Sociology and Secularization Essay Example

There are many broad topics that are inserted into the main study of Sociology. Many traditional focuses include social stratification, modernity, culture, and deviance. There are two focuses, sociological imagination and secularization, which have been debated and researched through out the years. In C. Wright Mills’ article, The Sociological Imagination, he states the sociological imagination “enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals”(Mills, 15). This article states that there are many natural forces that influence a person’s life. Sociological imagination helps a person realize his place in society over the context of history and of the current era. This article is still considered one of the most influential statements of what sociology is all about. In Rodney Starks article, Secularization, R.I.P.-rest in peace, he discusses “over the past three centuries, social scientists and assorted western intellectuals have been promising the end of religion”(Starks, 1). Secularization refers to the change of a society from close religious belief to non-religious beliefs and that humans will eventually outgrow their belief in the supernatural. The purposes of the two articles are completely different; however they do have an indirect link. These two articles can be analyzed together because those natural effects that affect our own personal lives are what disprove secularization. These natural effects come from many different places, which is why modernization alone cannot lead to secularization. C. Wright Mills wrote about the sociological imagination and how there are many unique forces that factor into the way a person conducts his life. There are three key questions that constitute the core of Mills' sociological imagination. These questions are the basic foundation for his hypothesis. He also suggests that people look at their own