Research On Religion » Japan

Rodney Stark on The Triumph of Faith

tonygill — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 10:21:04 +0000

The decline of religion around the world may be greatly exaggerated. This is the assertion made by Dr. Rodney Stark — co-founder and director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and frequent guest on our program. He backs his claim with extensive survey evidence from a number of polling organizations (namely the Gallup World Poll) and other bits of evidence from scholarly studies. We take a tour de force of religion around the world to see that faith is as strong as ever, even in the United States.

Surveys by Pew Forum and the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) have indicated religious practice is on the decline in the United States. Tony asks Rod whether he has seen a similar trend in his own research using the Baylor Religion Study. While there has been an increase in the number of individuals who claim “no religious affiliation” or the infamous “nones” discussed by Pew, Prof. Stark notes that this really affects religious affiliation and not necessarily belief. His own examination of “nones” indicates that a substantial number of them still believe in God, pray weekly, and occasionally attend worship services. He also notes that many individuals who proclaim no traditional religious affiliation believe in “non-conventional” forms of the supernatural such as various New Age ideas of spirituality or entities such as elves. Tony points out that even in Iceland where attendance at church services is near the lowest in the Christian world, there is still a strong belief in elves to the point where people will hire clerics to investigate whether such creatures are inhabiting land they plan to build upon. Our conversation at this point also covers some issues with survey methodology and Rod explains the reason he is relying upon the Gallup World Poll for much of his research data.

We then expand our exploration to the rest of the world outside of the US and Europe. Whereas Europe has not seen any significant increase in religious practice or belief recently (outside of Muslim immigrants), the rest of the globe is experiencing a major explosion in religious affiliation, practice, and belief. Rod lists a couple statistics to bolster this point, including 81% of the world population claiming to belong to some organized religious faith, 71% saying that religion is important in their lives, and 51% having participated in some organized form of worship in the past week. Atheism rates remains relatively stagnant with only three countries registering more than 20% of the population as non-believers. Attendance and affiliation remains most flaccid in Europe. This continent registers low among individuals who attend religious services largely because Christianity was never deeply embedded in a number of these countries to begin with (particularly in Northern Europe) and monopolized state churches have little incentive to recruit and serve members, according to Prof. Stark.

Moving from the least religiously active part of the world, we then travel to Africa where religious practice has been growing exponentially. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa where there was nary a Christian on the continent in the late 1800s, but a vast majority now proclaim Christianity and attendance rates are the highest in the world. Rod points out that this is not only due to missionary work by Europeans in the early 20th century who introduced the faith, but more importantly is the result of indigenous church growth — i.e., Africans developing and organizing their own Christian denominations. Catholicism also shows strong growth in the region, surprising even the Vatican itself with its strong indigenous roots. We talk briefly about Islam in Northern Africa, and how contact between Muslims and Christians has created unfortunate conflict in some parts of the continent.

Asia is our next region of focus. Having recently co-authored a book with Xiuhua Wang on Christianity in China (see below), Rod explains how this country poses a unique challenge to secularization theory. While China is modernizing rapidly, it is also Christianizing equally fast and despite attempts by the communist regime to suppress or control the growth. Interestingly, the growth in religious practice is coming amongst the most educated and prosperous in Chinese society. While the central regime in China is concerned about this religious growth, many local officials take a hands-off approach to the practice of house churches. Tony speculates that there may be many parallels between what is currently happening in China to what went on in the pre-Constantine Church in the first three centuries. Japan becomes the next topic of conversation. Here, religious practice remains rather low. Rod points out that even with high rates of unbelief, many people still rely upon Shinto priests to bless their autos, homes, and even military equipment (which Tony mentions from a previous podcast with Ron Hassner).

Our last two topics cover Latin America and Islam. In the former, religious practice has increased dramatically despite the notion that Latin Americans have always been (since colonization) firmly Catholic. Prof. Stark tips his hat to Tony’s own research on the region and how Protestant missionaries in the 20th century lit a competitive fire underneath the Catholic Church, which prompted this institution to better serve its parishioner base. We discuss how the Latin American Catholic Church, whereas it used to rely upon imported priests, now sees significant growth in native seminarians and Rod provides an interesting anecdote from his time in California about how competition from Pentecostals motivated a Catholic parish. We touch a bit on Islam noting that while religious practice has been relatively high in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, this faith has become “more intensified” in recent decades. The display of religious symbols (e.g., hijab) has become more pronounced, and Rod discusses how Islam provides a great deal of internal religious competition that can give rise to this, particularly in an environment that is showing increased resentment of Western morals.

We finish off with some reflections on secularization theory and why this perspective is still so entrenched in the Academy. Prof. Stark shares some comments on political correctness and encourages more honest research amongst intellectuals. Recorded: December 30, 2015.

Andrea Molle on Spirituality and the Martial Arts

tonygill — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 08:00:43 +0000

While Christians have often been told to turn the other cheek when conflict erupts, there is another tradition that seeks to prepare for conflict while simultaneously promoting inner peace and spiritual enlightment. That alternative tradition exists within the world of the Eastern martial arts, such as aikido, judo, karate and a number of other styles. Prof. Andrea Molle, an assistant professor of political science at Chapman University, discusses his insights into the world of martial arts. His perspective is unique as he not only maintains a scholarly interest in this topic, having published several articles on the topic of religion and the martial arts, but he also holds a second degree black belt in aikido and teaches this discipline to youth at a Southern Californian Christian church.

