Search

Abortion continues to be a highly contentious issue in the United States, with few signs of abatement. The god of this paper is to specify how variable positions about abortion across religious traditions have led to differential shifts in attitudes among their members. Based on culturally relevant events, position papers, and other religious media, the guiding hypotheses propose that Evangelicals have become increasingly opposed to abortion for elective reasons; yet changes in attitudes regarding abortion for traumatic reasons are due primarily to cohort shifts. Data from the cumulative General Social Surveys (1972–2002) are used to test the hypotheses. The first hypothesis is supported: Opposition to elective abortions among Evangelicals has increased relative to other religious traditions. However, contrary to the second hypothesis, they have also become more opposed to abortion for traumatic reasons. This increasing opposition is most prominent among Evangelicals born in the last 40 years or so. Implications for understanding Evangelical distinctiveness and the cultural context of abortion attitudes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A theory of religious activity based on principles of supply-side economics has generated considerable controversy in the sociology of religion. This theory posits that religious pluralism increases rates of religious activity by promoting competition between churches. This paper tests "supply-side theory" with data describing US Mormons. Results uncover patterns in Mormon church activity that refute the theory. The paper outlines several characteristics of Mormonism that explain its deviance from the theorized outcome, and suggests a scope condition for supply-side theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, a sample of nearly 3,924 students at 28 of the most selective college and universities in the United States, this paper tests hypotheses about religion, academic performance, and satisfaction at college. Two measures of religiosity—attending religious services every week or more and a 1 to 10 scale of observance of one's religious traditions and customs—increase the amount of hours students report spending on academic work and extracurricular activities, as well as reduce the hours students report going to parties. Even when controlling for time spent partying, studying and in extracurricular activities, regular attendance at religious services increases academic achievement. Finally, students who attend religious services weekly and those who are more observant of their religious traditions also report being more satisfied at college. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Is there a difference between the social capital developed in faith-based and secular poverty-to-work programs? Comparative field research investigating five faith-based and secular poverty-to-work programs in southeastern America finds that values expressed by a secular non-profit organization and two faith-based programs correspond with more activities that develop social capital than the programs run by a for-profit organization and a reinvented government agency. In all the programs this social capital is both 'bridging,' by crossing barriers of race, gender, and class, and 'bonding' by tying participants and staff into at least a temporary supportive community. The programs see that this social capital is effective in supporting low-income persons through the transition to full-time employment. In addition, the faith-based programs seek to extend the social capital by developing long-term ties between clients and local religious congregations. This paper also specifies how social capital is developed in these programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current models of change in immigrant churches posit that ethnic congregations become more acculturated in response to inter-generational conflicts. As second and third generation church members attempt to meet their own unique social needs, ethnic churches are forced to revise their goals and structures in order to ensure the survival of their organization. Recent studies, however, cast doubt on whether generational changes are the only catalyst of evolution in ethnic churches. This paper develops an alternative explanation by arguing that religious culture can also exert pressure for change. it does so by showing how a strong emphasis on inter-ethnic evangelism lead to the adoption of English-language services in a Ghanaian Pentecostal church in Chicago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research demonstrates the role of religious beliefs, practices, and people in a wide variety of social movement struggles. In most cases, religious resource mobilization seems to occur in a relatively straightforward, uncomplicated manner and with positive outcomes for the movement in question. Little attention has been paid to the challenges that exist to mobilizing religious resources and building coalitions with religious supporters. This essay examines the problematic nature of religious resource mobilization as part of union strategies to win a strike/lockout against Detroit's two newspapers, the News and the Free Press, between 1995-2000. Intensive interviews with strikers, union spokespersons, and religious activists, illustrate how religious resources contributed to union strength during the strike. However, these contributions were limited by the internal dynamics in the relationship between the unions and religious supporters as well as by the power disparities between these local coalitions and the multinational corporations they struggled against. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the current religious mood in the tinned States and reflects upon its manifestations in the mid-1990s. It is argued that the religious mood has shifted -- away from the cognitive and fixed beliefs and toward the experiential arid expressive. It is further argued that given this change it is difficult to assess the current religious situation, especially given sociology-of-religion's reliance upon institutional categories and empirical indicators. Religious capital, like social capital, is not easily gauged without attention to new forms of community allowing individuals opportunity to express themselves as whole persons. A plea is made for a sociology of religion more attuned to body, mind, and self and thus to the dynamic and experiential qualities of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that, for white Americans, conflating national and religious group identities is strongly associated with racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, prompting some to argue that claims about Christianity being central to American identity