Abstract
This article contributes to the understanding of the symbiotic relationship between the nonreligious and the religious in religiously homogeneous cultures. Specifically, it examines the centrality of the religious congruence fallacy in the narratives of nonreligious people. Based on 60 qualitative interviews with Polish nones, I chart the ways in which they make sense of the dominant model of Polish-Catholic religiosity, commonly referred to as the ‘Polak-Katolik’. The findings demonstrate that nonreligious Poles equate Polish Catholicism with hypocrisy, conformity, and an implicit fear of ostracism. In conclusion, I suggest that it is vital that scholars of nonreligion flesh out the complexities of the relationship between the nones and the religiously homogeneous cultures within which they exist.
Highlights
The process of ‘becoming religion’s other’ (Smith and Cragun, 2019: 8) inevitably involves a confrontation with one’s religious biography and an ongoing negotiation of relationships with religious people
The findings demonstrate that nonreligious Poles equate Polish Catholicism with hypocrisy, conformity, and an implicit fear of ostracism
Nonreligious people in this study based their critique of Polish Catholics on ‘the ee Catholic puzzle’ (Bane, 2005) – the perceived discrepancy between the teachings of the Catholic church and the practices of Catholics
Summary
This article contributes to the understanding of the symbiotic relationship between the nonreligious and the religious in religiously homogenous cultures. It examines the centrality of the religious congruence fallacy in the narratives of nonreligious people. Based on 60 qualitative interviews with Polish nones, I chart the ways in which they make sense of the dominant model of Polish-Catholic religiosity, Abstract: commonly referred to as the “Polak-Katolik”. The findings demonstrate that nonreligious Poles equate Polish Catholicism with hypocrisy, conformity, and an implicit fear of ostracism. I suggest that it is vital that scholars of nonreligion flesh out the complexities of the relationship between the nones and the religiously homogenous cultures within which they exist
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