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

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Summary

Presuming religious congruence?

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

Introduction
Nones and religion ee
Religion and nonreligion in Poland
The Study
Fear of Being Different
Findings
Discussion and conclusion
Full Text
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