Hi there. In the previous video we looked at the idea of language and dialects, we saw the difficulties in measuring them. And in this video we're going to do the same with the much more contentious issue of religion. But before we start I want to say a few words. I will not be making any comments on the characteristics inherent in different religions, and whether they're compatible or not with economic growth or democracy. In the west the sociologist Max Waber writing in 1903 identified the rise of capitalism with the Protestant ethic. It's a departure point still favored by many historians. But his arguments were countered by those who argued that he ignores evidence of scientific advances under Catholicism. And that, anyway, many of the attributes that he focused in religion owed their origins to other socioeconomic phenomena. Now there's a similar tendency today in some circles to argue that Islam, as a religion, is incompatible with economic growth or political modernization. And I want to make sure this is a view that I do not share. But the doesn't matter, it's not the departure point we're taking in this video. What we are looking at is the degree of fragmentation in religious beliefs. Now for most people, their experience of faith in the super natural, it's intensely personal. It's for this reason that in theory at least the impact on trust might be greater than other variables. The belief in a shared destiny after death from which others are excluded is a powerful force in enhancing bonding capital. And this belief could be re-enforced by participation in religions and festival. Indeed it's when faith is shared with others that this relationship becomes a religion. So religion maybe considered a shared belief system and it's exercised through a pattern of shared rituals. So, how do we get the date and necessary for analysis? Well again, the first way is to ask people but the problem is they may not answer truthfully. Simply because religion is so intensely personal, many people consider it certainly not the business of the state or civil authorities. Other people may choose to hide their religious affiliation for fear of discrimination or persecution. So in the same way as questions into ethnicity were resented, so also questions on religion contributed to the criticism of national censuses. Another route is to ask questions about the visible dimension of religion since a measured participation in religious services and festivals, attendance of the church and the temple. The problem here is that especially in small communities, religious services also serve a social function. Alternatively, participation in church rituals, may bring with it economic benefits and non-participation may risk exclusion. So the frequency of attendance may say very little about the depth of religious fervor or the intensity of religious belief. But there's one source that's more than happy to provide you with numbers and that's the faith bodies themselves. Almost all of them keep a watch on their own membership and keep a keen eye on the opposition. The problem with this source is that once one's been accepted into the church there's little possibility of leaving it, and faith authorities tend to consider you a member for life. Despite this evident handicap, the team led by Alesina used as their source for religious fragmentation the World Christian Encyclopaedia. The Encyclopaedia, however, has been accused of overzealousness on several counts. Firstly, especially in rural Africa, it has the habit that included everyone within the range of a church or a mission as a member of the church. Second drawback is it tends to underestimate syncretic cults. These are belief systems that combine Christian beliefs with cults of African origin. In Bolivia for example the encyclopedia records that the population is 93% Christian. There's alternative sources suggested 43% actually holds eccentric beliefs. Similarly in the Dominican Republic, the encyclopedia estimates over 98% is Christian. There's an alternative source suggests that just over 50% others. In a similar way, the encyclopedia tends to underestimate animistic cults which were common in sub-Saharan Africa. Again a couple of examples, in Angola, it estimates the percentage of the population following animistic cults at 19% opposed to 34% from alternative sources. Similarly in Burundi, it suggest that animism was followed by 25% as opposed to 39% of the population and alternative estimates. Despite these drawbacks, social scientists at the moment seem to have little alternative to using the World Christian Encyclopedia as a source for religious fragmentation. Now before leaving the question of religion, there is one check about the importance of a religious fragmentation. Presumably, if religion is not experienced as an important factor in daily life, then the question of fragmentation will lose it's relevance. Now an opinion poll in 2009 asked exactly these questions of citizens in 114 countries around the world. Now in contrast with these vast polls conducted by the World Values Survey, which we've criticized so much in the previous lecture, this one was limited in scope. And research suggests that this type of simple short survey elicits more truthful, and more considered answers. The poll though suggests that 84% of the population do consider religion playing an important part in their lives. Let's sum up now. In this video we looked at the difficulties in measuring religious affiliation, we suggested that there are limitations in the sources employed. And we've also suggested that religious affiliation and religiosity are not the same thing. But what we haven't done, is to say anything about fragmentation itself. Now this we've done in the world map of religion that we've prepared for you, and we invite you to view it next. In the following video we're going to look at the issue of income and wealth inequality.
