SOCI 326 1st Edition Lecture 9Religious Vitality: A rational choice theory of religion Last class Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy Pluralism leads to Religious Decline Modern society: Heretical imperative Religion now has an element of choice Undermines religiousauthority and plausibility Smith: religion is no longer a sacred canopy but a sacred umbrella No common sense of solidarity Re building secularization theory‐ Chaves: secularization as declining scope of religious authority Secularization occurs (or not) at individual, organizational, and societal levels of analysisThe debate over secularization theory Classical Secularization theory E.g. Berger & the Sacred canopy Vs. Religious Vitality Aka religious economy theoryReligious vitality 2 important criticisms of Classical Secularization theory (CST) Doesn’t explain the U.S. Assumes an ideal past of universal and uniform belief and participation (aka "Age of Faith") Criticism #1: CST doesn't explain the U.S. American Revolution: 10% churchgoersReligious indifference was common Magic, astrology, spiritualism Since the Revolution: Americans are much more religious Criticism #2: "Age of Faith" Never existed Rodney Stark, "Secularization, RIP" Religion in the "Good OldDays": is marked by ignorance Counter argument: The class will read Mark Chaves' ("abiding Faith")‐ An important rebuttal of Stark Does Chaves provide evidence to support the idea that religious ignorance is still common Why is the U.S. Different? DisestablishmentThere is no official church or religion of the United States 1st Amendment to the Constitution An open market for religions Rational Choice Theory "Humans seek what they perceive to be rewards and try to avoid what they perceive to be costs" Stark and Bainbridge‐ Religious economies: Current and potential customers Firms seeking to serve the market Religious "Productlines" Thrive in "laissez faire" environments‐ Deregulation leads to pluralism (which leads to) Competition Specialization of product and aggressive recruitment Higher demand Greater participation Finke 1990‐ Finke & Stark The Churching of America Between 1776 1990: religious "adherence" increased from 17% to 60%‐ More liberal churches are showing a decline, but more churches that challenge society show an increase Christian Smith, American Evangelicalism Religion thrives under sacred umbrellas Small and portable Religion thrives when Religious leaders and members are different from other groups (e.g. non ‐evangelicals) In opposition (or tension) to those other groups Assessing CST and religious Vitality: Who's right? Finke & Stakr (1988) 1906 census data Strong support of religious vitality perspective: strong, positive relationship between pluralism and participation Breault (1989) and Olson (1998) Strong, negative reltationship between pluralism and participation Upshot: Impasse Chaves & Gorski (2001):Pluralism does not increase