Diminishing worship attendance in some churches is offset by the explosion of attendance at others. Congregations going out of business and liquidating assets are offset by new-church starts and the construction or expansion of facilities. The absence of knowledge or familiarity with a religion’s beliefs and practices is offset by the proliferation of religious publishers and the sale of religious books, magazines, music, movies and other iconic objects. For every pollster that concludes that religious belief is on the wane, there is a pollster claiming just the opposite. According to Baylor University sociologist Rodney Stark, these are signs of a competitive—and thriving—religious marketplace.
In Europe and the United States, scholars have debated whether the decline in the influence of Christianity in the West is best charted by measuring such things as the presence and extent of certain beliefs (like who Jesus was, or what sin is, or whether the Bible is inspired). Others argue that religious practices (such as attendance at worship services, Bible reading, and prayer) should be the primary measure of adherence to the Christian religion. And there are many scholars who argue that what counts in measuring the rise or decline is not personal belief and religious practice, but the extent to which Christianity’s social and ethical influence can be detected in the public places of our shared life (commerce, human services, healthcare providers, educational institutions, government, etc.), in other words, all those spheres of sociocultural life that at an earlier period of western history were either controlled by or bent to serve the interests of the church.
Grace Davie, a sociologist of religion in the U.K., has taken to referring to the shifts in religious expression as “believing without belonging,” meaning people may have religious beliefs of one sort or another, and even refer to themselves as “spiritual,” or having a “spiritual life,” or nurturing a “spirituality,” but they are not members of a religious organization or practitioners of a religious tradition that would be widely recognized and affirmed as such. Indeed, these believers have no interest in attaching themselves to groups, communities, or other forms of belongingness if they are explicitly and thus recognizably “religious.” They prefer, as Robert Putnam might say, to “bowl alone,” or to practice what Robert Bellah referred to as “Sheilaism,” the highly individualistic, ego-centric, designer religion of one’s own making.
But also in the last few decades, scholars have shown interest in correlating religiosity with geography and economics. For example, a recent Gallup Poll indicates that 65% of people in the U.S. are willing to admit to a researcher that religion is “an important part of their daily lives.” When one considers the data by state of residence, a much more heterogenous picture of this country emerges. This diversity has been known for decades by sociologists of religion, but it is nonetheless interesting to note that certain areas of the country are more religious than others—if the indicators taken as evidence are responses to survey questions.
According the Gallup, the most religious region of the country is the South, with Mississippi having 85% of its residents claiming that religion is an important part of their daily life. On the other hand, Vermont is the least religious, with only 42% acknowledging the importance of religion. Overall, the South is the most religious, and New England and the West are the least (Illinois ranks “average” or right in the middle on the scale from least to most religious). Presumably, the survey researchers and respondents both understand “religion” in this question to mean Christianity or one of the many traditions of Christian faith and life. Arguably, what one hears in the question is correlative to where one lives and one’s impression of “religion” in that environment.
For persons of faith seeking engagement in the public sphere with issues of social justice, this survey raises some interesting social, cultural and religious issues. What is it about the South that brings out the religion in people? Why is the Pacific Northwest seemingly disinterested in religion as a part of daily life? What does the religion marketplace look like and how does it work in the South, in New England, in the Midwest, in the far West? Even in the current recession in which people everywhere are feeling the instability of our economy, why is religion more important in a region where household incomes are the lowest (the South), and least important in regions where it is the highest (New England and West)? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the mean household income in the South is 26% less than it is in the West, and 32% less than it is in New England. Is there a correlation between socioeconomic status and the importance of religion?
There is some evidence, gathered by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, to suggest a correlation between economic circumstances and religious belief and practice. Others, such as Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, in their book Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, have even argued that the strength and vitality—and growth—of a religion is related proportionately to the degree of insecurity and instability experienced by persons in a geopolitical context: the less secure and the more at-risk a population is in its social, economic and political circumstances, the stronger will be the presence and influence of religious belief and practice. If this argument is correct, then perhaps the United States might be on the threshold of some forms of religious renewal.
Even if it’s not correct in the case of the U.S., there remains a challenge for persons of faith in an affluent country where many are prevented from achieving a quality of life that maximizes their well-being and capacity to help others as well. If there is a connection between socioeconomic status and religious activity, it probably isn’t Marx’s notion of religion as opiate to numb the suffering and oppression and impotence. If there is a connection, it would be plausible to think that it is the hope that invigorates the quest for justice and a socioeconomic order that values mutuality and empowers those with capacity and resources to look out for—to seek out—those whose incapacity and poverty limit their ability to flourish.
If the wealthiest in the United States are the least religious, then perhaps persons of faith have common cause with the poorest in seeking social and economic justice, empowerment and equality.
Peace,
Douglas R. Sharp
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment