Chapter 12

• Draw distinctions between churches, sects, and cults (or New Religious Movements), and provide examples of each.
• Identify the major world religions and describe their main tenets, early roots, and world presence.
• Compare and contrast classical theories on religion put forth by Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx.
• Apply a sociological understanding to religion and analyze major world religions as social institutions.
• Identify major trends in religion in the United States and globally.
• Apply a gendered analysis to religion and explain women’s traditional roles in religion.