Editing Sociology of religion (section)

== Religion and the social landscape ==
Not only does religion shape large-scale social institutions such as government and social movements, it plays a part in families, race, gender, class, and age – things involved in [[everyday life|everyday lives]].

=== Families ===
One of the biggest indicators of religiosity in adulthood is the religious atmosphere within families and upbringing, given that religious beliefs and practices are passed on from generation to generation. Depending on the type of religion in the family, it can involve a different familial structure.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/12/12/religion-and-living-arrangements-around-the-world/ | title=Religion and Living Arrangements Around the World | date=12 December 2019 }}</ref> For example, practising [[Catholics]] tend to have larger families<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Roberts
 | first1 = Tom
 | title = The Emerging Catholic Church: A Community's Search for Itself
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bl6DAwAAQBAJ
 | location = Maryknoll, New York
 | publisher = Orbis Books
 | date = 2011
 | isbn = 9781570759468
 | access-date = 8 February 2020
 | quote = Greeley's studies debunked the 'myth that at one time the good, pious lay people did not practice family limitation, but had large families and trusted in God.' In fact, Greeley asserts, the size of Catholic families in the United States diminished from 4.3 members to 3.8 between 1870 and 1940.
}}
</ref>
since the Catholic church is opposed to both contraception and abortion.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = D'Antonio
 | first1 = William V.
 | author-link1 = William V. D'Antonio
 | last2 = Tuch
 | first2 = Steven A.
 | last3 = White
 | first3 = John Kenneth
 | chapter = Catholicism, Abortion, and the Emergence of the 'Culture Wars' in the U.S. Congress, 1971–2006
 | editor1-last = Heyer
 | editor1-first = Kristin E.
 | editor2-last = Rozell
 | editor2-first = Mark J.
 | editor2-link = Mark J. Rozell
 | editor3-last = Genovese
 | editor3-first = Michael A.
 | title = Catholics and Politics: The Dynamic Tension Between Faith and Power
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FuQ6mmwkuCAC
 | series = Religion and politics series, ISSN 2637-6792
 | location = Washington, D.C.
 | publisher = Georgetown University Press
 | date = 2008
 | page = 141
 | isbn = 9781589012165
 | access-date = 8 February 2020
 | quote = In the House [...] both Catholic and Mainline Protestant Democrats became increasingly pro-choice from the 95th to the 108th Congresses, from 32 percent to 67 percent among Catholics, and from 65 percent to 78 percent among Mainline Protestants.
}}
</ref>

Children receive a religious legacy from their parents and from the society immediately surrounding them, through instruction and (intentionally or unintentionally) through the power of example that is shaped by values, personality, and interests.  Their religious legacy may include induction into organizations and into civic or secular religions.

Their religious legacy is among the factors that condition people throughout their lives, although people as individuals have diverse reactions to their legacies. To outsiders who know them, people are identified in part by their religious legacy.  For example, people born and raised in Hindu, Jewish, or American families have identities as Hindus, Jews, or Americans, independently of their beliefs or actions. People who do not embrace their religious legacy retain it nonetheless, and are characterized by terms such as lapsed, not observant, or unpatriotic.  People who actually separate themselves from their religious legacy are termed apostates or traitors and may be subject to punishment.

=== Religion and gender ===
Research reports presented that women are universally more religious across all religions and cultures based largely on the fact that researchers are studying Western religions and cultures. In United States, Women are 60% likely to claim that " religion is very important in their lives ", while men are reported only 47%.<ref name="doi.org">Kennedy, E. H., &amp; Dzialo, L. (2015). Locating gender in environmental sociology. Sociology Compass, 9(10), 920–929. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12303</ref> Women attend religious services at least once a week are 12% higher than men in United States.

This phenomenon is explained by the Nature argument, Nurture argument and Role identity. According to the Nature arguments, [[Rational choice theory|rational choice]] theorists argue that higher level of religiosity among women derives from [[Risk aversion (psychology)|risk-aversion]].<ref name="Hjelm, T. 2019">Hjelm, T. (2019). Rethinking the theoretical base of Peter L. Berger’s sociology of religion: Social construction, power, and discourse. Critical Research on Religion, 7(3), 223–236. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303219874392</ref> Rational choice theory argues that people naturally minimise costs and maximise benefits for themselves. Women are " typically risk-averse", therefore they will be more inclined towards practicing religion. According to the Nurture argument, Marta Trzebiatowska and Steve Bruce claimed that " nothing in the biological make-up of men and women explains the gendered difference in religiosity", the difference are better explained by a range of [[Socialization|socialisation]] process.<ref name="Pope, C. 2007">Pope, C., &amp; Crow, G. (2007). Editorial foreword: What use is an editor? Sociology, 41(3), 397–399. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038507076613</ref> Example used are women's major role in family, childbirth, and death. These events keeps them "closer to religion than man".

Marta Trzebiatowska and Steve Bruce argued there has been a time lag in how [[Secularization|secularisation]] has affected men and women. As more and more women enter the work force, the religious gender gap is expected to disappear. Persuasive evidence across countries suggests that the gender gap can be explained in part by male and female identified role inside and outside of family and work. Women who work are more likely to feel they need to conform to the dominant secular ethos. Women who are at home focus on raising children and caring for sick and elderly family members which encourages stronger religious commitment.

Some religions are gendered social institution. Traditionalist [[Evangelicalism|evangelicals]] present that wifely submission- wives should defer their husbands in family decision-making.<ref name="Seale, C. 2008">Seale, C., &amp; Charteris-Black, J. (2008). The interaction of class and gender in illness narratives. Sociology, 42(3), 453–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038508088835</ref> Evangelical women, rather, claimed the weakness in men proves that both wife and husband should hold mutual submission.Both spouses follow Christ's model of self-sacrifice and an orientation to the other person in family decision-making.