Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion

In Religion for Realists , sociologist Samuel L. Perry addresses a critical empirical puzzle that also reveals a central weakness in the social scientific study of religion: why do scholars, journalists, and the general public consistently misinterpret religious behavior and macro-level shifts in religion?He identifies the root of this widespread misunderstanding as the intellectual dominance of Anglo-Protestant misconceptions about religion.This paradigm equates religion almost exclusively with individual theological belief, rational choice, and personal piety, obscuring the mechanisms that drive religious and political behavior in contemporary society.