Sociology of Religion: Study of Beliefs, Practices, and Organizational Forms

Sociology of Religion
Sociology of Religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational formsof religion
using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. It is primarily the study of the
practices, social structures, historical backgrounds, development, universal themes, and roles
of religion in society. Sociologists of religion attempt to explain the effects of society on religion
and the effects of religion on society. Sociologists of religion study every aspect of religion from
what is believed to how persons act while in worship and while living out their stated principles.
They study the changing role of religion both in the public arena (political, economic and media)
and in intimate interpersonal relationships.
Global religious pluralism and conflict, the nature of religious cults and sects, the influence of
religion on racial, gender and sexuality issues, and the effect of the media and modern
culturehas on religious practices are all topics of interest in current sociology of religion
research.Sociology of religion requires "methodological atheism", which means that a
sociologist following the scientific method cannot explain religious phenomena using religious
ideas. Methodological atheism, as well as methodological agnosticism, have both been
proposed as appropriate research methods in the study of religion.
Development of Sociology of Religion
The classical, seminal sociological theorists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
were greatly interested in religion and its effects on society. These theorists include Émile
Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. Like Plato and Aristotle from Ancient Greece, and
Enlightenment philosophers from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, the ideas
posited by these sociologists continue to be addressed today. More recent prominent
sociologists of religion include Peter Berger, Michael Plekon, Rodney Stark, James Davison
Hunter, Andrew Greeley, and Christian Smith.
Karl Marx (1818-1883): There are two essential elements in the Marxist perspective on
religion; the first is descriptive, the second evaluative. Marx described religion as a dependent
variable; in other words, its form and nature were dependent on social and above all economic