Sociology of Religion - recent issues

Brief Instructions to Authors

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

CONTRIBUTORS

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Editorial Board

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Contents Page

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

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Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

2008 Association for the Sociology of Religion Presidential Address * Encounters in the Heartland: What Studying Rural Churches Taught Me about Working across Differences

Neitz, M. J. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

The story of declining rural churches is a powerful one. A story of declining rural churches in declining communities is engaging on both the cognitive and emotional levels and leads the hearer into the powerful narrative of modernization. Yet, it is a story that neglects the migration trends into more rural areas. I argue that narrative of declining rural churches is a story about moral order, an emotional story imbued with a sense of loss for a world inconsistent with the world in which most of us live our lives. I suggest that the persistence of this story is an expression of the ambivalence some people feel about modern life, as they choose new ways of doing things that work for them, but at the same time, imagine a loss of the emotional connection embedded in the old ways. I suggest we move to thinking about these individual rural communities as borderlands in the way that Gloria Anzaldua uses the term, and to describe what happens in communities—when established residents invite newcomers into their churches—as encounters. Furthermore, I show that how the work of ethnographers takes place inside of the borderland, and is part of the process of encounter. Finally, I argue that for all participants, encounters bring with them the possibility of change.

2008 Paul Hanly Furfey Lecture * Principle: The Hummingbird and the Sloth

HedgeCoke, A. A. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

2007 Robert J. McNamara Student Paper Award Winner * Leadership Compensation in Christian Nonprofits

Scheitle, C. P. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Christian nonprofits have an important place in the religious landscape of the United States. They are providing a wide range of goods and services to individuals, congregations, and even denominations. Despite their substantial and growing influence, we know little about how these organizations are using the billions of dollars they collectively receive. I examine one issue that is frequently of interest to both scholars and the public. Using new data on over 1,900 Christian nonprofits, the analysis looks at leadership compensation in these organizations. I focus on how organizational resources, internal and external monitoring, and leadership power influence whether and how much Christian nonprofits compensate their leaders. Resources and leadership power are found to be positively associated with the amount of compensation given to leaders in Christian nonprofits, while monitoring does not have a significant association.

Does Negative Interaction in the Church Increase Psychological Distress? Longitudinal Findings from the Presbyterian Panel Survey

Ellison, C. G., Zhang, W., Krause, N., Marcum, J. P. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

This study examines the effects of negative interaction in church on psychological distress. After outlining a series of theoretical arguments linking negative interaction with health and well-being, relevant hypotheses are tested using longitudinal data from two surveys of the 1997–1999 Presbyterian Panel, a nationwide panel of members and elders (lay leaders) in congregations of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Findings confirm that negative interaction appears to foster or exacerbate distress over the study period. In addition, specific dimensions of social negativity have distinctive effects; the impact of criticisms on distress surface only in cross-sectional models, while the effects of excessive demands emerge only in the longitudinal models. No subgroup variations in these effects are detected. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to (a) research on religion and health and (b) congregational life, and a number of promising directions for future research are elaborated.

An Anchor and a Sail: Christian Meditation as the Mechanism for a Pluralist Religious Identity

Mermis-Cava, J. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

This study examines the religious identity project of an interdenominational association of Christians who practice a ritual called "Christian Meditation." While maintaining denominational affiliation, Christian meditators also employ the symbolic boundary of religious pluralism to demarcate their religious identity. They must therefore balance their sense of openness with denominational commitment. Within their identification as Christian meditators, these individuals not only surmount this challenge, but paradoxically also enhance and increase denominational activity. This paper utilizes data from participant observation, in-depth interviews, and supplementary sources to explain how this is accomplished. Compared with Dillon's (Michele Dillon, 1999. Catholic Identity: Balancing Reason, Faith, and Power. New York: Cambridge University Press) finding that "core" traditions can be used to transform religious identity, I argue that the "invented tradition" (Eric Hobsbawn. 1983. "Introduction: Inventing Traditions." The Invention of Tradition, edited by E. Hobsbawn and T. Ranger. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–14) of Christian Meditation also serves this purpose. Via its multidimensional structure of meaning, the ritual simultaneously operates as an anchor that maintains, enhances, and promotes denominational activity and a sail that allows institutional boundaries to be crossed.

Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement

Bowler, C. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Plain Diversity: Amish Cultures and Identities

Brenneman, R. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Holy Hills of the Ozarks: Religion and Tourism in Branson, Missouri

Coats, C. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for the Self

Eller, C. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Reason to Believe: Cultural Agency in Latin American Evangelicalism

Nepstad, S. E. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice, and Change

Nielsen, M. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Divine Hierarchies: Class in American Religion and Religious Studies

Rhodes, J. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life

Spickard, J. V. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

ASR News & Announcements

Swatos, W. H. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:18:56 PST

Brief Instructions to Authors

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

CONTRIBUTORS

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Editorial Board

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Contents Page

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Subscription Page

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Maria of the Oak: Society and the Problem of Divine Intervention

Lee, D. B. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Maria of the Oak is a religious shrine located within an ancient grove of oaks in Germany. Thousands of religious pilgrims visit the site each year because of the "healing and helping power" of a legendary oak tree. This paper analyzes the content of written documents left by visitors and discusses the religious function and form of society that is reproduced. From the perspective of social system theory, religion appears to use this specific location to structure personal expressions of the sacred into a relatively organized but freely developing chain of communication that is devoted to solving the problem of recognizing and steering divine intervention. Maria of the Oak functions when the social system of religion successfully shifts responsibility for experiencing divine intervention from itself to individual believers. This shifting creates the opportunity for religion to inform itself with the other-reference of cooperating pilgrims, without breeching its own operational closure.

Defining Spiritual Growth: Congregations, Community, and Connectedness

Gallagher, S. K., Newton, C. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

This article explores the concepts, means, and objectives of spiritual growth across four strands of Christianity. Based on focus group interviews and congregational observations within four congregations (conservative Protestant, mainline Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and an emerging church), we assess the ways in which regular attenders articulate concepts of spiritual growth, the practices that contribute to their sense of growth, and how a commonly shared vision about what spiritual growth is and how it takes place contributes to a sense of congregational community. We find both expected variation across strands of tradition, as well as similarities (particularly within Protestant groups) in framing spiritual growth as an open ended and somewhat ambiguous process in which the personal and emotional resources of the community support a sense of personal growth and well-being. Our findings also suggest some support for the notion that churches with strong and clear core messages of spiritual growth cultivate stronger congregational commitments—a topic we argue should be further explored in future research.

"A Collective of Individuals": Between Self and Solidarity in a Rainbow Gathering

Tavory, I., Goodman, Y. C. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Using ethnographic fieldwork, this paper examines the relation between practices of individuality and solidarity in an alternative spiritual gathering called "The Rainbow" in Israel. Following the "practice turn" in sociological theory, we chart the social situations in which solidarity and individuality are formed, and the ways in which their multiple uses frame their meanings. We demonstrate that though members use the communal arena to express their individuality, the self they celebrate is constantly molded by practices creating solidarity. Through institutionalized rituals, everyday metaphors and interactions, and the formation of friendships in the field, members both relate to the community as a site for the assertion of selfhood, and incorporate the communal into the very definition of the self—thus weaving them together in action.

Religion and Life Satisfaction Worldwide: The Role of Government Regulation

Elliott, M., Hayward, R. D. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

This paper presents a cross-national test of the effects of personal religious identity and participation in organized religion on psychological well-being, and examines whether their effects vary as a function of the degree of government regulation of individual liberties in a given country. These questions are explored with the cross-sectional fourth wave of the World Values Surveys, utilizing data from 65 countries and hierarchical linear modeling to test cross-level effects. The results indicate two key findings: (1) personal religious identity is positively associated with life satisfaction throughout the world, but the association increases in size under conditions of greater governmental regulation; and, (2) the association between participation in organized religion and life satisfaction is positive under conditions of low government regulation, is attenuated as government regulation increases, and becomes negative when government regulation is high. The implications of these results for future research on religion and psychological well-being are discussed.

Averting Apocalypse at Rajneeshpuram

Goldman, M. S. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

From 1981 to 1986, most outsiders foretold bloodshed at Rajneeshpuram, the communal city in central Oregon that was built around an Indian charismatic leader, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later known as Osho). However, violence never escalated to the point of mass murder, suicides, or large, collective attacks. The Rajneesh case provides a fruitful context to explore the question: How is large-scale collective violence in new religions averted? The case of Rajneeshpuram foregrounds three factors that were most important to relatively peaceful resolution of a situation fraught with danger: life-embracing doctrine, devotees' continued contact with networks outside Rajneeshpuram, and law enforcement committed to due process. Each of these influenced outcomes at different stages of tension between the group and the surrounding community. Close consideration of this case provides a framework to examine other alternative religious groups that have exploded in large-scale collective violence or appear to have the potential to do so.

