In the new edition of this widely praised text, Alan Aldridge examines the complex realities of religious belief, practice and institutions. Religion is a powerful and controversial force in the contemporary world, even in supposedly secular societies. Almost all societies seek to cultivate religions and faith communities as sources of social stability and engines of social progress. They also try to combat real and imagined abuses and excess, regulating cults that brainwash vulnerable people, containing fundamentalism that threatens democracy and the progress of science, and identifying terrorists who threaten atrocities in the name of religion.The third edition has been carefully revised to make sure it is fully up to date with recent developments and debates. Major themes in the revised edition include the recently erupted 'culture war' between progressive secularists and conservative believers, the diverse manifestations of 'fundamentalism' and their impact on the wider society, new individual forms of religious expression in opposition to traditional structures of authority, and the backlash against 'multiculturalism' with its controversial implications for the social integration of ethnic and religious minority communities. Impressive in its scholarly analysis of a vibrant and challenging aspect of human societies, the third edition will appeal strongly to students taking courses in the sociology of religion and religious studies, as well as to everyone interested in the place of religion in the contemporary world.

Preface to the Third Edition viiiAcknowledgements x1 Defining Religion: Social Confl icts and Sociological Debates 1Scientology: authentic religion or imposture? 3Baha'i: world faith or apostasy? 7Religion and the state 8Advantages of being recognized as a religion 13Disadvantages of status as a religion 17Defining people as religious 20Max Weber: on not defining religion 22Émile Durkheim: defining religion sociologically 24Contemporary sociological definitions of religion 26A Wittgensteinian approach 30Further reading 342 Secularization: The Social Insignifi cance of Religion? 35Karl Marx and the projection theory of religion 35Émile Durkheim and the social functions of religion 38Max Weber and the disenchantment of the world 41Defining secularization 49Secularization from within 50Decline of community 52Marginalization of charisma 54Cultural amnesia 56Pluralization, relativism and consumer choice 57Reason, rationality and science 59A consensus on dystopia? 64Further reading 643 Secularization Challenged: A New Paradigm? 66A secularization theorist recants 66A new paradigm 67Voluntarism according to Talcott Parsons 69The demand for religion: a rational choice? 73The supply of religion: the benefi ts of competition? 75Strict churches and free-riders 80The Mormons: a new world faith? 83Jehovah's Witnesses: overcoming the failure of prophecy 88The new paradigm and the rise of the megachurches 91The Pentecostals 93Further reading 954 Dangerous Religions? Sects, Cults and Brainwashing 97Classifying Christian movements 97New religious movements 101Dynamics of change 107The rise of 'brainwashing' 115Identifying potentially destructive movements 119The fall of 'brainwashing' 126Further reading 1295 Dangerous Religions? Fundamentalism 131Bible believers 132Fundamentalism and monotheism 134Features of fundamentalism 138Islamophobia 142Further reading 1476 Civil Religion and Political Ritual 148Ritual and social integration: the legacy of Durkheim 148'In God We Trust': civil religion in the United States 149The European Union: symbols of an unfi nished project 154Symbolic division in society: the peace process in Northern Ireland 155Political religion in an atheist society: the Soviet Union 157Political religion and charismatic leadership: Nazi Germany 161Character and society 163Further reading 1647 Gender and Sexuality 165The subordination of women 165Reclaiming the symbols of subordination 171Gender-blind religions? 174Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) identities 177Further reading 1798 The Spiritual Revolution 181Georg Simmel: an alternative classical view 181Believing without belonging 183From religion to spirituality? 186A new age? 191Pagans 193Religion online and online religion 195Individualism and the crisis of religious authority 197Religion in consumer society 203Lived religion and sociological analysis 205Further reading 2069 The Challenge of Diversity 208The debate about multiculturalism 208French culture and the veiling of women 210A clash of civilizations? 212The challenge of diversity 214Grassroots responses to diversity 220Afterword: a culture war? 224Further reading 226References 227Index 247