A scientific study of religion?
Researchers get their geek on at #SSSR14
Tobin Grant ("RNS," October 30, 2014)
Hundreds of academics, pollsters, and other ne’er-do-wells are haunting
Indianapolis this Halloween weekend. They’re gathering for the annual meeting
of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) and the
Religious Research Association (RRA). This interdisciplinary confab brings
together
sociologists, political scientists, demographers, psychologists, and
social scientists who research religion.
The name of the group sometimes gives people pause: how can religion be
studied scientifically?
True—religion is something that by definition includes unverifiable,
supernatural phenomena. The SSSR isn’t trying to prove or disprove the reality
of religious beliefs. No one is trying to devise an experiment to prove the
existence of God.
The focus is on religion, a human activity that can be studied. We can
observe religious behavior, ask about religious beliefs, and run experiments to
test religion’s effect on cognition. Just like we study economic choices,
public opinion, and health risks, we can study how and why people do
religion.
Religion is ubiquitous. It is something found in every corner of the globe.
It is a fundamental part of being human. Even among the most secular of
societies, religion remains and shapes the culture. It is impossible to
understand society and humanity without understanding religion.
Indeed, the influence of religion is probably best seen by its place across
academic fields. It is like gender or race, something studied across
disciplines. There is the psychology of religion, the sociology of religion,
the
study of religion and politics, the economics of religion, and the
anthropology of religion.
To show the range of topics at this year’s SSSR, I put together an
admittedly un-scientific word cloud featuring the top terms used in the nearly
600
papers and presentations from this year’s meeting. I did cut out “religion”
and “religious” because of their prominence. After those two words, we
see that the SSSR features papers on the intersection of religion and other
important social phenomena like gender, identity, and race. Many focus on
specific religious groups. There is considerable attention given to
religious organizations (churches and congregations) and religious leaders.
What I see (and expect to see this weekend) is a wide-range of studies on
the many aspects of religion.
So, if you’re in Indianapolis and see a bunch of people in nerd costumes
trick-or-treating Friday night. Don’t worry. It’s just a bunch of us with
our SSSR tote bags.
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