Religion for Realists - Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion

In Religion for Realists, Samuel L. Perry argues that, as people in the West self-sort into partisan tribes, we need the scientific study of religion--the rational, data-driven analysis of religious life--now more than ever. This book presents a practical roadmap for ensuring that its insights are widely available, accessible, and impactful.

List of contents

• Preface


• Introduction: Real, but Different


• 1. We Were All Wrong: Anglo-Protestant Misconceptions


• 2. Belongers Before Believers: Group Identity and Norms


• 3. Evangelism The Old-Fashioned Way: Population Dynamics


• 4. Come Over Here And Make Me: The Power of Structure


• 5. More Than Benign Disinterest: (Why) Is Religion Research Marginalized?


• 6. Fulfilling the Promise: What Religion Scholars Owe the Public


• Notes


• References


• Index

About the author

Samuel L. Perry is Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. He is the co-author, with Philip S. Gorski, of The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy (OUP 2022), and, with Andrew L. Whitehead, of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (OUP 2020), as well as the author of Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants (OUP 2019). He is a frequent contributor to TIME magazine and other mainstream outlets.

Summary

In Religion for Realists, Samuel L. Perry argues that, as people in the West self-sort into partisan tribes, we need the scientific study of religion--the rational, data-driven analysis of religious life--now more than ever. This book presents a practical roadmap for ensuring that its insights are widely available, accessible, and impactful.

Product details

• Authors: Samuel L. Perry, Samuel L. (Professor of Sociology Perry
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.12.2024
• EAN: 9780197672556
• ISBN: 978-0-19-767255-6
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, RELIGION / Religion, Politics & State, RELIGION / Religion & Science, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Religion & politics, Social and cultural anthropology, Religion and Politics, Religion and science, Religion & science, Religious groups: social & cultural aspects, Social groups: religious groups and communities