Demography has very probably been a factor in religious history all along. The Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (a favorite book of mine) tells us that our word “proletarian” derives from the Latin proles, ”offspring”: A proletarius was “a citizen of the lowest class, useful only by producing children.” One may modify this […]
Peter Berger
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Religion & Other Curiosities
June 29, 2011
June 22, 2011
Confucius and Religious Freedom
It seems that I suffer from a condition not yet included in the list of officially recognized psychiatric maladies: Manic Associational Syndrome (MAS). This is the irresistible urge to perceive things—like news items—as belonging together that are normally perceived as having little or nothing to do with each other. In the last few days MAS […]
June 20, 2011
We Interrupt This Program for a Commercial Message…
A new book of mine has just been published: Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore (Prometheus Books). The American Interest is kind enough to sponsor a launch of the book in Washington DC on June 29, as previously noted on this blog. I have been told that it […]
June 16, 2011
A Quick Note to My Readers
I would like to inform the readers of this blog that there will be a lunchtime roundtable on the occasion of the release my new book, Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore, in Washington DC on June 29th. Here is a link for more details. My friends […]
June 15, 2011
Revisiting The Scopes Trial
In its issue of June 2011, Christianity Today, the banner publication of conservative Protestantism, carried a cover story about the latest wrinkle in the Evangelical struggle with the ghost of Darwin. The old fight over evolution is still continuing robustly, with fervent believers in a “young earth” (a lovely phrase—meaning an earth some six-thousand years […]
June 8, 2011
Roman Hospitality and Its Limits
The Roman Catholic Church is famous for its hospitality. Its arms are always wide open to receive converts or repentant schismatics, and it is ready to make all sorts of compromises to make them feel welcome. But there are limits to this accommodation. In its issue of May 27, 2011, the National Catholic Reporter published […]
June 1, 2011
Symbols of Tyranny in America
I am going to say uncomplimentary things about some American realities. I would not want to be misunderstood. I love this country. I felt at home from the moment I arrived here when barely aged eighteen, and it was with a sense of great privilege that I became a citizen a few years later. I […]
