Sociology Study

Sociology Essay
Professor Eui-Young Yu
Michelle Kim

Essay 1

Sociology and immigration study. How sociology can help Korean churches understand society.
Sociology is the study of society, development, structure, and functioning of human society. Sociology is a very broad discipline that examine how humans interact with each other and how human behavior is shaped by social structures such as, groups, communities, organizations, social categories. Such as age, sex, class, race, etc., and social institutions, such as politics, religion, education, etc. The basic foundation of sociology is the belief that a person's attitudes, actions, and opportunities are shaped by all of these aspects of society. Individuals are categorized into groups, and groups influence our behavior and take on characteristics that are independent of their members. Sociologists focus on behavior patterns of groups, such as differences based on sex, race, age, class, etc.

Sociology originated from and was influenced by the industrial revolution during the early nineteenth century. There are five major founders of sociology: August Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. August Comte is thought of as the "Father of Sociology" as he made the term sociology in 1838. He believed that society should be understood and studied as it was, rather than what it should be. He was the first to help us understand that the path to understanding the world and society was based in science. Marx, Spencer, Durkheim, and Weber further helped define and develop sociology as a science and discipline, each pointing out important theories and concepts still used and understood today.

It is important for us to learn sociology so that we can understand the rest of society. If we only cared for what christianity is, we would think everything else is bad. Such as other religious. It is true that we need to follow christianity but it is also true that we must not judge. There is no bad or good. There is only the truth which is God and that is what we need to tell the rest of society. In order for us to welcome others, we need to know their background and where their thought are coming from, how they became what they are today. We need to combine the study of the bible with the study of non-religious people and create a plan. Then, with that plan we can combine it with a method of teaching that is understandable for different age groups. Then, the pastor will use this method to give a sermon at church. That way, both christians and non-christians can understand and learn from the sermon.

The bible tells us that we should not judge but treat everyone with love and care equally. Not to look down on anyone because they’re not physically well, or smart, or rich. It tells us to love thy neighbor. But sin doesn’t only come from an individual, the social environment affects sin too. For example, if your group of friends steals, they may peer pressures you to do it as well. But because the environment affects how we act, it can also become a problem. People will be seperated into groups. Such as gangs, religious groups, such as Christians, Atheists, Hinduism, etc. When we think of gangs, or robbers, we say they are sinful and bad but to them, they may just be providing for their family. Stealing food to help feed their kids. So in their perspective, they may not think they are sinful. This is why we must study sociology. Everything must be seen in a wider perspective. It is incomplete if things are seen only from one side.

American sociologist C. Wright Mills brought up two important components of sociology. There is the microscopic and the macroscopic. Microscopic is sociology without society. It looks at a individual with detail. Focuses on why the individual chose to do what he/she did, how he/she got this far, and what social media affected this individual such as parents,friends, etc. Macroscopic is sociology at a larger scale, society as a whole. It focuses on how society has influenced an individual to act the way he/she does such as media, norms, stereotype, surrounding environment, etc.

I believe that it is important for Christians to study sociology because Christians and non-religious people think differently. If we want to welcome more non-Christians into our churches, we need to know their point of view so that we can help them transform into Christians without offending them. For us Christians, we acknowledge that there is a God and there are things we need to do for God because we have learned about him, while non-religious people only acknowledge scientific facts. We can’t force someone to believe in God without fully understanding how he came to be and what he has done for us.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2012/01/can-a-christian-benefit-from-sociology/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_macroscopic_sociology_from_microscopic_sociology