Religion, tolerance and democracy: Rethinking the role of religion

Marie Ann Prescaro Eisenstein, Purdue University

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to reevaluate the relationship between religion and political tolerance. In studies spanning the last three to four decades, political science scholars have consistently demonstrated a relationship between increased religious commitment and political intolerance thereby lending credence to the argument that religion is inherently anti-democratic in its relationship to political tolerance. I contend that this argument is flawed. I argue that whether or not religious individuals are intolerant depends upon where they stand in relationship to religion. This argument is based explicitly upon the theory of religious motivation, which argues that type of motivation—either extrinsic or intrinsic—for religiousness is more significant than the reporting of religious commitment itself. Relying on a random sample phone survey of Lake County Indiana, this project uses structural equation modeling to analyze the relationship between the various manifestations of religion and political tolerance. While religious motivation did not exhibit the hypothesized relationship to political tolerance, the findings from this project are important. This research demonstrated that increased religious commitment does not have a direct negative influence on political tolerance. Instead, increased religious commitment leads to increased political tolerance. Nevertheless, increased religious commitment also leads to increased dogmatism, which, in turn, leads to decreased levels of political tolerance. Thus, it appears that religion has both the potential to make and unmake political tolerance. However, the negative influence of dogmatism on political tolerance was not appreciably higher for individuals identified as seculars versus those belonging within the Catholic, Mainline Protestant, or Evangelical Protestant traditions.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Shaffer, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Political science|Religion|Psychological tests

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