People of the western world now have unprecedented freedom to choose their religion. In this book, the world's leading sociologist of religion argues that the liberty and freedom to choose religion corrodes faith and that religion remains most vital when it is part of ethnic and national identity.

In a recent issue of Critical Research on Religion, Mary Jo Neitz presents a four-cell Locations Matrix created by the two dimensions of the status of the religion studied, as dominant and marginal, and position of the researchers vis-à-vis that religion, as insiders or outsiders. Her subsequent arguments about the influence of researcher standpoint perhaps work in the US setting where religion remains popular. This paper points out difficulties in applying the Matrix in the UK setting where religion is unpopular (...) and uses the patently disinterested nature of much of the research conducted by professional sociologists of religion to retrieve the possibility of objective and value-neutral research. (shrink)

This article examines the evidence that largely secular societies are experiencing a process of re-sacralisation. It first dismisses four diversions: taking examples from societies that have never been secular; exaggerating the demographics and religiosity of migrant minorities; missing the fact that religious institutions can only hope to have public influence if they can make a secular case for their preferences; and mistaking notoriety for popularity. It then shows that adherence to Christianity continues to decline apace as does specifically Christian belief. (...) None of the candidates for replacement-non-Christian religions, new religious movements and alternative spirituality-has come at all close to filling the gap left by the Christian churches. Furthermore there is no evidence that governments wish to reverse the standard accommodation to religious diversity and secularity: anything in private; little or nothing in the public sphere. There is no evidence that the population at large wishes it were otherwise. On the contrary. As religion has become more controversial, religion enjoying public influence has, like religion itself, become less, not more popular. Finally, the article argues that the current scarcity of religious people, and the unusual characteristics of those who remain religious, make it ever less likely that there will be a religious revival. So that sufficient detail can be presented, the argument concentrates on the United Kingdom. (shrink)