Religion in Contemporary America

Charles H. Lippy, Eric Tranby

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780415617376
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135070212
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

This book provides a fresh, engaging multi-disciplinary introduction to religion in contemporary America. The chapters explore the roots of contemporary American religion from the 1950s up to the present day, looking at the major traditions including mainline Protestantism, the evangelical-pentecostal surge, Catholicism, Judaism, African-American religions and new religious movements. The authors ask whether Americans are becoming less religious, and how religious thought has moved from traditional systematic theology to approaches such as black and feminist theology and environmental theology. The book introduces religion and social theory, and explores key issues and themes such as: religion and social change; politics; gender; sexuality; diversity; race and poverty. Students and instructors will find the combination of historical and sociological perspectives an invaluable aid to understanding this fascinating but complex field.

Part I

Setting the stage

1 Defining and measuring religion

Classical views and theories

In this chapter

This chapter opens by providing definitions of the sociology of religion before examining the various ways in which sociologists define religion. We build on these definitions by exploring how classical theorists viewed religion in society, beginning with Karl Marx's famous claim that religion is the opiate of the people. Next we describe Max Weber's view of religion as a social force that drives major historical changes. Attention is then paid to Emile Durkheim's definition of religion. The chapter then turns to more recent theorists, describing Peter Berger's views regarding human nature and sacred experience. The chapter concludes by explaining how sociologists measure religion, before turning to a description of the contemporary American religious landscape.

Main topics covered

• The sociology of religion as the study of the human system of religion.

• The four key functions sociologists identify that religion serves in society.

• Karl Marx's claim that religion is an “opiate”.

• Max Weber's contention that religious beliefs influenced the emergence of capitalism.

• Emile Durkheim's definition of religion which linked together religious beliefs, rituals, and moral community.

• Peter Berger's views of religion as a “sacred canopy” that imbues everyday life with meaning.

• Sociologists measure religion as religious identification/preference and religious participation/belief.

What is the sociology of religion?

The sociology of religion is the study of religion as a product and creator of human action. In other words, the sociology of religion is the study of the human system of religion. Across time and place, humans develop and modify belief systems, religious rituals, and religious communities in ways that are not “fixed” and that respond to broader social and cultural forces.

Religions are a human product because they are constantly being developed, changed, and modified. Christianity comprises the largest religious tradition in the contemporary US, with 78 per cent of the population claiming a Christian affiliation in 2007. It is also a diverse religious tradition with 217 distinct denominations in the US, according to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Even with this much diversity within the Christian tradition, there is the constant development of new denominations caused by the internal splitting of denominations, for example, as well as those resulting from the merger of several mainline Protestant denominations in the ecumenical movement, described in Chapter 4. There are also constant changes in denominational beliefs and rituals over time within existing denominations. Among the most prominent are the changes in Catholic ritual and belief associated with Vatican II, described in Chapter 6. In addition, there has been a general transition towards more contemporary and charismatic worship styles across US denominations.

The notion that religion is a human product that is constantly developing and being modified helps us understand the trends in the American religious landscape that are the central focus of this book. For example, as described in Chapter 16, in order to understand the trend toward more individualized forms of religious expression, we also need to understand how changing mass media forms have influenced the way that people explore and practice their religion. This broader picture of religion is possible only if we look beyond a narrow understanding of religion as dealing with God(s) or the supernatural. The sociology of religion is also the study of religion as a motivator for human action. Religion is a pervasive force in the US and around the world. Examples of religion as a motivator for human action are detailed throughout this book, but especially in Chapters 9, 10, 12, 15, and 19.

Box 1.1 Religion as a motivator for human action

Religion shapes how people behave and how they think about the world and their place in it.

Examples include:

• Religion has been a force for both conservative and progressive social movements.

• Violence justified by religion has been the cause of many wars and even genocides.

• Political power is, and has been, distributed along religious lines.

• Religion shapes ideas about family life from birth to death.

• Religion shapes gender norms and roles and racial stereotypes.

• Religion shapes people's ideas about “who is like me” and “who is not like me.”

How do sociologists define religion?

When defining any social phenomenon, sociologists rely on two types of definition. Substantive definitions examine religion as a type of philosophy, a system of belief, or an understanding of nature and reality. They also provide criteria for elements that make up the social phenomenon of religion. Substantive definitions often do not work well because they are almost always rooted in a particular time and culture and thus are not easily applicable to other times and cultures. Instead, sociologists generally believe that functional theories are the most universal and compelling. Functional definitions are those that describe the function of religion in society. Sociologists have identified four key functions that religion serves in society. These functions are common across very different religions and cultures.

Box 1.2 Functions of religion in society

1 Religion provides comfort to individuals.

2 Religion drives social change and helps people understand it.

3 Religion is a social act.

4 Religion is a brace against chaos.

First, religion provides comfort to individuals. There is much anecdotal and empirical evidence that religion provides comfort to individuals, especially in times of crisis. Sociological research shows that religious attendance and belief spike during times of personal and social upheaval, such as after divorces and deaths and during recessions and wars. Because religion provides a comfort and explanation for life events, religion often grants legitimacy to existing social arrangements. For example, as described in Chapter 15, civil leaders, such as kings, pharaohs, and popes were, and sometimes still are, considered to be God's representatives on earth. Moreover, verses in the Christian bible, such as Matthew 22:21, which says, in part, “render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's,” has been interpreted to mean that people should submit to state and civil authority. Women (see Chapter 10), African Americans (see Chapter 12), and immigrants (see Chapter 19) often turn to religion as a source of comfort in the face of inequality and discrimination.

