Religion ChapterText Fall2021 20210906 Ub02c8

Sociology of
Religion
E
Melissa J. Wilde, University of Pennsylvania

Patricia Tevington, Hartford Institute for
Religion Research
Sociology of Religion (Fall 2021)
Sociology of Religion
MELISSA J. WILDE, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
PATRICIA TEVINGTON, HARTFORD INSTITUTE FOR RELIGION
RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION
What is religion?
Studying religion sociologically
RELIGION AROUND THE GLOBE

The major world religions
The geography of religion
RELIGION IN THE U.S.

Religious competition
Complex religion
POLITICS, VIOLENCE, AND GOD

The Muslim Ban
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INTRODUCTION
 How do we define religion?
 What determines the things religions see as sacred?
 How do we understand religious experiences?
 What is the Protestant ethic?
 How can we study religion sociologically?
Think about your family—your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Name

their race and ethnicity. Their gender. Their religion. Chances are, you can answer all of these
questions, even for a few generations back.
Now think about your three best friends. Can you pass the same test? Maybe so, or
maybe it gets trickier.
We are usually quite familiar with the religion of our family. It might have been an
important part of our family’s story—something regularly discussed and practiced at home.
Religion might also be important to your peer group—or it might be a topic that you and your
friends don’t talk about. Some people share their religious beliefs with their peers, but others
don’t, afraid that it might be divisive.
Religion is a funny aspect of American culture. It’s a central feature of our society—an
institution emphasized in daily life—but at the same time, it can be private, taken-for-granted,
and sometimes almost invisible. Religion is crucial to our daily lives, even for those of us who
aren’t personally religious. Religion is closely intertwined with the other categories we use to
identify ourselves and others, like race, ethnicity, class, and gender.
In this chapter we’ll introduce you to some facts and theories about how and why
religion matters for social life. We hope to make you a believer—in the sociology of religion.
What is religion?
For a really good definition of religion, we need to go back to the work of Émile
Durkheim. Durkheim wrote about religion in his classic book, The Elementary Forms of Religious
Life, which examined what he saw as the most traditional or primal forms of religion. Durkheim
defines religion as “A unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to
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say, things set apart and forbidden, which unite into one single moral community called a
Church, all those who adhere to them.”1
If we break down this definition, we uncover a few crucial characteristics. First, religion
has “a community.” It’s not just what you or I believe in our own hearts and minds; religion
must be “an eminently collective thing.”2 Thus, religions have congregations—groups of
followers who worship together.
Followers are those who believe in the principles of a religion. They are often devoted
to a prophet, an individual who is seen as particularly holy to a religious group. Prophets are
often believed to be endowed with special powers, especially the ability to communicate
directly with God or the gods.
One way to understand how important the collective is for religion is to think about the
difference between religion and magic. Like religion, magic could be described as a “unified
system of beliefs and practices” in which things are “set apart and forbidden.” But unlike
religion, Durkheim pointed out that magic is usually practiced individually. Individual people
cast “spells.”
Although there is a religion of magic
today, called Wicca, the fact that we
consider this to be a “new” religion
demonstrates just how important the
collective is to religion. Wicca has become a
religion because more and more people are
practicing it together.3 Someone practicing
what they consider to be a new religion alone
is likely to be deemed unstable..
Second, as Durkheim’s definition
implies, all religions have things that are “set
apart and forbidden”—or sacred. Sacred Handfasting ceremony at Avery England, Beltane
things have special power, deserve special 2005. (Source: ShahMai Network via Wikimedia
attention, and are not “everyday objects,” or Commons)
the things Durkheim calls the profane. While

the profane is mundane and unexceptional, the sacred is “protected and isolated by
prohibitions.”4 All religions hold certain ideas, people, or objects to be sacred. What things do
your religion, family, and friends consider to be sacred? Are there special words, like a prayer?
Are there sacred practices—like making the sign of the cross? Are there sacred objects you
use for special occasions and not for everyday use—like lighting candles for a ceremony but
not because the power went out in your house? Are there times of the year that are set apart
from the rest of the calendar, like Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting)?
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Several sacred objects: statues (Source), books (Source), animals (Source).
Importantly, Durkheim describes religion as both beliefs and practices. In other words, it
is not just something we think or feel in common, but something we work together to carry out.
Religion, for our purposes, is a belief system about what is sacred that is held by a group
of people. Many people have deep and powerful religious experiences—feelings of extreme
religiosity, or “an extraordinary height of exaltation.”5 Durkheim argues that religious
experiences result from collective effervescence, when “a sort of electricity is generated
among worshippers.” In this experience, people feel connected with the larger social group.
Think about a time you felt energized and
connected to a larger group. Some people say they
feel it powerfully during the seventh inning stretch at
baseball games, when fans often join together to sing
“Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” They feel energized—
and like part of a larger community of baseball fans.
Others feel it when watching a presidential candidate
they admire make a powerful speech; they feel
connected to the larger message and their political
party. Collective effervescence becomes a religious
experience when it happens within a group of people
worshiping together, celebrating something sacred. It
focuses everyone’s attention on the sacred and brings
them together as a group.
A charismatic church. (Source) Some religions generate more collective
effervescence than others. Think about the different
types of religious services you may have seen or read about. Some are quiet, some are
bustling. Some have high energy while others are more reverent. Which styles do you think
generate the highest levels of collective effervescence? Why do you think there is such a
difference? To answer these questions, we need to study religion sociologically.
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Studying religion sociologically

How do we study religion sociologically? Sociologists hope to understand why some
people have particular religious beliefs and others do not, and why those beliefs are so
important to some and meaningless to others. We also need to understand the consequences
of religion—how it affects people’s behavior, how it alters our lives.
One thing we cannot do when studying religion sociologically is to determine whether
a religion or belief is more or less “right” than another. That has to do with theology, the study
of God and the nature of God, and is the work of theologians—not sociologists! Sociologists
ask questions about religion’s effects on people. A great example of thinking sociologically
about the effects of religion is the work of Max Weber.
Weber wondered: Why were Catholics in lower-prestige and worse-paying jobs than
Protestants? He argued that something about Protestantism made its believers better suited to
capitalism; he identified these characteristics as the Protestant ethic, the belief system that
created much of the culture and economy of the United States. Weber suggested that the
Protestant ethic was a result of the particular beliefs of Ascetic Protestantism.
Ascetic Protestants believed that only a certain number of people would be saved for
eternity, and that those who would be saved were already chosen (or predestined for
salvation). So some people would go to heaven and everyone else would go to hell. They also
believed that you could never know in
advance if you were saved.
Not knowing if your afterlife would be
spent in eternal salvation or eternal
damnation might make you pretty uneasy!
Weber argued that these two beliefs—the
idea of predestination and the inability to
know who specifically was part of the “elect”
(the group that would be saved)—created “Pilgrims Going to Church.” George Henry Boughton.
great anxiety. 1867. (Source: Wikimedia Commons.)
You couldn’t know for sure if you were
saved—but maybe there were hints? Weber argued that Ascetic Protestants tried to handle
their anxiety by searching for signs that they were among the elect. To openly enjoy wealth
was considered a sin, while working just for the sake of working hard was seen as holy and a
sign that you were saved. Unwillingness to work or laziness was taken as a clear sign that you
weren’t saved. In early America, this meant that Ascetic Protestants worked hard, amassed
wealth, but reinvested that wealth instead of enjoying and spending it.
Benjamin Franklin, whose parents were Ascetic Protestants, demonstrated this spirit in his
various writings and sayings (even though he considered himself a deist—someone who
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believes in a supreme being but doesn’t believe God actively intervenes in the world). Franklin
is famous for saying things like “A penny saved is a penny earned” and “Time is money, money
begets money.”6 Weber contrasts these views, which fit well with capitalism’s emphasis on
investment, with the “traditional” view of money: that it is there to make your life comfortable,
to help you survive, but not to make more and more of it.7
Many sociologists believe you can still see the influence of the Protestant ethic on
American capitalism today, even though relatively few people would be considered Ascetic
Protestants now.
RELIGION AROUND THE GLOBE
 What are the major world religions’ similarities? Where do they diverge?
 How are the various world religions dispersed around the globe?
 How important is religion in different parts of the world?
 Where are religious states found, and which states have become more secular?
 What are the fastest-growing religions?
The major world religions

Imagine you’re a Martian. You come from your planet to Earth to visit its people and
learn its ways. During your travel, you learn of the following three events and have a chance
to witness them.
Once in their lifetime, all able-bodied
Muslims are required to take part in the annual
pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as
the Hajj. During the last month of the Islamic
calendar, hundreds of thousands of Muslims
from around the world travel to their religion’s
holiest city. Pilgrims on this quest must wear all
white; must not shave, cut their nails, or fight
with others; and must engage in other rituals of
cleansing and prayer. Muslims participating in the Hajj in Mecca.
(Source)
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Every year millions of Hindus flock to the Ganges,

India’s longest river. The Ganges is sacred to Hindus and
believed to be the home of the goddess Ganga. Water
from the Ganges is used in various rituals, from bathing
to washing away sins to drinking at the time of death.
The river begins in a huge area of ice in the Himalaya
mountains and provides water for crops in one of India’s
most heavily-populated regions.8
Every year in South Philadelphia, Catholics
Hindus bathing in the Ganges River. (Source) celebrate holidays with large and elaborate festivals. In
late May, many Philadelphia residents march from the
historic Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi Church to St.
Paul’s Catholic Church in the Procession of Saints,
which celebrates many holy people in the history
of the church. Sometimes money is pinned to the
ribbons hanging from statues on the floats, a
tradition that originated with new immigrants to
celebrate their newfound prosperity in the U.S.
Similar processions are found in other Catholic
communities, such as for Our Lady of Fatima’s
International Pilgrim Statue.
What do you, a visitor from Mars, make of Procession of Our Lady of Fatima International
Pilgrim Statue. (Source)
this? These are very different events, with very
different origins, that take place in very different
contexts. And yet, these three events strike a similar chord: groups of people gathering
together, often traveling long distances, to show their respect for a place or practice they
consider sacred.
Most people are believers of some religion. The world is a big place, with many people.
And there are many world religions. Each has its own distinct history, beliefs, and rituals. But
when we look hard enough, most religions share some broad similarities.
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Figure 1: Major Religious Figure 1 shows that Christianity, which includes

