Chapter 5 in “Religion: The Social Context” discusses in-depth the different types of collective religious stances and individual religious orientations.  Within this typology is that of the denominational stance which describes groups that “exist in a positive relationship with society and accept the legitimacy class of other religious collectivities with a denominational stance” (Pg. 157).  In the article, C of E Bishops Refuse to Change Stance on Gay Marriage, the writer talks about the Church of England’s long withstanding orthodox doctrine on marriage.  According to their doctrine, marriage can only be between  a man and a woman.  A ruling like this seems to put the Church of England in a position of tension with the greater society today for refusing to adopt doctrine to fit in with the 21st century.

Members of the Church of England were divided, some stating that the church accepts divorce now and other biblical orthodoxies are no longer taken literally, while the other side says that biblical principles need to be upheld and doctrine should not “bow” to contemporary culture. Despite their ruling, the C of E wants to advocate freedom for gay people and stand against homophobia.  I think these are the kind of rulings that influence the religious orientation of some people.  The changes or lack of in doctrine disagree with an individual’s beliefs or clash with society in ways that cause their religious orientation to shift.  This could lead them to move away from their religious faith to something that matches their beliefs better such as spiritual or cult collectives.

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In Chapter 2 of Chaves’ book, “American Religion”, he discusses reasons for the accelerating number of people who would reply “none” when asked the question, “what is your religion?”.   I found an article from NPR talking about the prayer leaders that Donald Trump has chosen to pray at his inauguration.

Among them, “an African-American megachurch leader from Detroit, a Florida woman known for her lavish lifestyle and preaching on “abundancy,” a rabbi from Los Angeles, and a Hispanic evangelical — as well as Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham) and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.”  This article got me thinking about how one of the reasons stated for the increase of “nones” is how people in the U.S. have seen the rise in political stands that their religion has taken and associated being part of that faith with those political views.  They start to think that they don’t want to be like “them” (Gjelten, 2017).  They don’t agree with those views and so more and more people decline to identify themselves with that certain religion.

I can understand this way of thinking as it is also one of the reasons for why I have distanced myself from the Catholic church and hesitate to call myself a Catholic.  Religion and politics are becoming increasingly intertwined to the point that being part of a certain religion would mean people will stereotype you or have prejudice against you.  Prejudice against Muslims, for example, and the attributions the media give to people who follow Islam.  Religion is being used as a form of manipulation and political tool and can make people wary to align themselves with their faith.

Gjelten, 2017.