Assignment 1: Exploration of a Journal Article in Sociology
Tiffany Mullins
Professor Kimberly Boyd
Soc 100: Introduction to Sociology
8/24/13
According to the article all theories on religion and secularization are based on two 19th century social theories on the future of religion. These were the theories of Durkheim and Weber both with different prediction on the future of religion. According to Durkheim’s sociological approach the future of religion would continue on due to its social nature while Weber’s was just the opposite claiming the social nature of religion would be the cause of its demise. These theories were focused on secularization in order to predict religions future. Upon investigating characteristics of present day society, Byers implied the need to provide a modern view of the topic. This current study is focused not on secularization but from a sociological perspective in order to determine the future of religion. There were two main characteristics of human beings that were the focus of this study. One being “man as a social being”, and the other was “man as a rational being”. Today religion is very much alive and seems to be thriving according to the results found by Norris and Inglehart stating that secularization theory has been disproven. This conclusion was based on surveys given to different societies and different religions. The article explores research in order to answer the question of why religion has not diminished as predicted and, what are the social conditions that have enabled religion to preserver? The conditions considered in the study include pluralism, individualism, post modernity and uncertainty. The purpose of the article was not to discuss or identify different religions but to answer the question “What will become of religion?” The study provided a conclusion that the term secularization is not acceptable when the demise of religion is being determined since it can in fact it contribute to growth of...