Groups, 2015 Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and various
Protestant denominations (as well as many people who
identify only as “Christian”) is the largest world religion;
nearly one-third of all humans believe in the faith that
follows Jesus Christ and the Old and New Testaments of
the Bible.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of
God, sent to Earth to save humans from their sins. They
believe that he was crucified, died, and rose physically
into heaven, and will come again someday. Christianity is
a monotheistic religion, meaning they believe in only one
God. They believe God the Father, Jesus his Son, and the
Holy Spirit are three separate persons but the same being.
The second-largest faith is Islam, with nearly a
quarter of the world’s population. Like Christianity, Islam is
a monotheistic religion. Islam’s followers are called
Muslims. They profess faith in one God, called Allah, follow
the teachings of his last prophet, Muhammad, and read
and respect the sacred writings in the Koran (or Qu’ran).
Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world.9 The Pew
Research Center’s religious forecast for 2050 concludes
Source: “The Changing Global that the global Muslim population will grow at a faster rate
Religious Landscape Pew Research than the non-Muslim population due primarily to the
Center, Washington, D.C. 2017.
younger age and high fertility rate of Muslims.10 Religious
conversion has little impact on the size of the Muslim
population, since the number of people who convert to and leave Islam is roughly equal.11
Like the divisions within Christianity between Roman Catholics and Protestants (which
resulted in many wars and political conflicts over the centuries), Islam is divided into two
primary sects, or groups with distinct beliefs within a religion: Sunni and Shia.12 These groups
originally separated due to disagreements about the rightful successor to the Prophet
Muhammad. Sunni Muslims believe that religious leaders should be elected by the community.
Shia Muslims believe Muhammad’s family and his descendants, the Imam, have special
spiritual and political authority.13 Although Shia Muslims are a minority in the greater Muslim
world, they are the majority of the populations of Iraq, Bahrain, Iran, and Azerbaijan, and large
proportions of the populations of Kuwait, Yemen, and Lebanon.14
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As followers of the God of Abraham, both Islam

and Christianity can trace their roots to Judaism; these
three are referred to as the major Abrahamic
religions. Judaism is the oldest Abrahamic faith and
has a very small number of followers today compared
to the other major world religions (less than 1% of the
world population). Jews believe in one God who is the
creator and ruler of the universe and who provides
moral law for humanity. Their sacred text is the
Hebrew Bible. Jewish people have been
Praying at the Wailing Wall in Israel. (Source)
discriminated against for much of their history. During
the Holocaust, more than six millions Jews were killed
during World War II (along with Roma, people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, and others
targeted by the Nazi regime)
The third-largest world religion is
Hinduism. Hindus, who make up about 15% of the
global population, are polytheists, following multiple
gods. Hinduism’s sacred writings are called the
Vedas. Hindus traditionally believe in a rigid social
structure called a caste system, which determines
status, occupation, and even who they are allowed
to touch or marry. They also believe in reincarnation,
the continuous birth and rebirth of individuals who
Statue of Hindu deities. (Source) have not found the path to infinite bliss or
awareness. Your next life is determined by karma,
the “record” you accrue through actions in current or previous lives.
Finally, about 7% of the world’s population claims to be Buddhist. The actual proportion
is likely much larger, since the majority of people in China
who officially profess no religion follow many Buddhist
teachings and practices.15
Buddhists believe that we can achieve
enlightenment through meditation, living simply, and
working to gain wisdom. Just as there are many sects of
Christianity and Islam, there are many sects of Buddhism,
all tracing their beliefs to the original Buddha, who was
born into royalty in India in the 6th century BCE and later
rejected that way of life to work on achieving Statue of Buddha. (Source)
enlightenment.
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The geography of religion

Figure 2: Most Common Religion by Country
Source: “The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and

Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010.” Pew
Research Center, Washington, D.C. 2012.
Religions generally have very strong geographic roots, and yet they can travel widely.
Figure 2 shows the majority religion in each country, with countries shaded in darker tones if a
larger share of the population follows the primary religion. For instance, more than half of
Americans are Christians, so the United States is red on the map, even though there are also
many Jewish and Muslim residents. Mexico is a shade darker than the U.S. because an even
larger percentage of Mexicans are Christian. The map also shows that religions are dominant
in some geographic regions and not others. For instance, Christians are the major religious
group across North, Central, and South America, Europe, and Southern Africa (although many
of these places are also quite diverse, as we will see in a bit). Islam dominates the Middle East
and Northern Africa. Hinduism is the most common religion in India, while Buddhism is the
primary religion across many other countries in Asia.
In some nations a particular religion is established, or officially supported by the state
(Figure 3). Approximately 22% of countries have an official state religion. For instance,
Buddhism is the state religion of Cambodia and Christianity (specifically, the Church of
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Norway) is the official religion in Norway. In most cases, countries fund activities of their official
religion. Around the world, Islam is the most common state religion.16
Figure 3: Official Positions on Religion by Country
Source: “Many Countries Favor Specific Religions, Officially or Unofficially: Islam Is the
Most Common State Religion, but Many Governments Give Privileges to Christianity.”
Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. 2017.
In an additional 20% of countries, a particular religion is favored but not officially

endorsed by the government. Governments may provide financial privileges, such as funding
religious schools run by certain groups. Around the world, Christianity is the most common
preferred religion.
Some countries adopt a more antagonistic attitude toward religion. In roughly 5% of
countries, governments exert strong control over religious institutions or outlaw religious
practice. For instance, religion is heavily discouraged in North Korea.
As Figure 4 shows, levels of religiosity vary quite a bit around the world, too. Religiosity
refers to a person’s commitment to a given religion. The most common way to evaluate
religiosity is through religious attendance, which is usually measured by how often people
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attend religious services as well as the proportion of the total population that does so.
Someone may have a religious affiliation (for instance, saying they are Catholic) but have low
levels of religiosity because they rarely attend church.
Across much of Europe, churches and other religious monuments dot the landscape.
But if you were to tour the continent’s countries, you’d find these places of worship in very
different levels of use and disuse. Countries in northern Europe, like Denmark, Iceland, and
Sweden, are well-known for being secular, with very few people professing a faith or attending
religious services. Other countries, like Ireland and Italy, have higher levels of religious
attendance.
Figure 4: Weekly Worship Attendance by Country
Source: “The Age Gap in Religion around the World: By Several Measures,
Young Adults Tend to Be Less Religious than Their Elders; the Opposite Is Rarely
True.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. 2018.
Why some countries and religions see declining religiosity and others don’t is a question
that interests many sociologists of religion. Sociology helps us to understand how and why
religion spreads, declines, and changes, both around the world and in the United States.
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RELIGION IN THE U.S.
 What is the religious make-up of the United States?
 Why is the U.S. so religious?
 How has immigration changed the character of American religion?
 What is the relationship between religion and inequality in the U.S.?
Is America a Christian nation? How Christian is

it? These questions have been hotly debated.
Many of the early European colonists who
settled in America came in search of freedom to
practice their version of Christianity. For instance,
many of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth were
Puritans who separated from the Church of
England. We also know that our nation’s founders
invoked religious language when they declared
their intention to form a new country, stating that The Ten Commandments in front of the Texas
State Capitol. (Source)
men are “endowed by their Creator with
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unalienable rights.” And we know that hundreds of years later, the vast majority of Americans
report that they believe in God, and most identify as Christian.
On the other hand, the U.S. is the most religiously diverse country on the planet. While
most of the population of Ireland is Christian, there is relatively little diversity in Christian
denominations—most of the Christians in the Republic of Ireland are Catholic. This is not the
case in America, where hundreds of denominations and traditions are represented within
Christianity. We also have many non-Christian religions, as well as a growing proportion of the
population that doesn’t identify with any religion.
Researchers place the thousands of religious groups in the U.S. into seven large
categories: Evangelical Protestants, Black Protestants, Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Jews,
other religions (including Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists), and those who do not affiliate with
any religion.17 Figure 5 shows the relative proportions of each of these categories, as well as
some additional groups.
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Figure 5: Religious Affiliations in the U.S. While America may be a

