Description
Book SynopsisA shocking snapshot of the most current impulses in American religion. Rodney Stark reports the surprising findings of the 2007 Baylor Surveys of Religion, a follow up to the 2005 survey revealing most Americans believe in God or a higher power. This new volume highlights even more hot-button issues of religious life in our country. A must-read for anyone interested in Americans' religious beliefs and practices.
Trade ReviewAn indispensable resource for understanding the American public. - George H. Gallup Jr., American Public Opinion Statistician
All who find in statistics precise food for thought owe Stark and his colleagues at Baylor gratitude. -Publisher's Weekly
A worthy addition to the burgeoning survey data literature in the sociology of religion. Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. -- CHOICE
Table of Contents
- List of Tables
- Introduction
- The Stability and Diversity of American Faith
- Part I
- Congregations
- 1 Church-going
- Labels Matter
- 2 Church Growth
- Competing for Members
- 3 Strict Churches
- The Reasons for their Popularity
- 4 The ""Scattered"" Church
- Traditional Congregations are not Going Away
- 5 Megachurches
- Supersizing the Faith
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- Part II
- Beliefs and Practices
- 6 Religious Experiences
- God Told Me to Go to Church
- 7 Gender
- Women Believe More, Pray More
- 8 Heaven
- We are All Going There
- 9 God
- Love Makes a Difference
- 10 Evil
- Did Sin Cause the Hurricane?
- 11 Spirituality
- Religion and Spirituality Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- 12 Giving
- The Rich, the Poor, and the Widow's Mite
- 13 Personality
- Are We Hard-Wired for God?
- Part III
- Atheism and Irreligion
- 14 Atheism
- Godless Revolution Never Happened
- 15 Credulity
- New Age Believers in Big Foot
- 16 New Age Adherents
- Well-Educated, Formerly Irreligious Elites
- 17 The Irreligious
- Simply Unchurched not Atheists
- Part IV
- The Public Square
- 18 Faith and Politics
- Is There a Secret Plot of Evangelicals to Take over the American Government?
- 19 Merry Christmas, Jesus
- It's Okay to Put Sacred Symbols in the Public Square
- 20 Incivility
- Talking about Faith in Public
- 21 Religious Media Consumption
- The DaVinci Code Effect
- 22 Civic Participation
- Faith as Social Capital
- 23 Going to College, Getting a Job
- What Happens when Mom and Dad Take Their Kids to Church
- Epilogue
- The Institute for the Study of Religion
- Contributors
- Notes
