Civil Religion and Church and State*

Earlier conceptualizations suggest a socially integrative civil religion in the United States and define it as not infringing upon church and state separation. No published empirical evidence exists, however, of the alleged compatibility of these two beliefs in the minds of the citizenry. Because the idea of civil religion rests largely upon such an assumption, the relationship between civil religion and church-state separatism is tested in an analysis of data from over 3000 respondents to a state survey. The findings indicate no conflict between the two belief systems. Institutional and organizational implications of civil religion in relation to the legalistic notion of separatism are discussed.     

Durkheim on Religion and Moral Community in Modernity*

Durkheim's theory of religion is approached from the perspective of his lifelong concern with the question of meaning and moral order in modern society. This emphasis naturally leads to a consideration of wider themes informing Durkheim's sociology of religion than are usually found in analyses focusing exclusively on his treatment of primitive religion in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1964). Durkheim sees as the distinguishing feature of modernity the progressive emancipation of the individual from traditional sources of influence. The evolution toward greater individuation, culminating in the “cult of the individual” or “religion of humanity,” is set by Durkheim within the context of the role of collective ideals in promoting social change and in the maintenance of moral order. Religion, the major symbolic expression of societal wide ideals, is identified as the key variable which enables Durkheim to reconcile the competing demands of individuals for freedom with the interests of society in collective welfare.     

The New Theology and the Sociology of Religion*

La nouvelle theologie represente une forme contemporaine d'expression religieuse qui est d'un interet tout particulier pour la sociologie des religions. Non seulement pouvons-nous decouvrir quelques-uns des facteurs sociaux qui ont suscité ces changements dans la theologie, mais aussi certaines des consequences sociologiques de la nouvelle theologie suggerent une revision theorique de la perspective traditionnelle (centree sur l'Eglise) de la sociologie des religions. Nous pretendons que cette nouvelle theologie peut fournir des donnees objectives dans noire recherche d'une comprehension sociologique plus exhaustive et universelle de la religion. The New Theology represents a contemporary form of religious expression that is of specific interest to the sociology of religion. Not only can we uncover some of the social sources of this change in theology, but there are also sociological implications of the new theology that encourage a theoretical review of the previously restricted church-oriented perspective of the sociology of religion. It is our contention that the new theology can provide objective data in the quest for a more comprehensive and universal sociological understanding of religion.     

Employer Drug Testing:

Karen Hawley Henry is the Managing Partner of the Labor and Employment Law Department for Weissburg and Aronson, Inc., a multi-practice law firm which specializes in the representation of health care providers and employers. Ms. Henry received her law degree from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, and previously received a Masters in Labor Economics from Iowa State Univirsity. She serves as labor counsel to the Affiliated Hospitals of San Francisco, a multi-employer collective bargaining group, and also represents a number of other public and private California health care facilities. In addition to her presentations at numerous seminars and programs on employment law issues, she participated in AHA's 1987 Teleconference on Drug Testing and Substance Abuse, is a member of AHA's Ad Hoc Labor Relations committee, and has authorized numerous publications, including the "Health Care Supervisor's Legal Guide." Her firm currently is working with a number of employers developing policies related to fitness for duty or drug testing.     

Employee Drug Testing:

The authors examine the limitations of employee drug testing as a method of improving productivity and safety in the workplace. Attempts to modify licit and illicit drug use, including prohibition, are briefly reviewed, and the importance of social setting is underscored. The authors discourage the widespread use of employee drug testing because of problems in interpreting the significance of test results, laboratory errors, and possible civil liberties infringements. They propose that work performance be evaluated as a more reliable indicator of impairment, and they identify behaviors often associated with substance use. Finally, a protocol is recommended for the procurement and management of samples, laboratory standards and certification, and interpretation of test results, when testing is determined to be indispensible.     

Women in Religion: A Sociological Perspective*

Religious ministry, theology, and even the study of religion in history and sociology have been done for so long from a male point of view that the burgeoning activity and reflection of women scholars and activists are not yet researched or deliberated when male scholars define the parameters for interpretation and name the problems as they perceive them. Current scholarship is sadly lacking in its address of modern problems in religious perspective, especially as attempts are made to understand the new pressures on population and institutions.     

Restructuring of American Religion: Further Evidence*

Data are analyzed from three national surveys conducted in 1984, 1989, and 1992, supplemented by other data from a 1991 and a 1992 survey, to examine the distribution of religious conservatives, moderates, and liberals, and to consider the social and ideological correlates of these religious orientations. The results suggest overall stability in the distribution of these orientations and offer modest support for status group, religious socialization, and religious organization interpretations of their sources. The results also indicate that religious views correspond with positions on a number of contested social policy issues, but cast doubt on arguments about deeper differences in worldview and moral perspectives. The ways in which the data support and help to refine arguments presented in The Restrucruring of American Religion are discussed.     

Drug Testing in the Workplace

No abstract available for this article.     

