Religion in the Contemporary WorldIn the new edition of this widely read text, Alan Aldridge examines the complex realities of religious belief, practice and institutions, ranging from the high growth rates of successful minority religious movements such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, to the phenomenal rise of Pentecostalism, the challenge of 'fundamentalism' and the apparent turn from religion to spirituality. Religion is a powerful and controversial force in the contemporary world, even in supposedly secular societies. Almost all societies seek to cultivate religions and faith communities as sources of social stability and engines of social progress. They also try to regulate real and imagined abuses and excess: cults that brainwash vulnerable people, fundamentalism that threatens democracy and the progress of science, and terrorists who carry out atrocities in the name of religion. The second edition has been carefully revised to make sure it is fully up-to-date with recent developments and debates. Major themes in the revised edition include religious diversity and its implications for social cohesion, and the paradoxical fate of religion in societies that appear to be obsessed with individualism and consumerism. This book will appeal strongly to a range of readers, especially students taking courses in the sociology of religion and anyone who is interested in the place of religion in the contemporary world. |
Contents
1 Religions and the Challenge of Diversity | 1 |
Social Conflicts and Sociological Debates | 17 |
3 Varieties of Religious Movement | 42 |
The Social Insignificance of Religion? | 61 |
A New Paradigm? | 100 |
6 Fundamentalism | 131 |
7 Civil Religion and Political Ritual | 143 |
8 Brainwashing Consumer Protection and the State | 162 |
9 Religious Identity and Meaning in Consumer Society | 190 |
| 223 | |
| 239 | |
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Common terms and phrases
activities American anti-cult anti-cult movement argues atheists authority Baha’is Barker Beckford beliefs and practices Bellah Berger Bible brainwashing Branch Davidians Bromley Bruce Cambridge Catholic Church Catholicism charismatic leader Christian Church of Scientology civil religion claim commitment concept consumer contemporary crucial cult cultural David Koresh debate definition of religion denominations Dianetics diversity divine Durkheim ethnic example fundamentalism fundamentalists gion groups Habermas hijab Hindu Hinduism human identity individual Islam Islamophobia Jehovah's Witnesses Jesus Jewish Jonestown Judaism London mainstream means megachurches ments millenarian minority modern Moonies Mormon Muslims nation organizations Orthodox Oxford paradigm Pentecostal political priesthood Prophet Protestant Protestantism Quakers rejected reli religious movements ritual role Routledge sacred Scientology sects secularization thesis sexual Shupe simply social sociological sociologists Sociology of Religion Soviet spiritual symbols theological theory tion tradition Transcendental Meditation Unification Church University Press values Weber Western Wilson women world-affirming movements world-rejecting worship