predominantly Christian nation, the
freedom and diversity of religion make
it special. It stands out as a country
that is developed and industrialized
but also highly religious. Many
countries that are highly religious are
not as industrialized. And many other
industrialized nations are not as
religious. What makes the U.S. so
different?
For a long time, sociologists
thought that religion was losing
significance in modern society. Peter
Berger was the most famous supporter
of this argument, called secularization
theory. Berger thought religions would
decline over time because people
would be exposed to the fact that
there are so many of them.
Imagine that you live in a small
town, far away from other towns. You,
your family, your friends, and everyone
else in your small town all agree that
blue is the best color. You admire the
color blue, paint your houses blue, get
together once a week to talk about
the merits and wonders of the color
blue, and are genuinely convinced
that no other color could even
compare to it. Now, a road is built
Source: “If the U.S. Had 100 People: Charting Americans’
through your town. People start driving
Religious Affiliations.” Pew Research Center. Washington, D.C.
2016.
through and you get to know them.
One day, a new acquaintance
mentions his preference for the color green!
Apparently, everyone in your new friend’s town also loves green. They never
considered blue special at all. You’re puzzled by this. To make things worse, you meet another
acquaintance, who informs you that she and her whole community follow and admire yellow.
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You’re overwhelmed. Your whole life has revolved around the color blue, but suddenly
you’re exposed to people who prefer different colors. You had never realized there were
options other than blue. What if blue isn’t so special? How could everyone have so many
different opinions about colors? Maybe no color was really the best after all?
This is how Berger thought that religion and secularization (the loss of religion’s social
and cultural significance) would work. People would question their own beliefs when they
were exposed to others who thought differently. Modernization brought more contact with the
outside world and exposure to different religions. For instance, as roads were built and
transportation between places grew, people encountered more strangers from foreign lands.
These strangers brought more exposure to other belief systems. Berger thought that
secularization would happen most quickly in places with religious pluralism, or many different
religions. He thought that the existence of many religions in one society would create a
plausibility crisis for all religions, because people would begin to question the believability of
the core principles of their religion.18 Imagine all of the different places of worship in a big city
like New York—hundreds of churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and more. Exposure to
all of those options might make you think twice about your own religion, or about the entire
idea of religion.
Although secularization theory was
widely accepted by sociologists of religion
until recently, there is mixed evidence that
this process is actually happening. In fact,
the United States is a powerful contradiction
to the theory. Even though there are many,
many religious institutions in New York City,
religion hasn’t disappeared; lots of New
Yorkers still worship at those places.
In fact, as Figure 4 showed, even
though the U.S. is one of the most pluralistic
religious countries in the world, it also has
American dollar bill. (Source) high rates of religious attendance compared
to other industrialized countries.
Religious competition
Why is the U.S. so religious? Secularization theory predicts that it shouldn’t be, because
there are so many different religions. But what if the number of religions didn’t discourage
people from participating, but did the very opposite?
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Imagine again that you’re in an isolated small town. Every Wednesday, you, your
family, and everyone else in the town gathers together to dance. You dance the same dance
every Wednesday and have never been exposed to another style of dance.
When newcomers arrive in your town, they dance different dances. Suddenly, there are
many options for what to do on Wednesdays. Dance halls start advertising so they can attract
potential converts to their type of dance. You’re excited by all of the options and shop around
at the different dance halls to see which one you like best. Dancing happens more often now
than it did when there was just one option on Wednesdays because people are choosing to
participate and dance halls are advertising heavily to attract people.
Sociologists Roger Finke and Rodney Stark argue that the high level of religiosity in the
U.S. is a result of the different religions competing for members. Rather than diminish religion in
general, the presence of so many options drives those religions to compete with one another.
They vigorously market their religion to current and potential members. This is called religious
competition theory. Its primary claim is that Americans are more religious than people in most
other industrialized nations because our religious groups make religion more interesting and
useful than it is in other countries; as a result, people are more likely to worship regularly, just
like the residents of the small town who suddenly had many different types of dancing at their
feet.
Religious competition theory might lead us to believe that lots of people are actively
shopping around for different types of religion and frequently picking new ones. Let’s go back
to our small town. Sure, there are many types of dancing available. But after looking around
and trying some out, you decide the dance that you’ve always danced is really the best. You
become more committed to the traditional Wednesday dance because you’ve decided to
stick to that option after all.
Sociologist Christian Smith points out that religious pluralism doesn’t weaken American’s
religiosity because religious people believe that they’ve personally chosen whether or not to
be religious and what religion to believe. Given the number and variety of religious options in
the U.S., it’s absolutely true that Americans have many religious choices. However, it’s also true
that 80% of those raised in a religion will remain in that religion for life. While choice exists, the
vast majority of Americans don’t actually exercise it.
Why don’t more Americans change their religion, given the choices that exist and their
freedom to select new options? Even though there are many choices, religion is closely linked
with other aspects of social identity. It can be difficult to dance a completely new dance
when none of your loved ones have also made this choice.
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Complex religion
One reason religion didn’t wane as people expected it would in the U.S. and around
the globe is that it is deeply intertwined with every other dimension of social life, especially
race, ethnicity, and social class.
Since early waves of immigration, sociologists have noted that religion is often part and
parcel of racial or ethnic identity; it also influences how our racial or ethnic identity is
understood by others. The racialization process is the way racial and ethnic boundaries are
drawn around a practice or a social group by others outside of that group.19 For instance,
physical appearances or certain names are often associated with particular religions, even if
those assumptions are inaccurate. Recent research shows that whether or not they are
actually Muslim, men with Arab last names are much less likely to get called back for a job
interview because employers associate them with negative stereotypes.20 President Trump’s
ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries, which we discuss below, is an example
of racialization that depends on religion. In this case, religion is a key marker determining
whether a group of people—in this case, citizens of entire nations—will be allowed to enter the
country.
The theory of complex religion21 argues that we can’t understand religion unless we
understand the complex ways it intersects with other features or identities of social life,
especially those related to inequality, like race, class, and gender. Different religious groups
hold varying degrees of power, influence, and status in America. Complex religion theory
views religion as deeply linked to inequality because of social reproduction, the structures and
activities that transmit social inequality and forms of stratification from one generation to the
next.22
There is a great deal of religious inequality in the U.S. Some religious groups tend to
have high levels of education; others do not.23 Figure 6 provides a very simple but powerful
illustration of social class differences between America’s religious groups by showing the
educational background of members of major religious groups in the U.S.
Mainline Protestants consist of denominations such as Episcopalians and Presbyterians
that were established earlier and tend to be more socially liberal and more reserved in how
they practice than Evangelical Protestants. Mainline Protestants have been privileged since
the founding of the U.S. The majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence—
typically respected and relatively wealthy leaders of their communities—were members of
denominations that would now be considered Mainline Protestants.24 Mainline Protestants
continue to have higher levels of education than other groups. The least-educated Mainline
Protestants tend to be from groups that immigrated to the U.S. after the older Mainline groups;
even these groups have slightly higher educational levels than Roman Catholics (25% of
whom have bachelor’s degrees).
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Figure 6: Educational Attainment among Religious Followers Many other

