Religious Literacy Resource Guide: Academic Perspectives on Tolerance
Textual Resources
Handbook of Leaving Religion by ISBN: 9789004330924Publication Date: 2019-10-17The Handbook of Leaving Religion introduces a neglected field of research with the aim to outline previous and contemporary research, and suggest how the topic of leaving religion should be studied in the future. The handbook consists of three sections: 1) Major debates about leaving religion; 2) Case studies and empirical insights; and 3) Theoretical and methodological approaches. Section one provides the reader with an introduction to key terms, historical developments, major controversies and significant cases. Section two includes case studies that illustrate various processes of leaving religion from different perspectives, and each chapter provides new empirical insights. Section three discusses, presents and encourages new approaches to the study of leaving religion.
Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements by ISBN: 9789004425255Publication Date: 2021-06-24The Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movementsoffers a multinational study of Islam, its variants, influences, and neighbouring movements, from a multidisciplinary range of scholars. These chapters highlight the diversity of Islam, especially in its contemporary manifestations, as a religion of many communities, theologies, and ideologies. Over five sections--on Sunni, Shia, Sufi, fundamentalist, and fringe Islamic movements--the authors provide historical overviews, analyses, and in-depth studies of large and small Islamic and related groups from all around the world. The contents of this volume will be of interest to both newcomers to the study of Islam and established scholars of religion who wish to engage with the dynamic label of Islam and the many impactful movements of the Islamic world.
Handbook of Megachurches by ISBN: 9789004399884Publication Date: 2019-11-21The growth of the megachurch (generally defined as a regular attendance of over 2,000 people) is undoubtedly one of the most exceptional religious trends of recent times, certainly within the Christian sphere. Spreading from the USA, megachurches have now become common globally - reaching different national and cultural contexts. The edited volume Handbook of Megachurches offers a comprehensive account of the subject from various academic perspectives: sociology, religious studies, religious history and religious studies among them. Topics covered include: the historical developments and growth, typologies, theology, popular culture, revivalism, social engagement, and the manifestation of megachurches in such countries as Canada, Russia, India and Africa.
Monotheism and Tolerance by ISBN: 9780253354198Publication Date: 2010-01-11Why are religious tolerance and pluralism so difficult to achieve? Why is the often violent fundamentalist backlash against them so potent? Robert Erlewine looks to a new religion of reason for answers to these questions. Drawing on Enlightenment writers Moses Mendelssohn, Immanuel Kant, and Hermann Cohen, who placed Christianity and Judaism in tension with tolerance and pluralism, Erlewine finds a way to break the impasse, soften hostilities, and establish equal relationships with the Other. Erlewine's recovery of a religion of reason stands in contrast both to secularist critics of religion who reject religion for the sake of reason and to contemporary religious conservatives who eschew reason for the sake of religion. Monotheism and Tolerance suggests a way to deal with the intractable problem of religiously motivated and justified violence.
Love the Sin by ISBN: 0814742645Publication Date: 2003-02-01Sex. Religion. There is no denying that these two subjects are among the most provocative in American public life. Even the constitutional principle of church-state separation seems to give way when it comes to sex: the Supreme Court draws on theology as readily as it draws on case law when rendering decisions that touch on sexuality. In this compelling and carefully argued study, Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini examine this powerful and disturbing connection as they explore the reasons why secular institutions habitually use religion to regulate sexual life. From state legislatures to the halls of Congress and the Supreme Court, from daily newspapers to popular magazines and television talk shows, Jakobsen and Pellegrini illustrate the intensity of America's obsession with sex in the name of values and the dangers it poses to some of our most basic freedoms. Using a wide range of case studies, Love the Sin offers an insightful critique of the ways in which sexuality in general and homosexuality in particular are discussed and debated in the public arena. Additionally, the book sets forth constructive alternatives that highlight the vital links between sexual and religious freedom and expose the hazards of using religion as a justification for regulating sexuality. A timely, necessary, and refreshing contribution to the many debates surrounding religion, morality, and sex, Love the Sin boldly dreams an America that lives up to its promise of freedom and justice for all.
Comparing Religions by ISBN: 9781118774878Publication Date: 2014-03-31Comparing Religions is a next-generation textbook which expertly guides, inspires, and challenges those who wish to think seriously about religious pluralism in the modern world. A unique book teaching the art and practice of comparing religions Draws on a wide range of religious traditions to demonstrate the complexity and power of comparative practices Provides both a history and understanding of comparative practice and a series of thematic chapters showing how responsible practice is done A three part structure provides readers with a map and effective process through which to grasp this challenging but fascinating approach The author is a leading academic, writer, and exponent of comparative practice Contains numerous learning features, including chapter outlines, summaries, toolkits, discussion questions, a glossary, and many images Supported by a companion website (available on publication) at www.wiley.com/go/kripal, which includes information on individual religious traditions, links of other sites, an interview with the author, learning features, and much more
The One and the Many by ISBN: 0674638271Publication Date: 1997-04-26Too few Americans seek a common good and this causes damage to national life, this book argues. There are many diversifications contributing to this state - religious, racial, ethnic, ideological and economic, and the author suggests an association of associations as a solution.
Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously by ISBN: 1932792333Publication Date: 2005-11-01The clash between the religious right and the secular left undermines any serious debate about the role of religion in American public life. Such strident cultural rhetoric often ignores the positive contributions of America's many religions. By contrast, this volume celebrates America's religious diversity, demonstrating that religious pluralism is actually one of democracy's basic building blocks. Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously expands on Barbara A. McGraw's framework for understanding religious participation in public life--a two-tiered public forum, consisting of the civic public forum and the conscientious public forum. The chapters explore how diverse religious communities and traditions, including "newer" and marginalized religions, can make a meaningful contribution to American society and politics.
Culture of Toleration in Diverse Societies by ISBN: 0719062322Publication Date: 2003-07-18Although the idea of toleration has been widely explored, there is reluctance to acknowledge the new meaning that current debates on toleration have when compared with those in the early modern period and with subsequent discussions about pluralism and freedom of expression. In this book, a group of distinguished authors explore the complexities emerging from the new debate. They reflect the cross-thematic and cross-disciplinary nature of such discussions, dissecting a number of debates such as liberalism and communitarianism, public and private, multiculturalism and the politics of identity. Specific issues considered include religious discrimination in employment, city life and community, social ethos, and reason and ethics.
American Grace by ISBN: 9781416566885Publication Date: 2010-10-05American Grace is a major achievement, a groundbreaking examination of religion in America. Unique among nations, America is deeply religious, religiously diverse, and remarkably tolerant. But in recent decades the nation's religious landscape has been reshaped. America has experienced three seismic shocks, say Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In the 1960s, religious observance plummeted. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, a conservative reaction produced the rise of evangelicalism and the Religious Right. Since the 1990s, however, young people, turned off by that linkage between faith and conservative politics, have abandoned organized religion. The result has been a growing polarization--the ranks of religious conservatives and secular liberals have swelled, leaving a dwindling group of religious moderates in between. At the same time, personal interfaith ties are strengthening. Interfaith marriage has increased while religious identities have become more fluid. Putnam and Campbell show how this denser web of personal ties brings surprising interfaith tolerance, notwithstanding the so-called culture wars. American Grace is based on two of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted on religion and public life in America.
More Journal Articles
- Stolz, J. “The 'Social Integration' of Religious Groups in Society: A Social Mechanisms Approach.” Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion 2 (2011): 85-116.
This chapter shows how explanatory sociology may treat questions of "social integration" of religious groups in society. It argues that due to the non-normative stance of explanatory sociology, a number of crucial questions cannot be answered. The chapter provides basic facts and explanations that may be used as a framework by others in order to construct their view of integration. It first sketches the perspective of explanatory sociology (the social mechanisms approach). The chapter then defines integration and discusses its normative and epistemological complexities and proposes a way of measuring various possible integration dimensions.
- Straughn, J. B., & Feld, S. L. “America as a 'Christian Nation?' Understanding Religious Boundaries of National Identity in the United States.” Sociology of Religion 71.3 (2010): 280–306.
Though predominantly Christian since the time of its founding, the United States has become more religiously diverse in recent decades. Yet since the mid-1990s, the proportion of Americans who see their country as a “Christian nation” has reportedly increased. Though initially paradoxical, these trends are less mysterious if the idea of a “Christian America” (CA) is understood, not as a description of religious demography, but as a discursive practice that seeks to align the symbolic boundaries of national belonging with the boundaries of the dominant faith community.
- Stroope, S. “Social Networks and Religion: The Role of Congregational Social Embeddedness in Religious Belief and Practice.” Sociology of Religion 73.3 (2012): 273–298.
Among U.S. Christians, congregational social embeddedness is a robust predictor of all religiosity outcomes and is among the largest effects in models. These effects are not substantially moderated by religious tradition, although Catholic affiliation attenuates the positive relationship between social embeddedness and church activities. These findings strongly suggest that social sanctions and solidarity rewards within congregational social networks play an important role in heightening religiosity.
- Trinitapoli, J. “I Know This Isn’t PC but...: Religious Exclusivism among U.S. Adolescents.” The Sociological Quarterly 48.3 (2007): 451–483.