Second, religion drives, and helps people understand, social change. There are numerous examples of this function cited in the chapters that follow, including the participation of the mainline Protestants (see Chapter 4), African American Protestants (see Chapter 11), and Catholics (see Chapter 6) in the civil rights movement. We see it also in the use of an engaged orthodox orientation, described in Chapter 5, to help evangelical Protestants grapple with major societal changes and also in the rise of new religious movements, especially Wicca, in response to the changing role of women in society, as described in Chapters 10 and 16. Many more examples, and the research that underlies them, are described throughout this book and are the central focus of Chapter 15.

Third, religion is a social act. As described later in this chapter, religion builds a community of people who share religious beliefs and rituals, integrate together within the group and also define the people outside of that community. The ways in which religion is communicated in social settings, including in the family, congregations, the media, and in popular culture is the focus of Chapter 8.

Fourth, religion provides a brace against chaos. In other words, religion provides humans with a sense that our lives are not mere aggregations of random events but are connected to some larger sacred order. For example, we often hear people say that some challenging or tragic event is “all part of God's plan for my life” or hear that the relatives of a person who died from a rare disease or violent act start an organization to prevent future deaths from the same cause in order to give that death a larger meaning in life. As described in Chapter 16, this sense of connection is a fundamental human condition, even among those who are not formally affiliated with a religion. This is, in many ways, the only function of religion that is exclusive to religion. Many other social institutions and phenomena provide comfort, drive social change, and are social acts; but only religion or religious and spiritual experiences can link our lives to a sacred purpose that is larger than ourselves.

The appropriate definition, whether substantive or functional, depends on the nature of the questions we wish to ask and answer about religion. All of these definitions assume that there is a universal something called religion that can be identified across cultures and in many people's experiences. As Talal Asad (1933–) points out, this assumption is a product of colonial western Christianity. The way we define and study religion is, in many ways, influenced by the study of comparative religions. Most earlier researchers in this field were western Christians who created definitions of religion based on their own religious practices and beliefs and then sought to find and define the thing they termed as religion in other cultures throughout history. Today, most researchers are more cautious about how they define religion and how those definitions shape the object and outcomes of their research.

In the sections that follow, we explore each of these functions in more detail by describing how the founders of sociology defined religion. The founders of sociology as an academic discipline considered the theorization and the study of religion to be foundational, one of the core forces in society. They believed that religion helped establish human communities and affected economic and other social behaviors in profound ways. Key examples include Max Weber's 1904 book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Emile Durkheim's 1897 study of suicide and his 1912 book The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.

Box 1.3 Founders of sociology

The founders of sociology are usually considered to be Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. These thinkers set out to develop practical and scientifically sound methods of research to examine theories of the social world that were rooted in a specific historical and cultural context.

Karl Marx (1818–83) set out to develop scientifically justified systems of explanation for the development and effects of the industrial revolution and urbanization. He drew extensively on the philosophies of history and science. He was most interested in explaining the economic system of capitalism, human nature as it relates to labor and labor power, and the socioeconomic class structure.

Max Weber (1864–1920) was also interested in the development of capitalism and modernity, but emphasized the importance of understanding the cultural influences of the processes behind them, particularly religion. Weber's empirical methodology was based upon understanding the meaning and purpose that individuals attached to their actions. His analysis of the development of the authority of the state as embedded in bureaucracies is central to the modern study of organizations and political economy.

Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) established the formal academic discipline of sociology and set up the first European department of sociology in 1895. Durkheim believed that sociology was the science of the development and functions of social institutions and that the social sciences should adopt the scientific method as conducted in the natural sciences. His seminal monograph on the social causes of suicide is central to the modern study of criminology and social problems.

Other theorists who were important to the founding of sociology include: Auguste Comte, Charles Cooley, Karl Mannheim, George Herbert Mead, Vilfredo Pareto, Georg Simmel, Herbert Spencer, and Thorstein Veblen.

Religion as an opiate

Unlike other founders of the field of sociology, Karl Marx (1818–83) was only tangentially interested in religion. Ironically, his statement that “[religion] is the opium of the people” in the 1843 essay “Contribution to the Critiques of Hegel's Philosophy of Law” is one of the most famous, and infamous, social science quotes about religion. In this essay, Marx is concerned primarily with how German philosophers considered ideas as something apart and separate from those who created the ideas. He uses religion as an example of this process by arguing that because humans are led to believe that religion is handed down from an abstract, supernatural being, they forget that religion is created by human beings and is actually a reflection of human struggles and suffering. This understanding is the basis for the sociology of religion as the study of the human construction of religion and the ways that religion guides, and is shaped by, human experience and human efforts to understand and cope with the larger social and natural world.

Figure 1.1 Karl Marx, one of the founding fathers of sociology, famously stated in 1843 that “[religion] is the opium of the people”

Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Marx compares religion to opium to make the point that by uncritically and fully accepting religious teachings (along with philosophy), people replace concrete reality with an abstract, supernatural reality, much like the way opium replaces actual sense experience with an abstract feeling. In particular, Marx argues that religion serves different functions for different ...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Religion in Contemporary America
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Preface
• PART I Setting the stage
• PART II Mainline religions in historical and sociological context
• PART III Moving beyond the mainstream
• PART IV Where American religion is heading
• Index