religious groups have
not fared as well. The
inequality that remains
between American
religious groups can be
seen by comparing
Mainline Protestants to
Evangelical Protestants
(or Conservative
Protestants), who
generally believe that
the Bible is the literal
word of God, that
individuals should have
a personal relationship
Source: “The Most and Least Educated U.S. Religious Groups.” Pew with Jesus Christ, and
Research Center. Washington, D.C. 2016.
that it is a religious duty
to convert others to
their beliefs. Figure 6
shows that many
denominations of
Evangelical Protestants
are toward the bottom
in terms of educational
attainment. Compare
the percentage of
college degree-holders
among Southern
Baptists, an Evangelical
group, and
Episcopalians, a
Mainline Protestant group. Mainline Protestants are roughly twice as likely as Conservative
Protestants to hold at least a four-year college degree.25 And as Figure 7 shows, Evangelical
Protestants also have very high rates of religious attendance.
Page 20
Figure 7: U.S. Religious Attendance by Denomination
Source: “Religious Landscape Study.” Pew Research Center. Washington, D.C. 2015.
In American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving, Christian Smith argues that one
reason Evangelical Christians have such strong religious identities and remain engaged in
American politics is that they have a strong religious subculture—a group identity based on
religion that clearly differentiates insiders from outsiders.26 The Evangelical subculture is strong
because it is “engaged with distinction” from the rest of society. This engagement comes
about from Evangelicals’ active political work and efforts to convert nonbelievers, and results
in feelings of distinction when they encounter others whose views strongly differ from their own.
Evangelicals have had an increasingly important influence on American politics, which we will
return to below. The tendency of Evangelicals to engage with the wider society is not the only
way a religious group can express its distinct identity, however. Other groups, like the Amish
and Hasidic Jews, intentionally withdraw from secular society and avoid engaging with it as
much as possible.
Page 21
An Amish community (Source); Hasidic Jews at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem (right). (Source)
In addition to class diversity between religious groups, there is incredible ethnic and
racial diversity within American religion as well. Figure 8 presents the racial and ethnic
composition of different religious groups. Much of this variation is a result of immigration and
settlement patterns over time. Roman Catholics are a great example of how ethnicity and
changes in immigration patterns are important to religion in the U.S.
At the turn of the 20th century, many elite Americans were deeply concerned about
Catholic immigrants. At the time, these immigrants (mostly Irish and Italian) were not
considered White. And as Catholics, they were often viewed with suspicion and disapproval,
especially because their fertility was higher than that of many Protestant groups.27 Today, the
descendants of Irish and Italian immigrants have assimilated into the U.S. and many have
largely achieved middle-class White status.28 A key part of White Catholics’ assimilation into
the middle class was access to higher education. More recent Latino immigrants are generally
much less educated.29
Not all recent immigrants have low levels of education. Due to changes in immigration
laws, recent immigrants from other areas of the world, who are mostly non-Christian, are
among the most educated Americans today.30 Almost 77% of American Hindus have at least
a bachelor’s degree, nearly three times the percentage of Catholics who do. However, just as
Italian and Irish Catholic immigrants were not seen as White in the early 1900s, being non-
Christian today has implications for racial and ethnic identity. For example, many Muslim
immigrants from Arab nations identify as Caucasian (see Figure 8). It remains to be seen
whether these Muslim immigrants will be seen as White by other Americans.
Page 22
Figure 8: U.S. Religious Affiliation by Race
Source: “Religious Landscape Study.” Pew Research Center. Washington, D.C. 2015.
REVIEW SHEET: RELIGION IN THE U.S.
CLICK THE LINK FOR:
AUDIO KEY POINTS
Page 23
POLITICS, VIOLENCE, AND GOD
 What is the relationship between religion and politics in the U.S.?
 Why did the vast majority of American Evangelicals vote for Donald Trump for President?
 When do religious beliefs lead to violence?
How many elections for a government office can you remember? Was religion part of
the surrounding debate? Whether it’s a discussion about religious rights or a debate about the
candidates’ personal religious preferences, the issue of religion is almost always central to
conversations about politics.
By politics, we mean everything from direct political activity, including voting behavior
and party affiliation, to views on politically important issues, such as abortion, gay and lesbian
rights, helping the poor, and even war.31
Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt demonstrations in front of the Supreme Court. (Source)
Exit polls showed that more than 80% of Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in the
2016 U.S. presidential election, despite his lackluster religious reputation.32 Analysts say that
Evangelical support for President Trump was a result of his anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant
Page 24
rhetoric, his commitment to nominate a judge who opposes abortion to the Supreme Court,
and his acknowledgment of the economic frustrations of many White working-class
Evangelicals.33 Each of these issues provides an important perspective on the ways in which
religion, race, and class are intertwined in American politics.34 Many scholars argue that
together, they are resulting in a “culture war” between Evangelical Protestants, who are
increasingly affiliated with the Republican Party, and progressives, who tend to support the
Democratic Party and who are less and less likely to be affiliated with any organized religion.35
Most Americans are aware of President Joe
Biden’s Catholic faith. Only the second president to
be Catholic, President Biden frequently attends Mass
and references his faith in public often.36 Yet his
support of abortion rights and his position on the
LGBTQ community place him out of step with Catholic
social teaching. This has resulted in debates as to
whether or not he should be able to participate in
Holy Communion.37
(Source)
Robert Wuthnow argues that growing
educational differences within American religious denominations created more polarized
religious groups after World War II. This process has been key to our culture wars,
disagreements over lifestyles, sex, and gender issues that increasingly differentiate American
politics.
Page 25
Figure 9: Opinions of President The term was popularized by James Davison
Trump Hunter’s Culture Wars (1991), and research has

