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For Thursday, February 7

          Read,          in Allitt: 
                    "Church Membership has Increased Throughout American History,
               Especially in the Most Demanding Groups" (Finke and Stark)
                 pp.  12-17
          Download and Read:
                    "American Religious Identification Survey"
                    Graduate School of the City University of New York)
                    http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm
In your journal, consider exercises 4 and 5, p. 39.

          Visit one or more of the websites mentioned in the chapter:

          http://www.religious freedom.org/

          http://www.isp.org/ (successor to Institute for the Study of Religion in Politics


          http://www.esa-online.org/  (new URL for Evangelicals for Social Action)


          http://www.calltorenewal.com/home.cfm




          http://tikkun.org/





          http://www.gospelcom.net/





          http://www.torah.net/eng/index.htm





          http://www.muslimlifestyle.com/  (alternate to cybermuslim, which seems to be defunct)


          http://www.dharmanet.org/
          
Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph.  D.
Office:  Feinstein CAS 110
Or by Appointment
Phone:  (401) 254-3230
Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph.  D.
Office:  Feinstein CAS 110
Or by Appointment
Phone:  (401) 254-3230
AMST 310
Varieties of Religious Experience
Roger Williams University
CAS 122
11:00 - 12:25  T, Th          
Spring, 2002

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Religious Pluralism in the United States
For Tuesday, February 5

  Read,  in Corbett:
                    Chapter 2, Religion in the Life of the United States,           pp.  21- 40
          in Allitt:
          "Religious Vitality and Church-State Separation" (Schaff, 1854)    pp.  2-7
As  always, do the introductory exercises in Corbett prior to reading further.  We begin this day's activities by looking at the legal basis for American Pluralism.  There is little to give any trouble here.  The Constitutional clauses are proscriptive in that they forbid certain actions to the national and state governments.  They do not prescribe what the role of Religion in the culture at large should be.  As the statistics in the chapter suggest, there is considerable disagreement among Americans about what the proper religious role should be.  You may wish to place yourself in the polls presented
Look carefully at the correlations between political and religious views (pp.  25-27), recognizing that these are generalizations, and that any given member of any given religious organization may hold views considerably different.  Make sure you understand the concepts civil religion, culture wars, and common ground politics.
Understand the distinction between institutional (ecclesial, ecclesiastical) religion and popular religion.  This not quite the same as the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary religion made by Albanese.
Philip Schaff (left) argues that pluralism and the competition implied by it has been beneficial to organized religion, noting that the lack of a religious establishment is one of the features distinguishing the United States from European countries.  Follow his line of reasoning and note that he can applaud pluralism while anticipating the victory of a single faith.  How would Schaff fit into Corbett's ERISA framework?
In your journal, consider exercises 4 and 5, p. 39.

          Visit one or more of the websites mentioned in the chapter:

          http://www.religious freedom.org/

          http://www.isp.org/ (successor to Institute for the Study of Religion in Politics


          http://www.esa-online.org/  (new URL for Evangelicals for Social Action)


          http://www.calltorenewal.com/home.cfm




          http://tikkun.org/





          http://www.gospelcom.net/





          http://www.torah.net/eng/index.htm





          http://www.muslimlifestyle.com/  (alternate to cybermuslim, which seems to be defunct)


          http://www.dharmanet.org/
          
For Thursday, February 7

          Read,          in Allitt: 
                    "Church Membership has Increased Throughout American History,
               Especially in the Most Demanding Groups" (Finke and Stark)
                 pp.  12-17
          Download and Read:
                    "American Religious Identification Survey"
                    Graduate School of the City University of New York)
                    http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm
Sometimes reality flies in the face of "common sense" expectations.  This seems to be the case in the essay by Finke and Stark.  Understand the concept, "religious economics," and see if you can explain why the most rigorous religions have experienced the greatest growth.
The American Religious Identification Survey conducted very recently under the auspices of the Graduate School of the City University of New York is a logical extension of the concepts presented in the essay by Finke and Stark.  It also allows you to check some of the generalizations Corbett made in the chapter we read for Tuesday.   BE AWARE THAT A NUMBER OF THE CHARTS AND GRAPHS WHICH ILLUSTRATE THESE FINDINGS NEED TO BE DOWNLOADED SEPARATELY BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS IN THE BODY OF THE ESSAY ITSELF.  (THIS IS TRUE FOR EXHIBITS 7 - 10 AND 13 - 14
One of the ways to keep statistics lively is to identify your personal position in the populations described.  For example, Exhibit 3 presents a pie chart in which respondents indicate how religious they feel themselves to be.  Which slice of the pie is yours?