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1、TheSociologicalQuarterlyISSN0038-0253DEREGULATIONANDTHERELIGIOUSMARKETINTAIWAN:AResearchNoteYunfengLu*PekingUniversityByronJohnsonBaylorUniversityRodneyStarkBaylorUniversityThereligiouseconomymodelpredictsthatwhenencounteredwithcompetition,looselyorga-nizedreligionswillfai
2、lorwillbetransformedintocongregationalreligions.Overtime,compe-titionwilldrivecongregationalreligionstoestablishanextendedrelationshipwiththeirconsumersbygeneratingexclusivistclaimsandexclusivistsocialization.Andthusexclusivereli-giontendstooccupythebiggestmarketshare.This
3、model,however,hasrarelybeentestedempirically.ByanalyzingreligioustrendsinTaiwanafterthederegulationofthelate1980s,wefindthatstatesuppressioncontributedtotheweaknessoforganizedreligionwhileenhancingthepopularityofunchurchedcongregationalreligionsinTaiwan.Wealsofindthatderegul
4、ationisassociatedwiththeriseoforganizedandcongregationalfaiths.Butwhetherornotthesenewlyorganizedreligionsbecomeexclusiveornotneedsfurtherstudies.Implicationsofthefindingsforfutureresearchareoffered.INTRODUCTIONThemanydifferencesbetweenWesternandAsianreligionshavebeendebate
5、dnotonlybyreligiouspractitionersbutalsobysocialscientists.Iannaccone(1995),forexample,arguesthatWesternreligionsreflectcollectivereligionfocusingoncongregations,exclu-sivity,andhighlevelsofcommitment,whileEasternreligionstakeaprivateapproachandfocusondiversifiedreligiousport
6、folios.AccordingtoStarkandhiscollaborators,congregationalreligionssuchasChristianityhave“arelativelystable,organizedcongre-gationoflaymemberswhoacknowledgeaspecificreligiouscreed,”whileAsianreligionsaretypifiedby“unchurched”religionslackingacongregationallifeandaspecificreli-
7、giouscreed(Stark,Hamberg,andMiller2005:7).Membershipincongregationalreli-gionsmeansthatthefollowers“makeworshippartoftheirdailylives”and“gatherfrequentlyforservicesaswellassocialactivities”(Stark2006);conversely,participantsofunchurchedreligionsarenot“members”butconsumersi
8、npursuitofimmediaterewards.*DirectallcorrespondencetoYunfengLu,DepartmentofSociology,Peki