Religious Belief Transformation: A Study of This Worldly Religion*

The controversy over contemporary this worldly religious beliefs’social effects is reviewed. Critics of cultic religious degenerations and eroding moral consensus disagree with cultural relativists on the central themes of today's this worldly religions, their relation to more classical other worldly religious themes, and the appropriate group for evaluating this worldly religions’effects. These general issues are addressed through a content analytic study of the Transcendental Meditation Movement's belief system. Over a twenty-year span, other worldly Hindu themes were displaced by familiar this worldly religious themes, including this worldly benefits, practical utilitarianism, instrumentalized techniques, scientific authority, and God's accessibility for humanity's purposes. Religious belief transformation advanced as an integrated process interacting with movement organizational developments. Still, it is argued that criticisms of contemporary this worldly religions as causes of classical other worldly religious decline are spurious and obscure the integrative potential of minority religious beliefs.     

Du Bois and the Sociology of Religion: Rediscovering a Founding Figure*

In his popular introductory sociology text, Stark identifies W. E. B. Du Bois and Albion Small as important cornerstones of the U.S. sociological tradition. While the work of the “Chicago School” is well known in sociological circles, Du Bois’ sociological legacy is not. The Philadelphia Negro ([1899] 1996) is a classic empirical sociological study that is rarely included in discussions of the development of scientific sociology. Likewise, The Negro Church ([1903b] 2003) represents one of the first empirically based sociological studies of a religious institution. Sociologists of religion routinely discuss the contributions of Durkheim, Weber, and Simmel while virtually ignoring Du Bois. This is ironic because Du Bois’ work on religion was based on ethnographic data, field interviews, surveys, and census data. This article provides an overview of Du Bois’ sociological study of the Black Church in the United States by identifying some of the main themes developed in The Philadelphia Negro ([1899] 1996), The Souls of Black Folk ([1903a] 1994), and The Negro Church ([1903b] 2003). These studies reveal that Du Bois was a pioneer in the areas of evaluation research, public sociology, service learning, and congregational studies.     

Drug Courts: A Social Capital Perspective*

Social capital is a variable resource embedded in all social networks. Although the majority of work on social capital describes it as contributing to socially beneficial outcomes, it also contributes to deviant activities. In addition to laying a theoretical basis for understanding the deviant potentials of social capital, this paper argues that a change in social networks results in a change in social capital. Using data collected from adult drug courts in Wyoming, multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses and analyses of personal interviews were used to explore changes in the social capital of drug court participants. However, as a result of deficiencies in available data, questions remain as to the long‐term social circumstances of participants after graduating from the programs and differences in social outcomes among minority groups. The results from this project have implications for future research conducted on drug courts and the theory of social capital.     

Old and Female: Testing the Double Jeopardy Hypothesis*

A double jeopardy hypothesis argues that the combined negative effects of occupying two stigmatized statuses are greater than occupying either status alone. Applying this framework to elderly persons, it can be argued that being female and “old” elderly has more negative consequences than being male and “old” elderly, male and “young” elderly or female and “young” elderly. An empirical test of this hypothesis, using both an objective (mental health status) and a subjective (perceived well-being) indicator as the dependent variable, reveals a confirmation of double jeopardy using the objective quality of life indicator, but not the subjective indicator. Additional analyses of the factors affecting each of the dependent variables, adds further support for the uniqueness of old, elderly women as a social category.     

The Role of Religion in the Postwar Settlement Patterns of Dutch Canadians*

Dans cet article, nous examinons l'influence de la religion sur les modèles de colonies de peuplement des Hollandais au Canada après la guerre. D'après les données historiques, des différences existaient dans l'assimilation des catholiques hollandais et des calvinistes hollandais au Canada. Lorsque les immigrants hollandais sont arrivés au Canada au début des années cinquante, les catholiques se sont inté‐grés aux églises et aux écoles catholiques existantes alors que les calvinistes orthodoxes ont entrepris de forger leurs propres structures sociales et culturelles, car, selon eux, les institutions canadiennes ne reflétaient pas leurs croyances idéologiques et religieuses. La religion a joué un rôle important dans l'émergence de communautés hollando‐canadiennes contrastées. Nous partons du modèle de pluralisme et d'intégration volontaires de Driedger (1996: 39) afin d'élaborer le cadre théorique de cet article. In this paper the influence of religion on the postwar settlement patterns of Dutch‐Canadian immigrants is examined. Historical data show that there were differences in the assimilation patterns of Dutch Catholics and Dutch Calvinists within Canada. When Dutch immigrants arrived in Canada in the early 1950s, the Dutch Catholics joined existing Catholic churches and schools, while the orthodox Dutch Calvinists undertook the building of their own social and cultural structures because they could not find Canadian organizations based on their ideological and religious beliefs. Religion played an important role in the emergence of contrasting Dutch‐Canadian communities. Driedger's (1996:39) model of voluntary pluralism and integration provides the theoretical framework for this study.     