are essentially about reinforcing white supremacy. Prior work has not considered, however, whether such beliefs may influence the racial views of nonwhite Americans differently from white Americans. Drawing on a representative sample of black and white Americans from the 2014 General Social Survey, and focusing on explanations for racial inequality as the outcome, we show that, contrary to white Americans, black Americans who view being a Christian as essential to being an American are actually more likely to attribute black–white inequality to structural issues and less to blacks' individual shortcomings. Our findings suggest that, for black Americans, connecting being American to being Christian does not necessarily bolster white supremacy, but may instead evoke and sustain ideals of racial justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did Americans vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential election? Social scientists have proposed a variety of explanations, including economic dissatisfaction, sexism, racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The current study establishes that, independent of these influences, voting for Trump was, at least for many Americans, a symbolic defense of the United States' perceived Christian heritage. Data from a national probability sample of Americans surveyed soon after the 2016 election shows that greater adherence to Christian nationalist ideology was a robust predictor of voting for Trump, even after controlling for economic dissatisfaction, sexism, anti-black prejudice, anti-Muslim refugee attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as measures of religion, sociodemographics, and political identity more generally. These findings indicate that Christian nationalist ideology--although correlated with a variety of class-based, sexist, racist, and ethnocentric views--is not synonymous with, reducible to, or strictly epiphenomenal of such views. Rather, Christian nationalism operates as a unique and independent ideology that can influence political actions by calling forth a defense of mythological narratives about America's distinctively Christian heritage and future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between two well-documented patterns in charitable giving: the positive relationship between religion and generosity and the growth in the numbers of, and donations to, international aid organizations. I discuss three modes by which religion shapes Americans' preferences on international aid: values, social norms, and exposure to need. Using a 2005 national survey of church members, I find that (1) altruistic values, congregational social ties, and exposure to international needs through one's congregation all are associated with giving to international causes; (2) individuals with more frequent attendance, those with more social ties in the congregation, and evangelicals and black Protestants are significantly more likely to prefer church over government aid; and (3) aid organizations affiliated with a religious tradition enjoy an "in-group" advantage in support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable research has examined the relationship between religion and mental health. This study adds to the literature in this area by addressing two main questions: (1) Is the frequency of prayer associated with symptoms of anxiety-related disorders among US adults? (2) Is this association conditional on the nature of individuals' attachment to God? We examine these questions using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1,511). Results reveal no meaningful associations between the frequency of prayer and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, anxious attachment to God is positively correlated with psychiatric symptoms, while secure attachment to God bears a modest inverse association with these outcomes (when anxious attachment is excluded from the model). Results also show that prayer is inversely associated with symptoms of anxiety-related disorders among individuals who have a secure attachment to God, but positively associated with these outcomes among those who have a more insecure or avoidant attachment to God. Several study limitations and promising directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We ask how scientists understand spirituality and its relation to religion and to science. Analyses are based on in-depth interviews with 275 natural and social scientists at 21 top U.S. research universities who were part of the Religion among Academic Scientists survey. We find that this subset of scientists have several distinct conceptual or categorical strategies for framing the connection spirituality has with science. Such distinct framings are instantiated in spiritual beliefs more congruent with science than religion, as manifested in the possibility of “spiritual atheism,” those who see themselves as spiritual yet do not believe in God or a god. Scientists stress a pursuit of truth that is individualized (but not characterized by therapeutic aims) as well as voluntary engagement both inside and outside the university. Results add complexity to existing thinking about spirituality in contemporary American life, indicating that conceptions of spirituality may be bundled with characteristics of particular master identity statuses such as occupational groups. Such understandings also enrich and inform existing theories of religious change, particularly those related to secularization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For more than a century most U.S. colleges and universities have functioned as secular institutions. But how religious are American college and university faculty in their personal lives? We answer this question by analyzing data from a new, nationally representative survey of the American professoriate. Contrary to the view that religious skepticism predominates in the academy, we find that the majority of professors, even at elite research institutions, are religious believers. We go on to examine the distribution of faculty religiosity across institutions, fields, and other variables, and identify a number of issues that future research--sensitive to the fact that religious faith and academic life, at least in the American context, are by no means mutually exclusive--should take up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I analyze support for religiously orthodox teachings among U.S. Catholic laity. I find orthodoxy to be positively correlated with religious experience. While most Catholics disagree with official teachings regarding contraception and the celibate priesthood, a significant minority endorse these orthodox positions. In analyses of a national sample of U.S. Catholics, orthodox