Scholars have debated the manner in which religious beliefs influence economic organization. This paper examines a particular case–the craft guilds of medieval England–to show how religious doctrines influence the ability of a group to enforce cooperation. When mortality rates are high, repeated interaction alone cannot sustain cooperation, but spiritual sanctions in the afterlife can sustain c...

This article seeks answers to the perplexing phenomenon: the increasing widespread youth religiosity in contemporary China. How is it possible for young people to acquire such religiosity in a society where the state vigorously opposes religion through its policy and practice? Using data from my own and others’ field observation and investigations, I show that in the past two decades, religious...

UNLABELLED The trend of extended life expectancy along with a sedentary lifestyle is typical in Western cultures. OBJECTIVE To explore adherence to physical activity recommendations in older adults in Israel. METHODS A random sample of 1,536 Jews and 316 Arabs age 65+ were interviewed and divided into sufficiently active, insufficiently active, and inactive groups based on official guidelin...

Anthropologists have long noted that one of the primary functions of religion is to promote group solidarity, and most have recognized ritual as the mechanism through which this solidarity is achieved. Guided by Durkheim (1995 [1912]), who was among the first to appreciate the unifying nature of religious ritual, functionalists have explored how ritual sustains the social order within a communi...

"Freethinkers," including both atheists and secular humanists, have always been a minority in American society--and not a very popular one. There are still laws in several states preventing non-theists from holding office. Just as evangelical Protestants up until one hundred years ago held a largely optimistic view of the future and the end times (known as postmillennialism), secular humanists ...

In this study, we analyze the development of religious media on example France in 19th and 21st centuries order to show complex structure versatility content that they somehow fill with (or religiously accepta- ble) content. For end XX – beginning XXI centuries, phenomenon modern society has undergone significant changes. It is not similar what previously existed within traditional religions, e...

Empirical research has ignored the effects of poverty on adolescent religion even though children are far more likely than adults to live in poverty in the United States. The current research demonstrates considerable differences in the religious activities and religious viewpoints of poor and non-poor American teenagers. Analysis of National Study of Youth and Religion survey data shows that w...

As citizens of the most technologically advanced and economically developed country in the world, nearly all Americans stalwartly maintain their faith in God, much more so than residents of other postindustrial countries (Norris and Ingelhart 2004). But what is the content and meaning of this belief? Perhaps belief in God has become so pervasive in contemporary American culture that it reflects...