Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion

More than half a century ago, sociologist J. Milton Yinger remarked about religion, "There are few major subjects about which men know so little, yet feel so certain." Samuel L. Perry says that Yinger had it right. Americans--and Westerners more generally--neglect the scientific study of religion, and we do so at our peril. In Religion for Realists, Perry argues that we need the scientific study of religion--the rational, data-driven analysis of religious life--now more than ever. Contrary to the fears of many religious Americans, the scientific study of religion only threatens empirical falsehoods, promulgated often to the benefit of charlatans and demagogues. And contrary to the silent hopes of many secular academics, religion doesn't go away when you ignore it. Instead, interest groups fill the void to shape the public's understanding of religious reality: sometimes well, usually poorly. Perry makes the case that, as people in the West self-sort into partisan tribes, all of us--religious and irreligious alike--need the scientific study of religion. This book presents a practical roadmap for ensuring that its insights are widely available, accessible, and impactful.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction: Real, but Different 1. We Were All Wrong: Anglo-Protestant Misconceptions 2. Belongers Before Believers: Group Identity and Norms 3. Evangelism The Old-Fashioned Way: Population Dynamics 4. Come Over Here And Make Me: The Power of Structure 5. More Than Benign Disinterest: (Why) Is Religion Research Marginalized? 6. Fulfilling the Promise: What Religion Scholars Owe the Public Notes References Index

About the Author :
Samuel L. Perry is Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. He is the coauthor, with Philip S. Gorski, of The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy (OUP, 2022), and, with Andrew L. Whitehead, of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (OUP, 2020), as well as the author of Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants (OUP, 2019). He is a frequent contributor to TIME magazine and other mainstream outlets.

Review :
You should read Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion. The author, sociologist Samuel Perry, will help you understand how social scientists think about religion. Most importantly, his work will improve how you think about religion too. Perry's "religion for realists" reflects a repudiation of liberalism's universalist aspirations, one that can be seen in the growing illiberal movements on the global left and right that posit group identities over individual ones. Perhaps Reinhold Niebuhr was right after all: human beings can never reach perfection on Earth because of our fallen natures, and thus perhaps the idea that liberalism could ever be the "final" form of government is just as hubristic as the Social Gospel movement was. One thing is for certain though: the role of religion in shaping our political climate cannot be denied.