The task of building a scientific understanding of religion is a central part of the sociological enterprise. Indeed, in one sense the origins of the sociology can be attributed to the efforts of nineteenth-century Europeans to come to grips with the crisis of faith that shook Western society during the revolutionary upheavals of its industrial
Religion and spirituality are enduring aspects of the human condition. Some of the earliest human records were accounts of the spirituality and religious culture of the day. Religion and spirituality have also fueled human conflict for thousands of years. Our concern here is how religion and spirituality interact with aging: how aging affects religion and
The evolutionary character of theories of primitive religion is present in the sociological literature from the beginning. It is evident, for example, in the writings of the so called founding father of sociology, Auguste Comte (1798-1857), who believed that religion originated in fetishism or the worship of inanimate things, then developed into polytheism which in
The role of religion in high school crime and violence has taken many forms. In some cases, it has been used as inspiration for heinous acts of physical violence and contentious episodes of verbal intolerance. In other instances, religion has functioned as a means of lessening the threat of crime and violence on high school
Civil religion refers to the cultural beliefs, practices, and symbols that relate a nation to the ultimate conditions of its existence. The idea of civil religion can be traced to the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau’s On the Social Contract (1762). Writing in the wake of the Protestant–Catholic religious wars, Rousseau maintained the need for
The connection between consumption and religion has been investigated by a wide range of scholars. Topics examining this relationship include: the rise of capitalism and the nature of modern capitalism, competition among religious organizations for religious consumers, the consumption of religious goods and services, as well as consumption as a secular religion. In The Protestant
The modern study of religion and economics begins with Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Smith applied his economic analysis to several aspects of religion that researchers since developed with quantitative research. Smith’s fundamental contribution to the study of religion was that religious beliefs and activities
Concepts of health and illness in human society originated from traditional religious views about life and death. One of the first sociologists to study religion was Emile Durkheim, who found that distinctions between ideas about the sacred and profane were connected to notions of health and illness. Religious views of the sacred body, for example
It is commonly held that the declining power and popularity of religion that we see in almost all modern industrial societies owes much to the rise of science; science and religion are competitors in a zero sum game, with the former being vastly more persuasive. As US sociologist Robert Merton pointed out, many of the
“Communication” derives from the Latin term communicare meaning to share or impart and to make common. “Popular communication” refers to those efforts of, by, and for the people that establish and maintain this sharing and commonality. In this sense, communication is the basic requirement for sustaining any social group. “The people” are generally understood as