“A humane and sensible guide to and for the many kinds of Americans leading secular lives in what remains one of the most religious nations in the developed world.” —The New York Times Book ReviewOver the last twenty-five years, “no religion” has become the fastest-growing religious preference in the United States. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people have turned away from the traditional faiths of the past and embraced a moral yet nonreligious—or secul...

The number of nonreligious people has increased dramatically over the past several decades, yet scholarship on the nonreligious is severely lacking. In response to this critical gap in knowledge, The Nonreligious provides a comprehensive summation and analysis of existing social scientific research on secular people and societies. The authors present a thorough overview of existing knowledge while also drawing upon ongoing research and suggesting ways to improve our understanding ...

An updated edition showcasing the social health of the least religious nations in the worldReligious conservatives around the world often claim that a society without a strong foundation of faith would necessarily be an immoral one, bereft of ethics, values, and meaning. Indeed, the Christian Right in the United States has argued that a society without God would be hell on earth.In Society without God, Second Edition sociologist Phil Zuckerman chal...

During his 2009 inaugural speech, President Obama described the United States as a nation of "Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and nonbelievers." It was the first time an American president had acknowledged the existence of this rapidly growing segment of the population in such a public forum. And yet the reasons why more and more people are turning away from religion are still poorly understood. In Faith No More, Phil Zuckerman draws on in-depth interviews with people who...

This concise, clear, accessible book is meant to truly engage students by using personal stories, solid research, and key theories that illustrate how sociologists look at life, the way we understand social dynamics, what “socially constructed” means, and how a sociological sensibility can, ultimately, be liberating.With engaging stories, provocative historical examples, compelling case studies, and key theoretical insights, this cogent “anti-textbook”, written by leading sociologi...

As recent headlines reveal, conflicts and debates around the world increasingly involve secularism. National borders and traditional religions cannot keep people in tidy boxes as political struggles, doctrinal divergences, and demographic trends are sweeping across regions and entire continents. And secularity is increasing in society, with a growing number of people in many regions having no religious affiliation or lacking interest in religion. Simultaneously, there is a resurgence of re...

For more than forty years there was a single synagogue in the quiet town of Williamette, Oregon. But then disagreements over gender roles, homosexuality, Israeli politics, and other issues tore the synagogue in two. Where there was once one Jewish community under one roof, there are now two hostile congregations_one Reconstructionist, one Orthodox_across the street from one another. Through a year as a participant in both congregations and in-depth interviews, Zuckerman tells a mesmerizing...

W.E.B. Du Bois shaped 20th century America to an extent rivaled by few others. The first black to receive a Ph. D. from Harvard, he helped create the discipline of sociology and was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Martin Luther King, Jr. called Du Bois 'a gifted discoverer of social truths.' But until now little academic attention has been paid to his insights on religion or to how religious commitments shaped his views of race...

Demonstrates definitively that the secularization thesis is correct, and religion is losing its grip on societies worldwideIn the decades since its introduction, secularization theory has been subjected to doubt and criticism from a number of leading scholars, who have variously claimed that it is wrong, flawed, or incomplete. In Beyond Doubt, Isabella Kasselstrand, Phil Zuckerman, and Ryan T. Cragun mount a strong defense for the theory, providing compelling evide...

How do you study religion and society? In this fascinating book, some of the most famous names in the field explain how they go about their everyday work of studying religions in the field. They explain how the ideas for their projects and books have come together, how their understanding of religion has changed over the years, and how their own beliefs have affected their work. They also comment on the changing nature of the field, the ideas which they regard as most important, and those ...

This book intends to serve as a conversational, colorful, engaging, and provocative introduction to the sociology of religion for undergraduates. Written in lively prose, this volume aims to introduce students to the major themes, problems and goals of the sociological study of religion while also summoning the sense of wonder and curiosity for the enterprise itself.

The author of Living the Secular Life deconstructs the arguments for a morality informed by religion, urging that major challenges like global warming and growing inequality are best approached from a framework of secular morality.In What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, Phil Zuckerman argues that morality does not come from God. Rather, it comes from us: our brains, our evolutionary past, our ongoing...