Sociology of Religion

by Monahan, Susanne C.; Mirola, William A.; Emerson, Michael O.

• ISBN13: 9780130253804
• ISBN10: 0130253804
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

This collection of articles explores the relationship between the structure and culture of religion and various aspects of social life in the United States. Based on both classic and contemporary research in the sociology of religion, it highlights a variety of research methods and theoretical approaches in exploring the ways in which religious values, beliefs and practices shape the worldoutsideof church, synagogue, or mosque walls while simultaneously being shapedbythe non-religious forces operating in that world. Many readings from drawn popular sources--e.g., newspapers and magazines--and although many of the readings are about religion in the Christian tradition, there are also readings about religion outside the American context (e.g., Poland, England, El Salvador, Nicaragua), and beyond the Christian tradition (e.g., Judaism, alternative religions, Hindu traditions).Classic Sociological Definitions Of Religion; Belief And Ritual; Religious Experience; Race, Ethnicity And Religion; Gender And Religion; Social Class And Religion; Sexual Identity And Religion; The Secularization Debate; Religious Organizations, Institutions And Authority; Alternative Religions; Media And Religion; Politics And Religion; Science And Religion; Social Movements And Religion.For anyone interested in the sociology of religion or religious perspectives on social issues.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Topic Matrix	xiii
Introduction	1	(4)
Wade Clark Roof
PART I CLASSIC SOCIOLOGICAL DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION	5	(25)
Introduction to Classical Sociological Definitions of Religion	5	(4)
Patricia Chang
The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life	9	(6)
Emile Durkheim
From Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law	15	(1)
Karl Marx
Religion as a Cultural System	16	(7)
Clifford Geertz
The Sacred Canopy	23	(7)
Peter Berger
PART II BELIEF AND RITUAL	30	(25)
Introduction to Belief and Ritual	30	(5)
Susanne Monahan
Passover's Hustle and Bustle	35	(2)
Patrice Gaines
Salvation on Sand Mountain	37	(6)
Dennis Covington
Civil Religion in America	43	(4)
Robert Bellah
Liminality and Communitas	47	(8)
Victor Turner
PART III RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE	55	(23)
Introduction to Religious Experience	55	(3)
William MacDonald
Angels	58	(3)
Kenneth Woodward
The Reality of the Unseen	61	(4)
William James
Religious Experience	65	(5)
Wayne Proudfoot
Ways of Seeing Ecstasy in Modern Society	70	(8)
David Yamane
Megan Polzer
PART IV RACE, ETHNICITY, AND RELIGION	78	(37)
Introduction to Race, Ethnicity, and Religion	78	(5)
Michael Emerson
Becoming American by Becoming Hindu	83	(6)
Prema Kurien
Cultural Conflicts and Identity: Second-Generation Hispanic Catholics in the United States	89	(7)
Wade Clark Roof
Christel Manning
Sacrifice of Praise: Emotion and Collective Participation in an African-American Worship Service	96	(8)
Timothy Nelson
Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States	104	(4)
Min Zhou
Carl L. Bankston
Ethnicity: Source of Strength? Source of Conflict?	108	(7)
Milton Yinger
PART V GENDER AND RELIGION	115	(29)
Introduction to Gender and Religion	115	(3)
Lori Beaman
The Spiritual Revolution: Women's Liberation as Theological Re-education	118	(7)
Mary Daly
The Embodied Goddess: Feminist Witchcraft and Female Divinity	125	(9)
Wendy Griffin
The Social Construction of a New Leadership Role: Catholic Women Pastors	134	(7)
Ruth Wallace
Male God Imagery and Female Submission: Lessons from a Southern Baptist Ladies' Bible Class	141	(3)
Carolyn Pevey
Christine Williams
Christopher Ellison
PART VI SOCIAL CLASS AND RELIGION	144	(29)
Introduction to Social Class and Religion	144	(6)
William Mirola
Millhands & Preachers	150	(7)
Liston Pope
Protestantism and the American Labor Movement: The Christian Spirit in the Gilded Age	157	(5)
Herbert Gutman
Cultures of Solidarity	162	(3)
Rick Fantasia
The Catholic Church in the Nicaraguan Revolution: A Gramscian Analysis	165	(8)
Dana Sawchuck
PART VII SEXUAL IDENTITY AND RELIGION	173	(23)
Introduction to Sexual Identity and Religion	173	(3)
William Mirola
Keeping the Faith	176	(4)
Mubarik Dahir
Chuck Colbert
Allen Flippen
Culture Wars: The Challenge of Homosexuality	180	(3)
James D. Hunter
Dare to Differ: Gay and Lesbian Catholics' Assessments of Official Gatholic Positions on Sexuality	183	(6)
Andrew K. T. Yip
Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical	189	(7)
Scott Thumma
PART VIII THE SECULARIZATION DEBATE	196	(29)
Introduction to the Secularization Debate	196	(5)
Susanne C. Monahan
Secularism and Pluralism	201	(3)
Peter Berger
Secularization and Its Discontents	204	(9)
Bryan Wilson
An Unsecular America	213	(12)
Roger Finke
PART IX RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND AUTHORITY	225	(33)
Introduction to Religious Organizations, Institutions, and Authority	225	(6)
Susanne C. Monahan
AME Zion Megachurch Leaves Denomination---Christian Century	231	(1)
Priest and Nun Barred from Ministry to Gays---Christian Century	232	(1)
Domination and Stratification	233	(3)
Max Weber
The Churching of America: Why ``Mainline'' Denominations Decline	236	(5)
Roger Finke
Rodney Stark
Authority and Controversial Policy: The Churches and Civil Rights	241	(11)
James R. Wood
Some Futures for Religious Leadership	252	(6)
Jackson Carroll
PART X ALTERNATIVE RELIGIONS	258	(46)
Introduction to Alternative Religions	258	(5)
Wendy W. Young
An Army Controversy: Should Witches be Welcome? Flap Over Wiccans Tests Military's Religious Tolerance	263	(3)
Hanna Rosin
Modern Alternative Religions in the West	266	(17)
J. Gordon Melton
The Unification Church	283	(7)
Eileen Barker
The Church of Scientology: Lightning Rod for Cultural Boundary Conflicts	290	(7)
Mary Farrell Bednarowski
Apocalypse at Waco	297	(7)
James Tabor
PART XI MEDIA AND RELIGION	304	(33)
Introduction to Media and Religion	304	(4)
Eric Gormly
The Source of the Problem?	308	(10)
Stewart Hoover
S. Venturelli
D. Wagner
Televangelism: Redressive Ritual Within a Larger Social Drama	318	(8)
Bobby C. Alexander
Television Drama as Sacred Text	326	(11)
Quentin J. Schulze
PART XII POLITICS AND RELIGION	337	(37)
Introduction to Politics and Religion	337	(5)
Richard Wood
Will It Be Coffee, Tea, or He? Religion Was Once a Conviction. Now It Is a Taste	342	(2)
Charles Krauthammer
Catholicism in the United States: From Private to Public Denomination	344	(7)
Jose Casanova
The Political Mobilization of Evangelical Protestants	351	(9)
Kenneth Wald
The Religious Roots of Rebellion	360	(14)
Phillip Berryman
PART XIII SCIENCE AND RELIGION	374	(25)
Introduction to Science and Religion	374	(4)
Eric Gormly
William MacDonald
How the Heavens Go	378	(2)
Kenneth Woodward
Essays on Religion	380	(2)
Georg Simmel
First Principles	382	(5)
Herbert Spencer
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark	387	(12)
Carl Sagan
Is the Universe Absurd?	399	(1)
Paul Davies
PART XIV SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND RELIGION	399	(36)
Introduction to Social Movements and Religion	399	(5)
William Mirola
I Have a Dream	404	(2)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
When Will Revolutionary Movements Use Religion?	406	(5)
Leland Robinson
Correcting a Curious Neglect, or Bringing Religion Back In	411	(8)
Christian Smith
Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community	419	(8)
Mary Pattillo-McCoy
Pastoral Mobilization and Contention: The Religious Foundations of the Solidarity Movement in Poland	427	(8)
Maryjane Osa
Text Credits	435	(4)
Photo Credits	439

