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. THE SOCIOLOGY of RELIGION Social Organization; Beliefs and Rituals .   Introduction to the Module (Hub)   .. Documents Included in the Religion Module Akan Religion pre Christian gods and ancestors  Notes on Religion (Beliefs and social organization) .. Sociology as a science does not ask if there is a supernatural, but does ask how beliefs in the supernatural affect social organization and patterns of behaviour. . There are two documents in this module. . One is about variations in beliefs and practices.  Like other important aspects of culture and society, religions are affected by if not a product of, the variations in technology underwent by human populations. . The other is about the traditional or historical religions of the Akan people of West Africa, overlaid as it now is by the efforts and effects of European missionaries. . The sociological study of religions is valuable both to beginning sociology students and to community mobilisers. . Social observers gain much insight into the nature and workings of any society by looking at beliefs, the social organizations revolving around those beliefs, and the various practices, rituals and relationships that come along with that social organization. . Community mobilisers, meanwhile, can choose more effective strategies for empowering communities, for assisting them to make their own choices and to become self reliant, if the mobilisers know and understand the religious variables in each community. . Also see: From Cult to Religion, in the Social Change module and the illustrated essay on Akan Religion. ––»«––

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2008.06.11