Found Object - Social Control ROUGH DRAFT
Misty
Prof. Elizabeth
Sociology 1101 Sect 126
March 6th, 2014
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world!” John 1:29 (1)
My found object
presentation is on the Crucifix, a symbol in many branches of the Christian
religion. The crucifix is a cross with a depiction of Jesus nailed to it. A cross
without the depiction of Jesus on it, is just a cross. Many people recognize
the Crucifix, even if they do not practice Christianity, especially here I New
Mexico, where there are many Catholics. It is not hard for one to use their Sociological
Imagination to see this Symbols meaning, as it is very prevalent in this highly
Catholic state. 41% (2)
This object
encourages social control in many because the meaning of it is widely known,
even to those that are not Christian. The Crucifix is meant to symbolize the
sacrifice that Jesus made for mankind. He was nailed to the cross to wipe our
collective sins clean, so we each start with a clean slate. We are asked in
return to be good people. Be kind to one another, to treat others as we would
have them treat us. To spend our lives on Earth deserving that gift. It
socially controls us to be good people.
The Crucifix has
different effects on different people. Christians will see it one way, and
revere it as such. Other people possibly understand what it symbolizes, and
know what it means. Non-Christians, Atheists, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, are not
socially controlled in the same way as Christians, but they most likely know
what it is meant to convey.
There are both
positive and negative sanctions that
go with this Symbol. The negative sanctions that go with this symbol are that
you will not go to Heaven if you do not “do unto others”. The positive sanctions
are that you will go to Heaven when you pass on from this life. The more-in-the-moment
positive sanctions are that people are kinder to one another, and possibly, the
world becomes a better place where these Social Controls are being exerted.
When my mother was little, her Baptist mother would tell her “every time you lie,
you put another nail in Jesus on the cross.” This is an example of extreme
sanctions that are created by certain groups or individuals who believe in the
Crucifix as a symbol of social control, and use it to their own ends. I would
think that anyone, Christian or not, would find this form of sanction too harsh.
I cannot even call the thing that my grandmother said an informal sanction
because I do not believe it is an informal sanction in the way that our
textbooks describes. This is not a widely known rule of a group. I think it was
just cruel.
There are many
different “branches” of the Christian faith that recognize the Crucifix. Catholics
and Baptists are two.
·
My Nana, who is actually my ex-husband’s Nana,
is a Catholic and she has many Crucifixes in her home, one in every room in
fact. She says that they remind her of the sacrifice that Jesus made. She is
the most kind, loving, giving, person that I know. It might be a coincidence, I
don’t know. I think that we are more than the parts that make up our whole.
·
My mother’s mother is a Baptist and she calls
herself a Christian, although, she has only one Crucifix in her home. She is
also the polar opposite of my Nana.
·
This only goes to prove that this Social Control
reaches across a wide spectrum of the population. Not just my family,
Christianity reaches far across the globe.
On
a less serious note, but one that I feel should be brought up, because, as
media is all around us, I am sure that many you are already wondering if I will
bring it up. ‘Vampires’… Another sanction of the Crucifix, pertains to ‘Vampires’.
This can be a negative or positive sanction, depending on your status set. If you have ‘Vampire’ in
your status set, the sanctions are negative because you cannot attack someone
that is holding, or is protected by, a Crucifix. This is said to come from the
original ‘Vampire’ , Count Dracula, who was a devout Christian while he was
alive, and therefore, anything Christian was an Achilles ’ heel to him once he
was undead. This is of course, just myth, but it is a sanction associated with
this symbol that many of us know, thanks to the media. On the other hand, if
you are being attacked by a ‘Vampire’, then a Crucifix is a handy thing to have
around.
The Social Institutions that are associated with this Social Control
are all the different churches on the different branches of Christian faith. Catholics
make the sign of the cross when they pass or enter a church, and before they
are seated at Mass. There is a Crucifix on the Rosary that they pray.
Those that are
socially controlled by this symbol form their own subculture. They have other
rules that they as Christians also follow. There are specific beliefs about what
God they worship and what holidays they celebrate, and these are just two of
the norms that go with this Subculture. One of the most important holidays
associated with this symbol is Easter. In Pagan religions it was known as Eostre, and was the
celebration of the Spring Equinox. In the Christian version of this holiday,
this is when Jesus gave his life to wipe our slates clean. The social control
that goes along with this is more than the Crucifix, it’s more about the entire
religion adopting Pagan holidays to make it easier to enforce Hegemony in order
to convert Pagans to Christianity.
In board terms,
religions are how people make sense of their shared world – the shared stories
that guide how they live (McGuire 2007). In Chapter 3 of our book the term
culture is defined as “a set of beliefs, traditions, and practices: the sum
total of social categories and concepts we embrace.” This is where the Crucifix
comes in, it is part of the shared beliefs of the Christian faith. It is part
of the shared social concepts of the Christian faith.
Bibliography:
2. http://www.statemaster.com/graph/peo_rom_cat_per_of_cat-people-roman-catholicism-percentage-catholics
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