According to a new Pew Research Survey: People think more positively about their own religious groups, or about groups that their friends belong to, and On a scale of warmest/most positive feelings to coolest/least positive feelings, Americans have warm feelings toward Jews, Catholics and Evangelical Christians, neutral feelings about Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons, and cooler feelings toward Muslims and atheists. While this data is interesting, it is also troubling. As a Read More …
sociology of religion
The End of Mary (#0343)
Philip N. Cohen, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently wrote two posts (A and B) on his blog about the declining popularity of the name Mary. To put the trend in perspective he offers these remarks: For the first time in the history of the United States of America, the name Mary is not in the top 100 given to newborn girls. Mary was the #1 name every year in the Social Security name database from 1880 — it’s first year — to 1961 (except Read More …
Review of America’s Four Gods (#0263)
Paul Froese and Christopher Bader. America's Four Gods: What We Say About God - & What That Says About Us. Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780195341478. Meet the Authors Paul Froese and Christopher Bader both serve as assistant professors of sociology at Baylor University. America's Four Gods: What We Say About God - & What That Says About Us (2010) is the first book they have written together. Froese (pictured at left) specializes in Read More …
Review of American Grace (#0227)
Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. Simon & Schuster, 2010. ISBN: 9781416566717. Meet the Authors Robert D. Putnam (shown in the yellow shirt) is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has written a dozen books, translated into seventeen languages, including the best-selling Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of Read More …