We begin our journey by looking into the background of Prof. Molle, discovering where he developed his interest in the martial arts. His personal story reveals a great deal about how a variety of non-spiritual reasons often lead people into the practice of martial arts, but then how it has a transformative impact on their lives. In addition to his personal experience, Andrea gives us some historical background about the connection between combat techniques that were used to train militaries and several Eastern religions, including Buddhism and Shintoism. This leads to an interesting discussion about how fear and anxiety are often motivators for people to learn to fight, but how people who continue in the martial arts rarely cite the need for self-defense as a reason for continuing their training. We also reflect upon the role of ritualistic combat and why that is important.

In connecting the martial arts to religion directly, we cover three potential pathways linking these two seemingly antithetical experiences. First, we look at whether the martial arts serve as a “gateway” to pre-established religion and address the concern that many Christian parents have that this physical activity will lead their kids away from their traditional faith. Andrea doesn’t think this is a common phenomenon, although the data to support this is rather sketchy. We then bring up the second link between the martial arts and religion, and that is through spiritual exercise. Andrea notes that what happens here is many people use martial arts to add to their “portfolio” of religious understandings, which then brings up the issue of “muscular Christianity.” The third path relates to the martial arts as becoming a “secular religion” or, as Andrea calls it now, a “quasi-religious” organization. He details what this mean by looking at the characteristics that many international martial organizations share. Here we note how people use the larger martial arts community to serve their communal needs.

Our conversation finishes with Andrea’s experience in teaching martial arts to youth. We examine why he became involved in this, how church members and Christian families view this, and what he teaches the kids. Andrea also reflects upon what he has learned about teaching and his own martial arts journey. Recorded: September 2, 2013.

Kevin Cooney on Christianity in Japan

tonygill — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:00:31 +0000

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Japan is not known for being an overly religious country. Indeed, compared to its neighbors in Korea and even the People’s Republic of China, the Japanese look downright secular. Prof. Kevin Cooney of Northwest University joins us to talk about the interesting religious landscape in Japan. Having lived there for five years as a Christian, Kevin offers some unique insights on Shintoism, Buddhism, and Christianity. We start with a general survey of what Japan would look like spiritually to a person who just stepped off an airplane in Tokyo today. This leads to a bit of a discussion on Shintoism and Buddhism. However, Tony asks Kevin what it was like to live as a practicing Christian in Japan where only 1% of the population identifies as such. This sets off a discussion about the “secret history” of Christianity that dates back to the “Church of the East” (sometimes referred to as the Nestorian Church). This history pre-dates the arrival of the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier who arrived on the shores of Japan in the early 1549. We then map out what happens to Christianity in the subsequent centuries, particularly when Christians are forced underground in the midst of religious persecution. Kevin tells interesting stories of how underground mining museums still present representations of Christians being married by priests, and we also cover how these Christians were forgotten by the Vatican yet remained rather orthodox (small “o”) in their theological outlook. Our journey continues through the Meiji and Toisho eras and through World War II where, ironically, the largest concentration of Christians in Japan was destroyed in the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. What happens after this event, particularly the disillusionment following Emperor Hirohito’s surrender and announcement that he was not of divine character, sets up our conversation to again examine the contemporary religious landscape of Japan. Kevin shares his thoughts on why Christianity has taken firmer hold in South Korea and China as compared to Japan. We leave off with an intersting discussion of fertility rates, how this relates to religion, and the future of the Japanese nation. Recorded: September 29, 2012 in Match Coffee & Wine Bar (Duvall, WA).

Roger Finke on Religious Persecution

tonygill — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:00:52 +0000

Roger Finke — professor of sociology and religious studies at Penn State University and director of The Association of Religion Data Archives — takes us on a journey around the globe to discover how and why religious persecution arises in some nations but not others. Based on his book The Price of Freedom Denied (co-authored with Brian Grim), Prof. Finke makes the argument that religious liberty is a vital component of all civil liberties in society. He makes the case that small violations of religious freedom (often in the form of seemingly innocuous regulations) can open the door to an erosion of other freedoms and invite various forms of religious persecution. We detail some of these regulations focusing on the importance of registration requirements for religious groups. Also, Roger challenges an interpretation of Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” theses, claiming that it is not the presence of two different religious cultures within a nation that automatically gives rise to conflict, but rather the various laws that regulate different faith traditions that sets the table for whether or not conflict (and persecution) will arise. We pepper our discussion with examples from France, Russia, China, Japan, Iran, Nigeria and the United States. In closing, we discuss one of Roger’s most valuable contributions to academia — The ARDA. Far from being just a clearinghouse for religious databases, this website offers the public the opportunity to explore religion around the world in a remarkably user-friendly interface. Listeners are encouraged to give it a try! Recorded: December 16, 2010.

Listeners are asked to contact the host to let him know you are listening and to share your comments and suggestions about the podcast. tgill (at) uw (dot) edu

RELATED LINKS

Roger Finke’s website at Penn State University.

The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke.

The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) at Penn State University. Try it out!

International Religious Freedom Reports (at the U.S. Department of State).

A World Survey of Religion and the State by Jonathan Fox.

The Political Origins of Religious Liberty by Anthony Gill.

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