Richard Cimino - Böcker

Surveys over the last twenty years have seen an ever-growing number of Americans disclaim religious affiliations and instead check the "none" box. In the first sociological exploration of organized secularism in America, Richard Cimino and Christopher Smith show how one segment of these "nones" have created a new, cohesive atheist identity through activism and the creation of communities. According to Cimino and Smith, the new upsurge of atheism is a reaction to the revival of religious fervor in American politics since 1980. Feeling overlooked and underrepresented in the public sphere, atheists have employed a wide variety of strategiessome evangelical, some based on identity politicsto defend and assert themselves against their ideological opponents. These strategies include building and maintaining communities, despite the absence of the kinds of shared rituals, texts, and laws that help to sustain organized religions. Drawing on in-depth interviews with self-identified atheist, secularist, and humanist leaders and activists, as well as extensive observations and analysis of secular gatherings and media, Cimino and Smith illustrate how atheists organize and align themselves toward common goals, and how mediaparticularly web-based mediahave proven invaluable in connecting atheists to create a powerful virtual community. Cimino and Smith show that, in addition to the Internet, secularists draw on new forms of ritual to build their burgeoning community. This groundbreaking study will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the growing atheist movement in America.

Ecologies of Faith in New York City examines patterns of interreligious cooperation and conflict in New York City. It explores how representative congregations in this religiously diverse city interact with their surroundings by competing for members, seeking out niches, or cooperating via coalitions and neighborhood organizations. Based on in-depth research in New York's ethnically mixed and rapidly changing neighborhoods, the essays in the volume describe how religious institutions shape and are shaped by their environments, what new roles they have assumed, and how they relate to other religious groups in the community.

Mystical Science and Practical Religion examines the religious discourse employed by Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh applied science professionals and students, mainly engineers and Information Technology (IT) workers. Although applied scientists, especially immigrants to the United States, have shown high rates of religiosity, there have been few studies of this subject. Based on interviews with forty-five professionals and students, Cimino finds that although they are from different faiths, these applied scientists share a common discourse that blends religion and science. They each view their religions as the “most scientific.” Their work and study reshapes how they practice and conceptualize their faiths, though not in the expected directions of secularization and fundamentalism. This book provides a unique look at how the much contested fields of science and religion interact in real life.

Shopping for Faith is as good as it gets in assessing the U.S. religion scene at millennium's end. Cimino and Lattin present a picture of multiple trends headed in often contradictory directions.—Robert Ellwood, emeritus professor of religion, University of Southern California American religion flourishes in a consumer culture, and presents us with a bewildering array of choices as we navigate the shopping mall of faith.The authors identify dozens of trends which will shape American religion in the next century and bring together the latest research and intimate portraits of Americans describing their beliefs, their religious heritage, and their spiritual search.With warmth and style the authors document how consumerism shapes religious practice -- from conservative evangelical worship to the most esoteric New Age workshop.

This book explores Lutheranism and its various expressions throughout the world. This Protestant tradition has spread and developed far from its European and American heartlands to take on increasingly diverse forms. The global dispersion of Lutheranism and how it interacts with different cultures and worldviews has resulted in Lutheran pluralism in theology and church practices. Still, there are distinctive Lutheran teachings that are present in most churches going by that name. However complex the concept of world Lutheranism may be, this volume demonstrates that a wide-angle view can best be achieved through understanding national Lutheran expressions and the “lived religion” of these churches and their adherents.The globalization of Christianity has impacted all communions, but at the same time, local and national contexts and institutions remain crucial in mediating global and transnational flows and shaping Christian identity, particularly as globalization has been challenged by nationalism and populism. The contributors employ historical and sociological research methods along with theological analysis to understand Lutheranism. The chapters consider prospects for Lutheranism and Lutheran identity in vastly different societies, reflecting the continuing growth of Lutheran churches in the global South and East.The countries and regions examined may not comprise all of the world’s Lutherans, but they are, in most cases, the societies with the strongest Lutheran presence that will decide the future of Lutheranism. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of global Christianity and the history of Christianity.

An on-the-ground study of how faith communities create belonging and build bridges across one of the most diverse urban landscapes in the worldMicro-City follows congregations, clergy, and everyday New Yorkers across twelve Queens neigh­borhoods to show how religious life both shelters difference and connects it in public. Blending theories from urban sociology and the sociology of religion with fieldwork, Richard Cimino and Hans Tokke map a borough where no single group is the majority and where people cluster into micro-communities that feel like home, yet still meet, trade, vote, and celebrate across lines of ethnicity, language, and creed.For readers interested in neighborhoods, culture, and faith, it offers a street-level tour of festivals, storefront churches, temples, parades, and parks. For scholars, students, and practitioners in urban studies, sociology of religion, and American studies, it sets out a usable framework for superdiversity grounded in interaction rituals and congregational niches, showing how bonding and bridging social capital take shape. Clergy, community organizers, and planners will find practical insights into how congregations act as specialist and generalist hubs, shaping neighborhood belonging, civic life, and cross-group cooperation.Readers encounter Little Guyana’s Liberty Avenue, Greek Astoria, Pan-Asian Bayside, Holy Hip-Hop in Hollis, Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu temples, and hipster Hunters Point. Along the way the authors introduce archetypes such as pastor- and pundit-preneurs, civic Catholicism and charismatics, Black-clergy groups, and show how religious culture influences neighborhood politics and everyday coexistence. The result is a field guide to how plural cities work, and how they can work better.

An on-the-ground study of how faith communities create belonging and build bridges across one of the most diverse urban landscapes in the worldMicro-City follows congregations, clergy, and everyday New Yorkers across twelve Queens neigh­borhoods to show how religious life both shelters difference and connects it in public. Blending theories from urban sociology and the sociology of religion with fieldwork, Richard Cimino and Hans Tokke map a borough where no single group is the majority and where people cluster into micro-communities that feel like home, yet still meet, trade, vote, and celebrate across lines of ethnicity, language, and creed.For readers interested in neighborhoods, culture, and faith, it offers a street-level tour of festivals, storefront churches, temples, parades, and parks. For scholars, students, and practitioners in urban studies, sociology of religion, and American studies, it sets out a usable framework for superdiversity grounded in interaction rituals and congregational niches, showing how bonding and bridging social capital take shape. Clergy, community organizers, and planners will find practical insights into how congregations act as specialist and generalist hubs, shaping neighborhood belonging, civic life, and cross-group cooperation.Readers encounter Little Guyana’s Liberty Avenue, Greek Astoria, Pan-Asian Bayside, Holy Hip-Hop in Hollis, Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu temples, and hipster Hunters Point. Along the way the authors introduce archetypes such as pastor- and pundit-preneurs, civic Catholicism and charismatics, Black-clergy groups, and show how religious culture influences neighborhood politics and everyday coexistence. The result is a field guide to how plural cities work, and how they can work better.