This study focuses on adolescence—a period when independent religious lives are forming—examining the social, familial, and denominational correlates of exclusivist beliefs and the ways in which exclusivist adolescents reconcile their beliefs with the cultural mores of a pluralistic society. High levels of parent religiosity and dense religious peer networks strongly predict exclusivism. Yet the interview data show that exclusivists have not resisted pluralism but have internalized messages of religious diversity. They modify their beliefs in response to pluralism and articulate them carefully so as not to be perceived as intolerant.
Journal Articles
- Barre, E. A. “Reconciled to Liberty: Catholics, Muslims, and the Possibility of Overlapping Consensus.” Florida State University, 2009.
This dissertation uses the tools of comparative religious ethics to challenge two popular explanations of the rising sectarian violence and the imposition of Islamic law throughout the Middle East. The first contends that liberalism is not gaining traction because it is incompatible with certain "exceptional" features of Islamic history and theology. The second explains the phenomenon in terms of a general incompatibility between liberalism and all religions that seek a public role for religion. This paper shows that it is possible to make religious arguments in support of liberal democracy and that Islamic struggles to do so are in no way exceptional.
- Buckley, D. T., & Mantilla, L.F. “God and Governance: Development, State Capacity, and the Regulation of Religion.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 52.2 (2013): 328–348.
This article proposes a new approach to an old question: How does development affect religion-state relations? It argues that because development increases states’ ability to effectively formulate and implement policy, it will be associated with greater state regulation of religion. This stands in contrast to predominant theories that examine development's negative impact on individual religiosity while largely overlooking the impact that development may have on state institutions.
- Cadge, W., & Howard Ecklund, E. “Immigration and religion.” Annual Review of Sociology 33 (2007): 359–379.
This review synthesizes research about religion in the lives of post-1965 immigrants to the United States, demonstrating the different ways religion influences immigrants’ adaptation in the United States. It considers how religion informs immigrants’ ethnic and gender-based identities, their experiences of civic and political life, and the lives of the second generation, arguing that current research is more descriptive than analytic overall. It then highlights a series of research questions and comparisons to enrich theoretical thinking.
- Cadge, W., & Sigalow, E. “Negotiating Religious Differences: The Strategies of Interfaith Chaplains in Healthcare.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 52.1 (2013): 146–158.
Chaplains in healthcare increasingly work in interfaith roles with patients and families from a range of religious and spiritual backgrounds. This paper explores the two main strategies—neutralizing (using a broad language of spirituality that emphasizes commonalities rather than differences) and code-switching (use the languages, rituals, and practices of the people with whom they work)—chaplains at one large academic medical center use when working with patients and families whose religious and spiritual backgrounds are different from their own.
- Carpenter, T. P., & Marshall, M. A. “An examination of religious priming and intrinsic religious motivation in the moral hypocrisy paradigm.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48.2 (2009): 386–393.
This research examined whether intrinsic religious motivation combined with an experimental religious priming manipulation would predict decreased moral hypocrisy. A sample of Christian college students completed the Religious Orientation Scale, which tests whether participants will act in accordance with their moral beliefs at a cost to themselves. Half the participants received religious priming prior to the procedure. Intrinsic religiosity predicted decreased moral hypocrisy, but only when religiosity was primed.
- DiPrete, T. A. et al. “Segregation in Social Networks Based on Acquaintanceship and Trust.” American Journal of Sociology 116.4 (2011): 1234–83.
Using 2006 General Social Survey data, the authors compare levels of segregation by race and along other dimensions of potential social cleavage in the contemporary United States. Americans are not as isolated as the most extreme recent estimates suggest. However, hopes that “bridging” social capital is more common in broader acquaintanceship networks than in core networks are not supported. Instead, the entire acquaintanceship network is perceived by Americans to be about as segregated as the much smaller network of close ties.
- Ecklund, E. H. “Religion and spirituality among scientists.” Contexts 7.1 (2008): 12–15.
During 2005 and 2006, the study Religion among Academic Scientists (RAAS) examined the religious and spiritual beliefs and practices of natural and social scientists at 21 of the most influential research universities in the United States. The study found that a surprising number of believers teach the sciences at the nation’s top academic institutions. While scientists are indeed less religious in a traditional sense than the general public, the majority of scientists are interested in matters of spirituality and a significant minority is religious.
- Edgell, P., Gerteis, J., & Hartmann, D. “Atheists as 'Other:' Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society.” American Sociological Review 71.2 (2006): 211–234.
This article examines the limits of Americans' acceptance of atheists. Using new national survey data, it shows atheists are less likely to be accepted, publicly and privately, than any others from a long list of ethnic, religious, and other minority groups. It demonstrates that increasing acceptance of religious diversity does not extend to the nonreligious, then presents a theoretical framework for understanding the role of religious belief in providing a moral basis for cultural membership and solidarity in an otherwise highly diverse society.