verified that these divisions do exist, especially around
so-called “family values issues” such as homosexuality,
contraception, and, most importantly, abortion,
which remains particularly polarizing and has become
even more so in recent years.38 These divisions first
became apparent with the growth of the Christian or
Religious Right in the 1970s and the election of
President Ronald Regan in 1980 on an explicitly anti-
abortion platform. Clem Brooks and Jeff Manza found
that religion remains one of America’s most important
political divides.39
White Evangelical Protestants are more likely
than other groups to vote Republican, and have
done so consistently since the 1960s (with the
exception of the 1976 presidential election of the
Evangelical Jimmy Carter). The biggest change,
Source: “White Evangelicals See Trump as
Brooks and Manza find, has come from Mainline
Fighting for Their Beliefs, Though Many Have
Mixed Feelings about His Personal
Protestants, who moved from staunch Republican
Conduct” Pew Research Center. support and voting in the 1960s to increasingly
Washington, D.C. 2020. Democratic support today.40
Anti-religion billboard. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) Atheists United highway sign. (Source)
Evangelical Protestants are now the majority of American Protestants because they
had greater fertility, and thus larger families, nearly a century ago.41 Those with no religion,
often referred to as “Nones,” are now 20% of the American population.42 Mike Hout and
Page 26
Claude Fischer found that Nones are more and more likely to be Americans who were raised
religiously but now reject religion as a reaction to the growth of the Religious Right.43
The Muslim Ban

