Irreligion, A-Religion, and the Rise of the Religion-Less Church: Two Case Studies in Organizational Convergence

Responding to the overall decline in institutionalized American religion, this paper investigates a probable, and predicted, surge of organized irreligion. However, historical and observational data regarding two such irreligious groups, the Society for Ethical Culture and the American Rationalist F...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Demerath, N. J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 1969
In: Sociological analysis
Year: 1969, Volume: 30, Issue: 4, Pages: 191-203
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:Responding to the overall decline in institutionalized American religion, this paper investigates a probable, and predicted, surge of organized irreligion. However, historical and observational data regarding two such irreligious groups, the Society for Ethical Culture and the American Rationalist Federation, reveal instead a similar, even more serious disintegration among them than that which the churches are experiencing. Findings indicate a possible convergence underway between the organizational manifestations of both religion and irreligion. Furthermore, this convergence seems to entail the growth of the “religion-less church,” an unanticipated phenomenon which introduces a new religious spirit beyond the boundaries of formerly organized religious and irreligious groups.
ISSN:2325-7873
Contains:Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3710509