American Catholics Today: New Realties of their Faith and their Church

Burns, G. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live their Faith

Dinges, W. D. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

The Easternization of the West: A Thematic Account of Cultural Change in the Modern Era

Beyer, P. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Japanese Saints: Mormons in the Land of the Rising Sun

Carriere, K. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism

Hutchison-Jones, C. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:52 PDT

Vatican II: A Sociological Analysis of Religious Change

Kelly, J. R. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:53 PDT

Hare Krishna Transformed

Lucas, P. C. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:53 PDT

The Serpent and the Dove: Celibacy in Literature and Life

Shupe, A. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:53 PDT

ASR News & Announcements

Swatos, W. H. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:29:53 PDT

Brief Instructions to Authors

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:23 PDT

Editorial Board

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Contents Page

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Subscription Page

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

CONTRIBUTORS

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

The Religiosity of American College and University Professors

Gross, N., Simmons, S. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

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.

Finding Jesus in the Holy Land and Taking Him to China: Chinese Temporary Migrant Workers in Israel Converting to Evangelical Christianity

Kalir, B. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

The article describes and probes the conversion of Chinese temporary migrant workers in Israel to evangelical Christianity. Since 1995 thousands of Chinese workers have been recruited, mainly from villages across Fujian, for construction work in Israel. In 1998 an evangelical church was established in Tel Aviv, and its personnel evangelize with considerable success among Chinese workers. The work visa of Chinese workers in Israel is limited to a maximum of five years. Consequently, their church membership is limited in duration, and the church plays no role in the facilitation of migrants' settlement. The constricted role of the church forcefully raises the question of why Chinese workers convert to Christianity. This article draws attention to the impact of conversion on the life of Chinese workers upon their return to China. The article argues that a conversion to Christianity in Israel permits Chinese temporary migrants to accumulate cultural, symbolic, and social capital, which can be effectively deployed in China.

Secularization Patterns in the Old Paradigm

Goldstein, W. S. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

R. Stephen Warner argues that the master narrative in the old paradigm of sociology of religion is "linear secularization" while in the new paradigm it is "revival and routinization." This article reexamines the old paradigm to see whether Warner's characterization of it is true. Not only do most of the theories of secularization in the old paradigm not follow a straight line but there is broad agreement among its members that secularization is not a linear process. One can find three other patterns in the old paradigm: the cyclical/spiral, the dialectical, and the paradoxical. This paper argues that a dialectical understanding of the process of secularization, which is contained in the old paradigm, alleviates the criticism wrongly made of it by Warner. A dialectical understanding helps make sense of how secularization and sacralization can occur at the same time.

The Context of Religious and Spiritual Care at the End of Life in Long-term Care Facilities

Hamilton, V. L., Daaleman, T. P., Williams, C. S., Zimmerman, S. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Despite the increasing numbers of Americans who die in nursing homes (NHs) and residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) facilities, and the importance of religious and spiritual needs as one approaches death, little is known about how these needs are met for dying individuals in long-term care (LTC) institutional settings. This study compared receipt of religious and spiritual help in four types of LTC settings: NHs, smaller (<16 beds) RC/AL facilities, traditional RC/AL facilities, and new-model RC/AL facilities. Data were also available for religious affiliation of the facilities, size, and provision of religious and hospice services. Controlling for such factors, the importance of religion/spirituality to the decedent was the strongest predictor of the decedent's receipt of spiritual help. In addition, new-model RC/AL facilities were significantly more likely to provide help for religious and spiritual needs of decedent residents than other RC/AL types, but did not differ significantly from NHs.

Faith-based Inefficiency: The Follies of Bush's Initiatives

Baker, J. O. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

A Sociology of Spirituality

Fuller, B. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

African Immigrant Religions in America

Gonzalez, A. L. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Alien Worlds: Social and Religious Dimensions of Extraterrestrial Contact

Jindra, I. W., Jindra, M. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Religion and the New Immigrants: How Faith Communities Form our Newest Citizens

Kurien, P. A. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

The Sociology of Religion

MacMillen, S. L. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Religious Interests in Community Conflict: Beyond the Culture Wars

Morrissey, C. A. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

Religion and Family in a Changing Society

Tanner, A. J. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT

ASR News & Announcements

Swatos, W. H. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:37:24 PDT