In all honesty I had a problem with Chavez landscape of America. While I know there is much truth to it, I also believe there is a landscape that we are ignoring. This may only be due to the fact that I took a course last semester in which the purpose of the course was to question and redraw America’a religious landscape. With this in mind, I found our class discussion on Thursday interesting. We not only looked at the religions that are prevalent in the United States, but we also talked briefly about the history of the Christian church and the divisions which exist.

These divisions started very early in the church and were claimed as herasy. In Chapter 4 of McGuire, she talks about the importance of herasy in establishing a “religion.” I enjoy the class because I have never studied religion from a sociological point and as someone who has grown up with a religious background, it’s interesting to hear the different points. Jim mentioned in class that these different sects broke apart because of something small, that’s why he loved religion. From an outsiders perspective I feel like there might not be any importance of the splits. Because of the numerous Christian denominations, the more split there are, the less unified the church becomes. That is the importance of these splits. While this sounds very simple, for me, it holds great importance. I have grown up learning about all the saints who have defended and died for the Church because of these “small” things. I don’t know if it is something that contemporaries can understand. I look at the multiple splits of the different churches, yet they all belong to the “Christian” faith. Is each split as significant as the ones that do many died for?

McGuire’s chapter 4 brings up the differences between nonofficial religion and official religion. As some one who has identified with both of these categories at one point or another in my life, it is interesting to see the actual breakdown of each of the categories. For instance, the chapter discusses “religious syncretism” where there is a “blending of diverse cultural elements into one religion” (McGuire 113). Religion is just another aspect of one’s own culture. However, in today’s America, I feel that religion is becoming more and more separated from people’s everyday lives. For many, church is what you do on Sunday, and that’s it. But for so many cultures around the world, “religion” is intertwined with their way of life. From Hinduism in the Indian culture, to Buddhism in China, and Islam in the middle east, religion is part of the culture and everyday life. While America is one of the “most religious countries”, culturally I would have to disagree.

However, one aspect from the last class (1/18) that I found particularly interesting was the map comparison of the “importance of religion” in states versus the electoral college map after this current election. The two maps show an evident correlation between being non or less religious and voting for Clinton, and more religious voting for Trump. For me, this map shows me that there are religious values in America that also align with politically conservative views as well, showing that religion does play a part in who one may vote, or not vote for in an election in America.

The religious landscape in America is difficult to completely understand, as nonofficial religion is on the rise. As McGuire points out, nonofficial religion is difficult to track and categorize as it does not follow a formal institution and is constantly changing and evolving.

In chapter 4, McGuire assesses official and unofficial religion and different interpretations of what the former entails. An aspect that is addressed is the importance of children’s socialization in terms of learning about or becoming part of a religion. Growing children in religious communities learn what it means to be a member of a religious community or organization through information that has trickled down to their level from interpretations of superiors and elders within the religion’s hierarchy. How can a religion, or a certain interpretation of what a religion means be authenticated when it is all a subjective matter of opinion? Just as literature can be interpreted and analyzed to find different meanings by different people and audiences, so can many of the fables and stories from religious texts be found to mean different things in different contexts. Because of different interpretations found by varying audiences, how can religious teachings be considered “official” if they are taught in variety of ways? As McGuire quotes from one woman who states, “I was in my thirties before I realized that a lot of the stuff I learned about religion in grad school wasn’t the official church teaching.” (pg. 105), teaching styles vary. It seems as though many individuals who were raised as members of an official religion fall out of touch with their religiosity once they are allowed the opportunity to make their own life choices. Although this certainly is not the case with all people, it appears that a child’s first impression of religion as an enforced part of their life causing them to lose touch with the faith of their parents later in life. McGuire presents high proportions of Americans who believe that, “…the individual ‘should arrive at his or her religious beliefs independent of any church of synagogue’” (pg. 106). Perhaps if children determine which religion, if any at all, suits them as they grow and mature, they might feel as if they are making their own choices, instead of being forced to follow their parent’s religious beliefs.

As we all know the United States was founded on religious freedom. The religious landscape of the United States has been shaped by this idea throughout the centuries, taking many different forms and leaving us today with the rising and falling tides of religious affiliation. Most interesting is the ever-increasing percent of the population of the United States accepting religion yet denying affiliation with a recognized church or structured religious association.

Reading an overview of today’s religious landscape show that the United States, as it has been historically, is made up of a majority Protestant population with a falling 70.6 % followed by a rising 22.8% unaffiliated. Many would argue that religious freedom meant, and may still mean, the freedom to practice any protestant religion. As seen in the religious makeup of the representatives in national government the unaffiliated population in the United States is under represented, according to one set of data based on people verbally associating themselves with a religious organization. This is problematic because due to developing correlations between political parties and certain religious groups people with differing political views from those associated with their religious groups affiliation may prefer to respond “none” to a pollster as a way of distancing themselves from connected political views, but in practice still follow any given religion. Overall this phenomenon is increasing the difficulty to quantify the religious landscape in the United States. So person to person what does “religiously unaffiliated” mean. Unaffiliated with religion all together or the developing political context of religion.

In Chapter 3 of McGuire’s book, conversion is discussed as a gradual change in an individual’s meaning system and worldview.  If someone who is committed to one religion decides to convert to another, this person’s outlook on life would have had to change in meaningful ways to warrant this.  One would have to give up previous attachments to their ex-religion and further immerse themselves in their new one in order to cement their faith.  I find it interesting the idea of conversion though.  What kind of reasons or thinking process would lead one to abandon one religion for the other?