Homosexuality,Religion, and Science: Moral Authority and the Persistence of Negative Attitudes*

The liberalization of attitudes toward homosexuality in the United States over the past 30 years is well documented. Despite these changes, substantial resistance to equality for gay men and lesbians remains. Previous studies indicate that beliefs about the etiology of homosexuality are central to this discussion. Those who believe homosexuality is innate are more favorable, while those who believe it is the result of a choice are more negative. Moreover, experimental research indicates that those with negative views actually become more opposed when a natural explanation is proposed. This study highlights the importance of perceived sources of epistemic and moral authority for understanding views of homosexuality. Using stances on culturally controversial issues involving “science and religion” as indicators of where individuals place authority, we outline the connection between perceptions of moral authority and attributions about homosexuality. Analyses of a national survey of American adults show that, net of controls, one’s stance on moral authority is the strongest predictor of attributions about whether homosexuality is chosen or innate.     

Religion,Socioeconomic Status,and Sexual Morality: An Application of Reference Group Theory*

Reference group theory is used to help resolve an anomaly: the relationships among religiosity, socioeconomic status, and sexual morality. Past research has shown that while SES and religiosity are positively related to each other, SES is related to liberal sexual attitudes and religiosity is related to conservative sexual attitudes. SES and religiosity are therefore working at cross-purposes and represent competing frames of reference for some persons. Specifications of reference group theory helps to pinpoint the conditions under which particular choices are made. The 1972–78 NORC data set is used to test specific propositions extrapolated from Robert Merton's analysis of reference groups. The findings show that religious group involvement has greater impact than SES collectivity. The influence of religiosity is, however, dependent upon a conservative milieu. For generally liberal denominations, there is less necessity for a choice between the competing reference points; thus, neither religion nor SES overwhelms the other. These results and reference group theory suggest areas for future investigation.     

Belief Systems and Evolution: A Distinction between Magic and Religion and its Implications for Socio-Cultural Change*

La controverse au sujet des definitions de la magie et de la religion est dtudiee. Afin de reduire I'ambiguite, on elabore une typologie des systemes de croyance qui differencie tout aussi bien magie et religion que science et ideologic Les consequences de ce schema, pour comprendre 1'evaluation socio-culturelle, sont examinees. II y est suggere qu'au fur et a mesure que des systemesisociaux mieux adaptes se sont developpes, ils ont eu tendance a mettre l'accent sur la science et l'ideologie plutot que sur la magie et la religion. The controversy over the definitions of magic and religion is surveyed. As a solution, a typology of belief systems is constructed which not only differentiates magic and religion, but science and ideology as well. This scheme's implications for socio-cultural evolution are explored. It is suggested that, as increasingly adaptive social systems have evolved, they have tended to emphasize science and ideology rather than magic and religion.     

Religion and Attainment

Abstract

Religion is an important determinant of social and economic attainment, but the mechanisms that underlie this relationship are not well understood. Early scholars recognized this connection, but their ideas do not adequately explain contemporary stratification patterns. Recent research documents robust empirical relationships between religion and material outcomes but has not yet begun to identify causes of these patterns. I fill this gap by providing a comprehensive, contemporary, theoretical explanation of the religion-inequality link that synthesizes ideas from early and more recent research. I draw on ideas from status attainment and life course research to develop a synthetic model that includes religion as both a background and a mediating component. I conclude by providing examples of implications of the model. These ideas improve understanding of the critical relationship between cultural orientation and material resources.     

Online Religion and Religion Online: Reform Judaism and Web-Based Communication

This study examines the online communication practices of American congregations associated with the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the governing body of American and Canadian Reform congregations, through a content analysis of 252 American URJ congregational Web sites. Web site content was grouped into two categories, “religion online” and “online religion.” Religion online content promotes the organization and provides organizational information, including information related to organizational identity building, community outreach, and encouraging civic and social action. Online religion content allows the user to engage in spiritual activity via the Internet (Helland, 2000 Helland, C. (2000). Religion online/online religion and virtual communitas. In J. Hadden &; D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion on the Internet: Research prospects and promises (pp. 205–224). New York, NY: Elsevier Science. [Google Scholar]; Farrell, 2011 Farrell, J. (2011). The divine online: Civic organizing, identity building, and Internet fluency among different religious groups. Journal of Media &; Religion, 10, 73–90. doi:10.1080/15348423.2011.572438.[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). ANOVA and MANOVA analyses were used to determine significant differences in content based on congregation size. Results revealed larger congregations were more likely to use Web sites for organizational identity building, mobilization of civic and social action, and the practice of “online religion,” lending support to the existence of a size-based digital divide among URJ congregations.     

Testing the Innis and McLuhan Theses: Mennonite Media Access and TV Use*

L'impact de la société moderne sur l'identité et les traditions ethniques a été très documenté. Une quantité considérable de recherches portant sur un large éventail de groupes ethniques ont traité de la relation entre l'ethnicité au Canada et le processus de modernisation. Le but de cet article est de voir dans quelle mesure les médias sont un indicateur de l'impact de la modernisation chez les Mennonites, au Canada et aux États-Unis. The impact of modern society on ethnic identity and ethnic traditions has been widely documented. A substantial body of research involving a wide range of ethnic groups has dealt with the relationship between ethnicity in Canada and the processes of modernization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which exposure to the mass media is an indicator of the impact of modernization on Mennonites in Canada and the United States.