http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
how megachurches won the heart of America
1 online resource (xviii, 327 pages) : illustrations (black and white).
Humans are homo duplex, seeking to be individuals but knowing this is only possible in communities. Thus, humans struggle to integrate these two sides of their nature. Megachurches have been enormously successful at resolving this struggle. How do they do it, and what is it about their structure and rituals that makes so many feel as if they are high on God? The affective energies and emotional valences that characterize religious ecstasy are the primary focus of our study of megachurches. Empirically, humans want and desire forms of what Randall Collins calls 'emotional energy.' Drawing on extensive qualitative and quantitative data on 12 nationally representative megachurches, we identify six desires that megachurches evoke and meet: acceptance, awe and spiritual stimulation, reliable leadership, deliverance, purpose, and solidarity in a community of like-minded others.
Preface: Am I high on God? -- Part I: Desire is the heart of religion. Megachurch: the drug that works -- The problem of cooperation and homo duplex -- Interaction rituals and embodied choice theory -- Defining religion: sacred moral communities -- Megachurch: an American original (almost) -- Congregations in a time of change -- Part II: Pistons of desire and power: cracking the megachurch code. The micro-sociology of interaction rituals within megachurches -- Desire for acceptance and belonging -- Desire for wow, or hacking the happy -- Desire for a reliable leader -- Desire for deliverance -- Desire for purpose in service -- Desire to re-member -- Part III: The dark side of megachurches: how some deceive and destroy. Dissecting megachurch scandals -- Conclusion: havens of health or habitats for the prosperity gospel? -- Postscript from the pews.
James Wellman, Katie Corcoran, and Kate Stockly.
Includes bibliographical references and index.