Nicholas Jay Demerath

Sacred Companies: Organizational Aspects of Religion and Religious Aspects of Organizations

Religion is intrinsically social, and hence irretrievably organizational. Religion and organizations have separately been the objects of frequent study but their confluence has rarely been considered. This interdisciplinary collection of mostly unpublished papers is the first volume to tackle this neglected subject. The result of a three-year research project at Yale sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, the volume looks at such topics as the historical sources and patterns of U.S. religious institutions, contemporary patterns of denominational authority, the congregation as organization, and the interface between religious and secular institutions.

Civil Religion in an Uncivil Society

Civil religion denotes a religion of the nation, a nonsectarian faith that has as its sacred symbols those of the polity and national history. Recent scholars have portrayed it as a cohesive force, a common canopy of values that helps foster social and cultural integration, but this perspective may now be at odds with a complex reality. Ours is an increasingly differentiated society with the rise of group politics and subcultures. The forms of civil religion remain, but the cultural cohesion it purportedly reflects is dissolving. Civil-religious discourse has become a tool for legitimating social movements and interest-group politics. A critical examination of the current uses of civil religion must lead to a critical reanalysis of the society at large as well as the concept itself.

Excepting Exceptionalism: American Religion in Comparative Relief:

American religion is a major component of the triumphal exceptionalism that has long set the United States apart from other nations. Our frequent label as the worlds most religious advanced nation has given pride to many citizens, if not to all. This article offers a reassessment of the claim in the context of a larger cross-national investigation of religion, politics, and the state in some 14 countries around the globe. With this as a comparative backdrop, the article examines three putative sources of uniqueness: our civil religion (versus our separation of church and state); our religious organizations and congregational style; and our high levels of individual religious belief and behavior. The article concludes that Americas uniqueness is overstated and constitutes more a matter of kind than degree.