July 18, 2003

Looking for Morality in Religious Beliefs and in the Believers' Society

To the Editor:

With his usual verve, Rodney Stark takes aim at the functionalist model of religion ("Why Gods Should Matter in Social Science," The Review, June 6). Stark's research methods are first-rate, and his conclusions about ritual correct. But in his zeal to deconstruct the functionalist focus on ritual, Stark overstates his case concerning religious morals.

Although Stark demonstrates that morality is not integral to theism, he draws the contradictory conclusion that

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