Religion as Trust in Authority: Theocracy and Ecology in the United States

Abstract

Far from being a universal feature of culture, the concept of religion has distinctly western origins. What, then, is religion, and how shall it be empirically studied? I suggest, as one of many possible alternatives, an etymologically-based approach to religion, understood as trust in sources of epistemic and moral authority. Four authorities are considered, including institutional religion, science, nature, and the state. I present results of a survey-based empirical inquiry of U.S. adults, enriched by means of follow-up interviews exploring their trust or distrust in these domains of authority. Based on this inquiry, two hybrid forms are at the forefront of religious debate among Americans: theocracy, a linking of trust in institutional religion and government, and ecology, a combined trust in nature and science. These results are regionally variable in the United States, and cross-national data clarify the exceptionalist position of the United States with respect to European countries. Trust in authority emerges as a fruitful means to link seemingly disparate realms of social life, and offers an important basis for geographic comparison. Yet whether understood broadly as trust in authority or along other lines, the geography of religion will benefit from greater theoretical precision and methodological pluralism as suggested in this study.