160 Darren Sherkat
Most people remain in their denomination of origin, and there is no evidence that
rates of religious mobility are increasing over time or across cohorts (Sullins 1993;
Sherkat 2001). If people make a switch, it is most often to denominations that are sim-
ilar in theology and worship style to the ones from which they came (Sullins 1993;
Sherkat 2001). General Social Survey data reveal that 45 percent of married people
in the United States are wed to someone from the same faith background, when re-
ligious traditions are divided into twelve diverse categories (separating Episcopalians
from other Liberal Protestants, Lutherans from other moderate Protestants, and Baptists
from other sects). Rates of intermarriage have increased somewhat in younger cohorts
(homogamy declines to 43 percent in the youngest cohort, when compared to 48 per-
cent in the oldest cohort). However, this is entirely a function of increased intermarriage
for Catholics, Jews, and liberal Protestants. Rates of intermarriage for Baptists, sectar-
ians, and Mormons are unchanged across cohorts (Sherkat 2001). As for distinctive
beliefs, a host of studies has shown that religious beliefs and practices vary substan-
tially across denominational groups (Hoffmann and Miller 1998; Sherkat and Wilson
1995; Sherkat and Cunningham 1998; Sherkat 1998). The denominational structuring
of religious beliefs has a consequential impact on future religious choices about partic-
ipation and affiliation (Sherkat 1998; Sherkat and Wilson 1995). Rather crude survey
research instruments are unable to capture many of the subtleties of the beliefs and
identities that differentiate the Churches of Christ from the Southern Baptists (for ex-
ample), and more systematic qualitative and quantitative research is needed in this
area.
As with studies of the family, examinations of denominational influences also have
tended to ignore the distinction between socialization influences – effects on religious
beliefs and understandings – and social influences on choices. Congregations provide
important contexts for social rewards and punishments, and these may significantly
motivate religious participation. Friendship networks, occupational ties, neighborhood
networks, and kinship connections may also be consolidated in religious congregations
(Harrison and Lazerwitz 1982). Given that denominational affiliation is a choice, the
distinction between preferences and choices is particularly crucial for the systematic
study of denominational influences.
Educational Influences
Scholars have long believed that reason forged through education would drive out myth
and superstition – eventually eliminating religion altogether. Surely, secular scholars
believed, once exposed by scientific inquiry religious explanations would become im-
plausible and nobody would believe. This type of secularization theory was the dom-
inant theoretical perspective explaining religious change for the first century of the
sociology of religion. From this perspective, educational attainment and the quality of
educational reasoning is crucial for driving out myth and superstition, and replacing
religion with scientific explanation. Despite the prognostications and hopes of secu-
larization theorists, religion has not gone away, or even declined in importance (Stark
and Finke 2000; Sherkat and Ellison 1999). One key reason for this is that science and
education have nothing to say about the supernatural explanations provided by oth-
erworldly religious groups. Science will never prove that there is no god, no heaven, or
no hell. Hence, educational influences on religious preferences and choices are going to