Excerpts

PrefaceAlthough we teach in very different settings--a mid-sized state university, a private Catholic college, and a private university--each of us looks forward to our opportunities to teach Sociology of Religion to undergraduate students. There is something about the study of the social aspects of religion that makes for a good class, a class that teaches itself. Students who take a Sociology of Religion class seem especially motivated to struggle with the material, and they typically have a wide range of personal experiences to draw upon as they apply abstract principles to instances of religion in their own lives.The study of religion in modern society is an exciting enterprise. No matter what you are interested in--the structure and experiences of particular religious groups, the overall state of religion in society, religious belief, ritual and experience, the relation between religion and other social institutions--there is a plethora of resources including books, journals, and research monographs you can draw on. Unfortunately, however, securing copyright permissions for "course packets" has become increasingly complex and difficult. We hope that by constructing a reader that covers a broad range of topics we can meet our own needs as well as those of other instructors who teach in this area.The focus of this reader is on the structure and culture of religion in the United States. Thus, many of the readings are about religion in the Christian tradition. Nonetheless, where it was feasible, we included readings about religion outside the American context (e.g., Poland, England, El Salvador, Nicaragua), and beyond the Christian tradition (e.g., Judaism, alternative religions, Hindu traditions). This reader is not intended to be a survey of religion, but rather an introduction to the social aspects of religion, particularly within the United States.The readings are arranged by topic, and each topic has a brief introductory essay that outlines some key issues and orients students to the readings. Some of the essays focus on defining concepts related to the readings; others provide an overall framework students can use to understand how the readings fit together and what they contribute to our knowledge about the topic. We also include readings from popular sources--newspapers, magazines, and the like--to help students connect more abstract material with things that they see in their day-to-day lives. For instructors, we provide a cross-reference table that provides suggestions for other topics for which an article might be appropriate.Following a brief introduction by Wade Clark Roof about what is most interesting and exciting in religion today, we present classical sociological definitions of religion by theorists including Emil Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, Karl Marx, and Peter Berger. In teaching the Sociology of Religion, we have been amazed at how much discussion these classical statements generate among students. We continue with sections that focus on the "stuff" of religion--belief, ritual, and religious experience. We then present several sections on how religion is related to various aspects of identity: race and ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexual identity. We put this material early in the volume because religious participation has a powerful ability to shape how we see ourselves-and how we interact with others.Next, we move to structural concerns. We introduce students to the secularization debate that has raged recently in the sociology of religion: Is religion declining or is it thriving? We follow with sections on organizational aspects of official religion--authority, organizations, and institutions--and on alternative religions. Because religion does not exist in a vacuum, we also include sections examining the relationship between religion and different social institutions: med