- Emerson, M. O., & Hartman, D. “The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism.” Annual Review of Sociology 32.1 (2006): 127–144.
Religious fundamentalism has risen to worldwide prominence since the 1970s. The authors review research on fundamentalist movements to learn what religious fundamentalisms are, if and why they appear to be resurging, their characteristics, their possible links to violence, and their relation to modernity.
- Finke, R. “Presidential Address Origins and Consequences of Religious Freedoms: A Global Overview.” Sociology of Religion 74.3 (2013): 297–313.
This article explores both the origins and consequences of religious restrictions in the global arena. Turning to the consequences of religious restrictions, the article explores how and why restrictions alter the religious economy (i.e., formation, supply, and operation of religions) and are associated with higher levels of religious persecution, religious violence, and intrastate conflict in general.
- Fox, J., & Tabory, E. “Contemporary Evidence regarding the Impact of State Regulation of Religion on Religious Participation and Belief.” Sociology of Religion 69.3 (2008): 245–271.
This paper examines the effect of religious competition on religiosity by looking at state support for religion as a structural factor affecting religious pluralism.
- Golebiowska, E. A. “The 'Pictures in Our Heads' and Individual-Targeted Tolerance.” The Journal of Politics 58.4 (1996): 1010–1034.
This article develops a distinction between group-targeted tolerance (the focus of previous research) and individual-targeted tolerance, and proposes that individual-targeted tolerance deserves attention because of its important implications for group-targeted tolerance.
- Hartman, H., & Kaufman, D. “Decentering the study of Jewish identity: Opening the dialogue with other religious groups.” Sociology of Religion 67.4 (2006): 365–385.
This article focuses on Jewish identity as a way of raising questions about the relationship between religiosity and ethnicity; the dialectical nature of assimilation; and the methodological implications raised by defining identity subjectively or objectively for both qualitative and quantitative research.
- Knoll, B. R. “And Who Is My Neighbor? Religion and Immigration Policy Attitudes.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48.2 (2009): 313–331.
This study explores immigration reform as a possible new “moral” issue upon which American religious elites and organizations take public positions. It is argued that religion is a key independent variable necessary for understanding the determinants of public attitudes regarding immigration policy. Members of minority religions, notably Jews and Latter-day Saints, are also more likely to empathize with the plight of undocumented immigrants and support liberal immigration reform measures.
- Madsen, R. “The Archipelago of Faith: Religious Individualism and Faith Community in America Today.” American Journal of Sociology 114.5 (2009): 1263–1301.
Through an interpretation of ethnographies of four very different religious communities, the author argues that there is a deep cultural commonality underlying the diversity of religious expression among the American middle classes. This commonality can be described in terms of religious individualism. But unlike previous accounts of religious individualism, this article emphasizes the ways in which it combines both “seeking” and “dwelling” and leads to both “progressive” and “orthodox” forms of religious expression.
- McBride, M. “Religious Pluralism and Religious Participation: A Game Theoretic Analysis.” American Journal of Sociology 114.1 (2008): 77–106.
Does religious pluralism decrease religious participation or increase it? Using a formal game theoretic model, this article shows how religious market forces and regulations generate plausible pluralism‐participation correlations, whether or not the direct causal mechanisms argued by either side of the debate exist.
- Moore, K. M. “Visible through the Veil: The Regulation of Islam in American Law.” Sociology of Religion 68.3 (2007): 237–251.
This article examines the Muslim headscarf in light of recent debates about the accommodation of religion in U.S. public institutions. Viewing the law of regulation as productive rather than protective of the subject, this article analyzes how discourses and practices of secularism have been formed with respect to the question of wearing the Muslim headscarf in a variety of contexts.
- Richardson, J. T. “The sociology of religious freedom: A structural and socio-legal analysis.” Sociology of Religion 67.3 (2006): 271–294.
This paper offers a structural and socio-legal analysis that examines historical, sociological, and cultural factors that have given rise to and promoted the idea of religious freedom in modern human societies. The relationship of pluralism to religious freedom is examined, as is how the pervasiveness, centralization, autonomy, type (adversarial vs. inquisitorial), and discretion of legal and judicial systems impact religious freedom.
- Silk, M. “Religion and region in American public life.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44.3 (2005): 265–270.
Even though all Americans practice and act on their religions under the regime of the First Amendment, the religions they practice, and the way and extent to which they practice them, differ substantially from region to region. The Religion by Region project examines how religious differences throughout America shape and are shaped by the public cultures in various parts of the country.