Sociologists want to present themselves as objective scientists of the social order, but when Christian Smith looks at his disciple he doesnâ??t see science. He sees the Sacred Project of American Sociology, sociology constituted as a project that he is even willing to describe as â??spiritual.â? He applies a â??sociology of religionâ? to the discipline of American sociology itself.
He is careful to define his terms. â??Sacredâ? and â??spiritualâ? donâ??t necessarily connote belief in religious doctrines or spiritual beings. Sacred refers to â??things set apart from the profane and forbidden to be violatedâ? (1). â??Spiritualâ? refers to â??that dimension of human life that concerns the most profound, meaningful, and transcendent visions of human existence, feeling, and desires,â? those â??beliefs, longings and experiences . . . about the greatest and highest good, truth, righteousness, value, vitality, meaning, and beautyâ? (2).
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