American religiosity confounds sociologists at present?

 


 The so-called theory of secularization in sociology began with the views of Karl Marx in the early days of industrialization. Three of the founders of sociology--Marx, Durkheim, and Weber--basically came to the same conclusion that religion would eventually succumb to social forces and decline in modern society. In my first post on this blog, I quoted W. H. Swatos as saying that sociologists need to shift their focus from "marginalizing" the role of religion in society, along the lines of this secularization debate (which has been occupying their attention during the twentieth century). He suggests that sociologists begin instead to look at the subject in ways that integrate religion with modern society. I tend to agree with this suggestion, because of the information I am finding about the presence and role of religiosity currently in the U.S.

In 2002, the Pew Research Center published the following survey results which are now well-known:
"Religion is much more important to Americans than to people living in other wealthy nations. Six-in-ten (59%) people in the U.S. say religion plays a very important role in their lives. This is roughly twice the percentage of self-avowed religious people in Canada (30%), and an even higher proportion when compared with Japan and Western Europe. Americans’ views are closer to people in developing nations than to the publics of developed nations." Using this now much-quoted survey as a perspective on religiosity in the American public, it shows that the U.S. is an exception to the general model of secularization that Marx, Durkheim, and Weber promoted.

In studying the impact of religion on American society, in particular regarding the enduring, flourishing presence of religiosity, I find there are interesting questions, and signs that academic research is going on, however it is hard to find any current published academic work on this topic so far. In terms of the secularization theory, why is America this exception? Why is religion so important in America today? As I sift through opinions that I encounter, some of the following are recurrent themes:

1. (In response to the Pew survey): American wealth is unevenly distributed, therefore representing individuals by the whole sum in this case is misleading. It is suggested that these kinds of surveys be broken done regionally because of the size of the country.
2. Americans have had religious freedom for over 200 years, and the voicing of religious view is protected by law. This greatly contrasts with the experience of other countries. Perhaps this contributes to why there is so much religious expression.

These are just two of the most prevalent opinions I have encountered. To be con't . . .





"Among Wealthy Nations," Pew Research Center. 2002. 

photo source: 
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/11/13/players_hold_prayer_before_game.aspx