McGuire talks about the gradual change that occurs through interaction with members of that faith, and a growing identification with the beliefs of that religion, as well as the stages of disaffiliation.  When moving away from one’s religion McGuire discusses four stages to this process including: “first doubts, seeking and weighing role-alternatives, a turning point, and establishing an ex-role identity” (McGuire 92).  I find it really interesting to learn about the ideas behind conversion or just disaffiliating from one’s religion.  For me, the faith that I grew up in has become such a large part of my worldview and belief system.  In order to completely stop calling myself a Catholic, I would have to change a large part of my worldview and start identifying myself with something else.  Due to the role religion plays in people’s lives, I imagine that this is a life-changing process for most and it reminds me of Glen from the movie we watched in class.  Although he wasn’t a man of faith before, it is because he changed his worldview and committed himself to his religion that he underwent a great transformation in his life.  The power of religion is truly astonishing. (295 Words)

The number of “nones” in terms of religious affiliation are rapidly growing in our country. We know that this is caused by a number of reasons. Official religious organizations taking political stands in regards to abortion and birth control, sexual abuse scandals, figure heads contradicting religious pillars, and the preaching of discriminatory gender contributed to the rise of people who declared themselves “unaffiliated”. We have also established that although the number of people who don’t practice an official, organized religion, does not mean that religiosity is also on the decline– it is merely manifested in different ways.

In McGuire’s fourth chapter, the author discusses the complicated relationship between official religion and unofficial religion, and how different religious sects may interact with one another. For example, a devout Roman Catholic, who said her religion was a main component of her identity, described how she began to “weave in understandings of a variety of different religious and … spiritual traditions, and … ways of behaving in the world” in order to live a more comprehensively spiritual life (107). This is a small example of how even the most religious people are opening their hearts and minds to different denominations, changing “religious tolerance” to “religious appreciation”.

McGuire continues to articulate how many religious texts discuss women, and how that discussion often influences people to  assign women inferior societal roles. Just as other official religions have began to play apart in people’s personal religious lives, social progress has began to play apart in people’s agreement with traditional religious texts. McGuire associates this issue with that of power structures, and said that this may also be contributing to the growing number of unaffiliated people, making the intersection between official and unofficial religion all the more complicated.

A small but growing group of Americans describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. This is partly due to people wanting a way to reject the super conservative right-wing  ideals that are often associated with organized religion and the stereotype that goes with it. It is a way to say that “I’m not like those people” but I still believe in a higher power. There is also a growing skepticism in America about the value of organized religion. Our society values the individual, thus making people feel that they don’t need someone else telling them how to worship their god. Religion has started to be seen as a very personal and individual thing. This trend is very pronounced among young people because they do not seem to have as much interest in organized religions. I believe that this is due to the fact that the teaching of organized religions are no longer connecting to the younger generations. In our society today, we are exposed to so many different types of religion from our own just due to immigration and inventions like the internet. People have started to feel that their religion isn’t necessarily the one true path to salvation. Religious diversity has increased in many Americans everyday lives, making it harder to claim that one religion is the “right one”. Americans now have a greater appreciation for religions other than their own, making it more acceptable to try out other religions because they are more accessible. Americans are starting to reject organized relgion and started to move towards spirituality.

This week in class one of the main subjects we read and talked about was about America’s religious landscape. Compared to the rest of world, America seems to be one of the most religious countries in terms of people who actually practice a religion and one of the most diverse in terms of the number of religions that are practiced here. However, while this appears to be the case on the outside, on the inside one needs to look at the actual numbers. 70.6% of people are Christians, 1.9% are Jewish, 0.9% are Muslim, 0.7% are Hindus, 0.7% are Buddhists, and Native American traditions are only 0.3% of the population. Then, there is 22.8% of the population who say they’re unaffiliated with any religion. Therefore in actuality, America is really not that diverse after all. America is however more diverse than it was back in the 70’s. (Chaves, Pg. 16) There has been growth in diversity from that time onward. (Chaves, Pg. 16) This is primarily due to immigration. (Chaves, Pg. 17) As for being a more religious country, compared to other countries like in Europe, for example, there are definitely more people who attend services and practice their faith. However, America is experiencing a decrease in both Catholics and Mainline Protestants while at the same time experiencing an increase in the unaffiliated group. (Pew Survey, 2014) This suggests that more people are turning away from organized religion. Therefore, while America still remains pretty religious, there is a downward trend occurring in the amount of people who are tied to an official religious group.

In the first chapter of McGuire’s text, we learned that religion can play a massively important role in society. Sociologists of religion in the 1940s and 50s looked for religion in churches, but recently, they have begun to define religion more broadly. For example, they now focus on how cities or ethnic groups use religion as a form of identity and how secular symbols such as the Alamo can take on a quasi-religious feeling. Sociologists use two types of definitions in the course of their work: substantive definitions, which use a Western worldview and define more narrowly, and functional definitions, which define more broadly but may encapsulate more than was intended. Finally, sociologists study four aspects of religion: beliefs, ritual, experience, and community.
In McGuire’s second chapter, he lays out the framework for meaning and belonging in religious societies. An individual constructs a “meaning system,” or worldview, through which to interpret their past behavior and the behavior of others around them. Religious groups often help create and uphold this meaning system, especially when crisis strikes and the worldview needs to shift to accommodate new data. Dualism is especially prevalent in fundamentalist groups, sometimes leading to beliefs in millennialism and acpocalypticism.
Finally, in “The Individual’s Religion,” McGuire traces the religious socialization of a young person, who quickly learns to distinguish between “us” and “them.” They may turn away from religion as an adolescent, but often return to it by old age, when it creates meaning after work and hobbies have ceased. Throughout one’s life, one may choose to undertake the process of conversion, which involves being welcomed into a new religious group and undertaking its rituals. Much of the time, however, the person’s commitment does not last, and they disengage, reversing their conversion process. These main phases and rituals make up the individual’s religious life in conversation with their community.