other format that works best for your particular
study--but be sure to tell me HOW you went about doing your
study)
7. The paper should refer to at least one theory or piece
of research we read for class. That is, you might examine
your church as a test case of Berger's secularization thesis,
or use the idea of religious economies and compare to what
your selected church actually does in the way of marketing
its "product." This requirement makes good sense
in light of the purpose of this assignment (see above).
8. The paper is due by Thursday, April 17th. DON'T BE FOOLED
INTO BELIEVING YOU CAN WAIT TO GET STARTED. THIS WILL NOT
BE SOMETHING YOU CAN DO IN A FEW DAYS.
9. It should be wellwritten (if you want to turn in early
and have me give comments on a draft, I will happily do
so.)
10. If you discuss with me first, I will consider allowing
you made an out-of-this world class presentation instead
of a paper. I will have more to say on this in class.
INTERNET EXPLORATION
GOALS: Learn the variety of religions using the internet.
See how one can easily learn more about any religion using
the internet.
Today you will be working on Response Paper 4, which I
DO NOT want in paper form, but want emailed to me.
METHOD: By your self or with another, get on the Internet
and do a search for websites on religions or aspects of
religions that interest you. For example, the most paper
web site last spring was the Heaven's Gate website, so you
could search "Heaven's Gate," or you could broaden
the search to "cults" or "new religious movements."
You might also be interested in Lutheran websites, could
you could search "Lutheran" or narrow it to "Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America." Like any search, you will
often end up with more than you want, and will have to sift
through for the best.
SEARCH and review a variety of sites that interest you.
Your Response will consist of a description of 5 sites.
It should be in the following format.
a.Type of religion/aspect of religion this website is on.
b.Website address.
c.One paragraph description of the cite—what sort of
information is available at this website, what cool stuff
in on here, why should a person check this site out?
A madeup example:
a.Cult/Elvis Presley Worship
b.
c.If you are an Elvis lover, than this is a site for you.
Here you learn that Elvis was more than a singer. He is
a god. You learn that Elvis had to die so that his Spirit
could animate a new generation of entertainers, such as
Madonna (I realize calling her an entertainer is stretching
it). All that is good in the world of music today is the
direct result of the "Blessing of Elvis," whose
Spirit flows through those who come from the same wholehearted,
soulselling desire to communicate and gain fame through
music. The website includes a number of features, including
samples of Elvis's music, numerous photographs, and even
a short voice recording of Elvis telling his followers he
will never really die. It also contains a listing of many
other Elvis sites that the Elvis worshipper will want to
visit, including "Graceland is our Heaven".
GRADING
1.Do you have a, b, and c for 5 sites?
2.Are the summaries informative? Do they give information
to decide if I want to visit this webpage?
3.Are the summaries well-written?
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