Secular America? The Political Causes and Consequences of Growing Public and Private Secularism

美国是一个高度宗教化的国家。然而，在过去的二十年里，美国的世俗主义急剧上升，也就是说，没有宗教信仰的美国人的比例迅速增长。在此期间，世俗主义在年轻人中变得特别普遍，这表明美国可能会成为一个日益世俗的国家。这个项目的研究成果将为经常激烈的关于宗教在美国社会和政治中的作用的讨论提供信息。鉴于公众对宗教与政治融合的高度关注，这个项目很可能产生学术界以外的巨大兴趣。该项目将回答三个问题。首先，什么是世俗主义？第一步是定义，然后衡量世俗主义。这不仅仅是宗教的缺失（正如政治科学文献所定义的那样）。相反，它有不同的形式。这些包括公共世俗主义（一种认为宗教应该从众所周知的公共场所移除的信念）和私人世俗主义（一个人自己的信仰和行为）。反过来，私人世俗主义既可以是对宗教的冷漠，也可以是对宗教的世俗替代品的拥抱。通过使用一项重大的全国性调查，该项目开发了衡量这些世俗主义变化的方法。第二，世俗主义的政治原因是什么？发展了不同种类的世俗主义的措施，其政治原因进行了审查。与欧洲国家逐渐展开的世俗化不同，它在美国的兴起是迅速的。一种可能的解释是，随着一些美国人开始将宗教与政治，特别是保守派政治联系在一起，因此作为一种反应，他们远离了宗教，世俗主义也随之增长。如果正确的话，这将重新定义我们对宗教与政治关系的理解。这不仅意味着宗教塑造了政治，还意味着政治环境塑造了宗教取向。世俗主义的潜在原因是通过一项调查的分析来检验的，该调查跟踪同一个人经历了两次选举周期。第三，世俗主义的政治后果是什么？该项目的第三个组成部分将考察公共世俗主义的后果：将宗教排除在公共领域之外。当个人听到在政策问题上的立场是或不是用宗教术语表述的，会发生什么？公共世俗主义是否意味着更大的政治妥协前景？它会导致信教的美国人更少地参与政治，还是让不信教的美国人更多地参与政治？这些问题是通过一系列实验研究来解决的。该项目的社会价值在于，它将为我们这个时代一个重要但尚未得到充分研究的社会现象提供更深入的理解：世俗主义的迅速崛起。这样做将有助于我们理解一个日益世俗化的国家所带来的后果，并为之做好准备。

America is a highly religious nation. Yet the last twenty years have seen a dramatic rise in secularism in America, i.e. rapid growth in the proportion of Americans who report no religious affiliation. During this period, secularism has become especially common among young people, suggesting that the United States may become an increasingly secular nation. The research produced by this project will inform the often heated discussion of religion's role in American society and politics. Given the high level of public attention to the mingling of religion with politics, this project is likely to produce research of great interest beyond academia. The project will answer three questions.First, what is secularism? The first step is to define, and then measure, secularism. It is not simply the absence of religion (as the political science literature typically has defined it). Rather, it comes in different forms. These include public secularism (a belief that religion should be removed from the proverbial public square), and private secularism (one's own beliefs and behavior). Private secularism, in turn, can either consist of indifference toward religion, or the embrace of secular alternatives to religion. With the use of a major national survey, this project develops ways of measuring these variations of secularism. Second, what are the political causes of secularism? Having developed measures of the different varieties of secularism, its political causes are examined. Unlike the secularization of European nations, which unfolded gradually, its rise in the United States has occurred rapidly. One possible explanation is that secularism has grown as some Americans have come to associate religion with politics, particularly conservative politics, and thus pull away from religion as a reaction. If correct, this would redefine our understanding of the relationship between religion and politics. Rather than just religion shaping politics, it would mean that the political environment shapes religious orientations. The potential causes of secularism are examined through the analysis of a survey which follows the same people through two election cycles. Third, what are the political consequences of secularism? The third component of the project will examine the consequence of public secularism: the exclusion of religion from the public square. What happens when individuals hear positions on policy issues that are, or are not, framed in religious terms? Does public secularism mean greater prospects for political compromise? Does it lead religious Americans to be less politically engaged, or secular Americans to be more engaged? These questions are addressed using a set of experimental studies.The social value of the project comes in the greater understanding it will provide of a significant, yet understudied, social phenomena of our time: the rapid rise of secularism. In doing so it will help us understand, and prepare for, the consequences of an increasingly secular nation.