attitudes are found to be more common among those who have been on a religious pilgrimage. The finding is interpreted using concepts from Durkheim's sociology of religion, Stark and Finke's claims about the relationship between religious ritual and acceptance of religious explanations, and Wildavsky's theory that preferences are endogenous to institutions. Building on these analyses, I address a question about the structural consequences of pilgrimage, and conclude with a call for further quantitative research about pilgrims' experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the belief in divine control associated with the generalized sense of personal control? Using data from a 2005 nationally representative survey of 1, 800 adults in the United States, I test two competing views: the relinquished control versus the personal empowerment hypotheses. Results support the relinquished control hypothesis. Individuals who believe in divine control tend to report significantly lower levels of personal control--but that association is contingent upon other dimensions of the religious role. Specifically, I observe a significantly stronger negative association between belief in divine control and personal control among individuals who report lower levels of subjective religiosity and less frequent praying and attendance activities. Moreover, the interrelationships among these four dimensions of the religious role reveal important suppression effects in their influence on personal control. I discuss the ways that these observations contribute to theoretical views about the complex interactions among religious precepts, practices, and generalized expectancies of personal control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several scholars reviewing studies of contemporary Asian American religion have criticized the field and have called for increased attention to the analysis of race. However, they have not extensively discussed what this analysis should look like. This article puts forward a framework for analyzing race in congregations that combines the ecology, culture, process, and resources frames from Ammerman, et al.'s Studying Congregations: A New Handbook with concepts drawn from racial formation theory. I discuss how this approach can increase the comprehensiveness and sophistication of racial analysis of Asian American congregations, and I give examples of previous empirical studies that illustrate different aspects of this approach. Finally, I suggest fruitful areas for future research on Asian American religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the state of Islam in 2007, as well as the social and political significance of Muslim women who chose to wear face veils. Particular attention is given to the international awareness and interest in Muslim populations after the U.S. terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The author reports that a rapid growth of Muslim populations has taken place in major cities around the world due to immigration, conversion to Islam, and natural population growth. Article topics include the struggle of Western countries to incorporate Muslim communities into secular societies, due to conflicting values that are often at odds with Islamic beliefs and hostile members.

Scholars around the country are engaged in studying the "new religious pluralism." However, this scholarship to date has been conducted without much theoretical guidance. While there is general acknowledgement that the old assimilation model is inadequate for understanding the dynamics of contemporary religious pluralism, alternative models have not been forthcoming. This essay is an attempt to move the study of religious pluralism forward by charting out the theoretical dimensions of the research problem. Then, using secularization theory and the idea of an American civil religion as theoretical guides, two models for understanding contemporary pluralism are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promise Keepers are a fascinating phenomenon in contemporary life in the U.S. as of March 2000. It strikes right at the cultural intersection of religion, gender and racial relations, public life, and national identity--an intersection in such flux that any movement confronting it will garner attention, criticism, and support. Promise Keepers are a reactionary reassertion of patriarchal authority; they are a pawn of Christian Right political operatives; they are another sign of the evangelical religious revival. Promise Keepers is a new phenomenon; it is another example of that old-time religion; it is political; it is religious. Promise Keepers does have the strong culture of evangelical Protestantism as a backdrop that helps foster solidarity, but again, that culture is as likely to lead men away from engagement with the larger public sphere as to politicize them. Prison Keepers seem actively to avoid other steps that might increase its national and political presence. Its haphazard and on-again, of-again organizational structure not a recipe for political effectiveness in current polity. And perhaps even more crucially, it lacks ideological agreement and unity of purpose within the movement to do too much politically. The motivations that bring men to Prison Keepers are too wrapped up with participants' private lives, there is too much suspicion of politics and government action among evangelicals, the men come with too many different agendas, and they vary enough in their material and cultural interests to allow anything more that the most general moral exhortation.

This article comments on the Visions of the Good Society and the Religious Roots of American Political Culture article by Rhys Williams. In his article, Williams provides an insight into the rhetorical models that are used in the search for community in the U.S. He also presents evidence that weds the search for community to religion even though those involved in the search may be unaware that they are, in fact, proceeding within religious frames of reference. From the daily flow of words in the U.S. public arena, he has distilled three models or visions of the good society, which are covenantal, contractual and stewardship. The stewardship model specifies an action goal. Stewardship as a form of action can be differentiated from stewardship as a goal of action. The covenantal model underlies the notion of a society as a social system. The contractual model underlies the notion of a society as an association of actors. The religious center of the tension in U.S. society between systemic needs and individual interests is found within U.S. Roman Catholicism where the high progressive road on social issues is taken in company with strictures on the control and expression of the body.