During President Donald Trump’s 2016
campaign, he called for a “total and complete
shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”44
After his election, he attempted to implement the
Executive Order Protecting the Nation from
Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States; this
executive order barred all immigration from
several countries, most of which had large Muslim
populations. The ban met with fierce resistance in
the U.S. and other countries, especially from
immigrant rights groups and other social Protesting President Trump’s immigration ban.
(Source)
movement organizations, many of which have
religious affiliations. 45 After several lawsuits and restraining orders, a new version of the ban
was announced, this one less focused on specifically Muslim countries; in 2018, the Supreme
Court upheld this version in a 5-4 decision.
The impetus and support for the ban comes from the mistaken impression that Islam is a
particularly violent religion.46 It’s simply not the case that religious violence—violence justified
by religious reasons—is restricted to Islam. In Terror in the Mind of God, Mark Jeurgensmeyer
shows us that violent acts are committed in the name of almost all religions. This includes
terrorism committed in the name of stereotypically peaceful faiths, such as Buddhism. During
the Crusades of the Middle Ages, Muslims and Christians both committed violent acts.
There are more recent examples of
violence committed in the name of
Christianity. On April 19, 1995, Timothy
McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated a
bomb at the Oklahoma City Federal
Building, killing 168 people, including 19
children in a daycare facility in the building,
and injuring 500 others.47 McVeigh was a
believer in the Christian Identity Movement.48
He detonated his bomb on April 19th
because it was the second anniversary of
Oklahoma City Bombing. (Source) the siege of the Branch Davidian
Page 27
compound in Waco, Texas, which he had witnessed. The Branch Davidians were a Christian
sect led by prophet David Koresh. In 1993, the federal government raided their compound,
resulting in a siege that lasted 51 days and ultimately in the deaths of David Koresh and 82 of
his followers.49
Many Christian Identity Movement members saw the
devastation in Waco as an indication of the government’s
desire to suppress religion, militia movements, and white
supremacy. The Christian Identity Movement believed it was
their responsibility to bring about both a Christian state and an
Aryan Nation and to put an end to the “Jewish-UN [United
Nations] conspiracy” they believed was running the world.50
Members of any religion that is used by some to justify
violence often argue that those engaging in violence are not
“true believers,” or believe in a “perverted” form of the religion.
But the truth is not that simple. Just as religion is deeply tied to Mugshot of David Koresh,
former leader of the Branch
race, ethnicity, and economic struggles in the U.S., it is also tied
Davidians. Source: McLennan
up with those social structures around the globe. Religion County Sheriff’s Office. Public
becomes entwined with other struggles, whether cultural, anti- Domain.
colonial, political, or economic. When religious beliefs become
intertwined with a feeling of being embattled or oppressed, it’s easy for believers of any
religion to justify violence.
Remember, religion is “eminently social.” It’s shaped by people and the times and
places they live in, and it, in turn, shapes people, sometimes separating groups while at other
times bringing believers together to fight for a common cause. In the U.S., the changing nature
of religious affiliation, particularly the rise of those who are not affiliated with a religion and
increasing immigration from non-Christian countries, will likely have an enduring effect on the
future shape of religion in America.
Page 28
REVIEW SHEET: POLITICS, VIOLENCE, AND GOD
CLICK THE LINK FOR:
AUDIO KEY POINTS
Page 29
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Cover Photos by Artem Beliaikin, Billeasy, Adli Wahid, and Marco Ceschi.
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Sociology of

Melissa J. Wilde, University of Pennsylvania

Studying religion sociologically

RELIGION AROUND THE GLOBE

The geography of religion

RELIGION IN THE U.S.

POLITICS, VIOLENCE, AND GOD

 How do we define religion?

 What determines the things religions see as sacred?

 How do we understand religious experiences?

 What is the Protestant ethic?

 How can we study religion sociologically?

Think about your family—your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Name

the things Durkheim calls the profane. While

Several sacred objects: statues (Source), books (Source), animals (Source).

Studying religion sociologically

RELIGION AROUND THE GLOBE

 How important is religion in different parts of the world?

 What are the fastest-growing religions?

The major world religions

Every year millions of Hindus flock to the Ganges,

Figure 1: Major Religious Figure 1 shows that Christianity, which includes

As followers of the God of Abraham, both Islam

The geography of religion

Source: “The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and

Figure 3: Official Positions on Religion by Country

In an additional 20% of countries, a particular religion is favored but not officially

Figure 4: Weekly Worship Attendance by Country

REVIEW SHEET: RELIGION AROUND THE GLOBE

CLICK THE LINK FOR:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES KEY QUESTIONS

AUDIO KEY POINTS

PRACTICE QUIZ KEY PEOPLE

VOCABULARY CROSSWORD PUZZLES KEY TERMS

RELIGION IN THE U.S.

 What is the religious make-up of the United States?

 Why is the U.S. so religious?

 How has immigration changed the character of American religion?

 What is the relationship between religion and inequality in the U.S.?

Is America a Christian nation? How Christian is

Figure 5: Religious Affiliations in the U.S. While America may be a

Figure 6: Educational Attainment among Religious Followers Many other

Figure 7: U.S. Religious Attendance by Denomination

Figure 8: U.S. Religious Affiliation by Race

REVIEW SHEET: RELIGION IN THE U.S.

CLICK THE LINK FOR:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES KEY QUESTIONS

AUDIO KEY POINTS

PRACTICE QUIZ KEY PEOPLE

VOCABULARY CROSSWORD PUZZLES KEY TERMS

POLITICS, VIOLENCE, AND GOD

 What is the relationship between religion and politics in the U.S.?

 When do religious beliefs lead to violence?

Figure 9: Opinions of President The term was popularized by James Davison

Trump Hunter’s Culture Wars (1991), and research has

The Muslim Ban

REVIEW SHEET: POLITICS, VIOLENCE, AND GOD

CLICK THE LINK FOR:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES KEY QUESTIONS

AUDIO KEY POINTS

PRACTICE QUIZ KEY PEOPLE

VOCABULARY CROSSWORD PUZZLES KEY TERMS

14 Encyclopedia Britannica. “Shia.”