The Uniqueness of the American Religious Landscape

Zelinsky, Wilbur

doi:10.2307/3594741

Cited by 41 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…These preliminary cross‐national results shed light on what is known as U.S. religious exceptionalism (Zelinsky 2001) vis‐à‐vis Europe, which has generated considerable heat in the debate over the extent of secularization in these countries (Stark 1999; Bruce 2001, 2002). Given the higher U.S. trust in religion, government, and science implied in the ISSP results, perhaps what is exceptional about the United States relative to Europe is not the strength of organized religion per se, but rather a more diffuse phenomenon of trust in authority.…”

Section: Regional and Cross‐national Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 90%

Religion as Trust in Authority: Theocracy and Ecology in the United States

Proctor

2006

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

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Far from being a universal feature of culture, the concept of religion has distinctly western origins. What, then, is religion, and how shall it be empirically studied? I suggest, as one of many possible alternatives, an etymologically‐based approach to religion, understood as trust in sources of epistemic and moral authority. Four authorities are considered, including institutional religion, science, nature, and the state. I present results of a survey‐based empirical inquiry of U.S. adults, enriched by means of follow‐up interviews exploring their trust or distrust in these domains of authority. Based on this inquiry, two hybrid forms are at the forefront of religious debate among Americans: theocracy, a linking of trust in institutional religion and government, and ecology, a combined trust in nature and science. These results are regionally variable in the United States, and cross‐national data clarify the exceptionalist position of the United States with respect to European countries. Trust in authority emerges as a fruitful means to link seemingly disparate realms of social life, and offers an important basis for geographic comparison. Yet whether understood broadly as trust in authority or along other lines, the geography of religion will benefit from greater theoretical precision and methodological pluralism as suggested in this study.

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Section: Regional and Cross‐national Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 90%

Religion as Trust in Authority: Theocracy and Ecology in the United States

Proctor

2006

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

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“…The term religious landscape (Zelinsky 2001;Knippenberg 2005) is perceived mostly as both territory and society within a selected larger territorial unit which is influenced by general religious impacts and through individual sacral objects completing, forming or even defining the character of landscape of a given region (e.g. sacral structures can be considered as dominants in a rural landscape).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sacred Structures in the Landscape: The Case of Rural Czechia

Havlíček

Hupková

2013

Scottish Geographical Journal

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This paper examines the development of sacred structures in rural Czechia (former Czechoslovakia). Sacred structures could be associated with the creation of important symbols and distinctive rural regional identities in Czechia. Rural Czechia is not uniform: it represents several different rural landscapes. This paper considers whether sacred structures support the idea of multiple and fundamentally different rural areas existing in Czechia. In rural areas and small municipalities, sacred structures often present the only significant culture feature for a tourist. This research found that most residents of Czechia's rural areas identify with sacred structures, in spite of the fact that representatives of local government often perceive such items as cultural-historical symbols in the landscape rather than religious structures. Five types of rural, religious landscapes were identified, supporting the idea that multiple types of rural areas exist in Czechia.

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“…Geyer 2004;Madeley 2003). In the West (Huntington 1996), we find a relatively substantial polarization between (a) North America with its de-secularization (Berger 1999) and politicization of religion (Proctor 2006;Zelinsky 2001) and (b) Europe with its secularization and the rise of immigrant religion (Henkel and Knippenberg 2005;Knippenberg 2005). Madeley (2003) dealt with church-state relations in Europe and removed the state-economy dimension from the original Rokkan model and replaced it with a confessional dimension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Church-state relations in Czechia

Havlíček

2006

GeoJournal

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The paper analyses the interaction of the State and church in Czechia, a country that can be characterised by a high degree of secularisation. Nevertheless, a lot of religious activities still take place in a secular state like Czechia and this even extends to a 'sacralisation' of the landscape. However, the State does not interfere with the internal structures of the individual churches or religious communities. It only creates general conditions for relations between the State and these churches and communities. The co-existence of the State and the church and the influence of religions on the State reflect the pluralism of a post-modern society and also of a post-communist state like Czechia.This study is also intended to contribute to the comparative research of church-state relations in Central Europe, which have been influenced by multi-confessional belts and especially Lutheran and Catholic alliances (Madeley 2003). The aims of this paper are threefold: (a) a description of the historic development of the state-church relations in Czechia; (b) an analysis of the challenge of that historic pattern as regards secularization and globalization and a significant rise in immigrant religions; (c) an analysis of the impact on state-church relations of re-territorialisation within the framework of the European Union and the dividing up of Czechoslovakia.

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The Uniqueness of the American Religious Landscape

Cited by 41 publications

References 2 publications

Religion as Trust in Authority: Theocracy and Ecology in the United States

Religion as Trust in Authority: Theocracy and Ecology in the United States

Sacred Structures in the Landscape: The Case of Rural Czechia

Church-state relations in Czechia

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