Religious Conversion And Social Capital

The significant increasing conversion to Christianity has being taken place in China since the transformation and open steps started in 1978. The concern and thinking about how to understand it and what it means to China and world in the global context initiated my this research.This dissertation attempts to study the following questions:By what ways the Chinese convert to Christianity in contemporary urban China? and how the process of the conversion? Whether the popular sociological theory of religious conversion based on western society can explain the religious conversion in today's China, Is there difference when the theory of conversion is applied to contemporary china? If yes, what is the difference? If it is unable to explain effectively the situations of conversion in urban china, How to understand and explain the increasing conversion to religion? How the social capital and cultural capital play the roles in the process of religious conversion. And how the Chinese traditional Confucianism influences the conversion to Christianity in today's China. This dissertation tries to enter into the religious practises of Christians in urban China and attempts to explore the above questions from sociological perspective and by qualitative empirical research methods. These questions can be involved in this research to different extent, however, the major concern of the study is the relationship between the religious conversion and social capital, religious conversion and cultural capital.This article attempts to test professor Rodney Stark's propositions on religious choice and social capital, religious choice and cultural capital by the data which was collected by my participant observation and depth interviewing with a sample of 45 interviewee from C city in Northern China during 2007-2009. The sample in the research includes 3 types so as to widen and deepen the sociological research of conversion, that covered the first generation Christians, persons who haven't converted to Christianity although they have been persuaded much by their religious social capital and verbal converts who hardly or never attend to church.The main new findings of the research include:1.The data from China does not support the religious conversion propositions of Stark. The research revealed that the core factor in religious conversion is belief, instead of social capital or emotional attachment shown in the religious conversion theory of Stark; 2. The empirical and theoretical study also reveal the most likely problems and key mistakes in the theory of Professor Stark; 3. Further, the 10 new propositions about religious choice and social capital are proposed based on the empirical study in urban China:1) Religious social capital/ strong ties are neither necessary nor sufficient conditions to the religious conversion.2) Religious social capital can lead to know the religion even to attend the religious activity, Even it can become a push or pressure to promote the conversion. However, religious social capital/strong ties is not enough to result in people's conversion, unless they believe.3) The core factor of conversion is belief; The core factor of conversion is not religious social capital/ strong ties.4) When people choose a religion of high tension, they more likely have to lay aside or give up their attempt to conserve their secular social capital/strong ties.5) The breaking or deficiency of secular strong ties is more likely to promote people's conversion than the introduction or push from religious strong ties.6) Religious person more likely orientates/tends to non religious person as his/her emotional attachment to the non religious peron becomes stronger.7) Social capital can both promote or lead to religious behaviour also confine religious behaviour.8) Social capital can both intensify belief and also restrain belief.9) Social capital can neither lead to the production of religious belief nor perish the religious belief.10) Social capital usually play a role of important media in the experiences of people's conversion, it is not a core factor to religious conversion.4. The new proposition about religious choice and cultural capital is also suggested:When choosing a religion of high tension, people more likely give up the attempt to conserve their original cultural capital consciously or unconsciously.5. The dissertation proposed that the religious phenomena can be considered as marriage to respond to the fact that the emotional traits of religious life are submerged by the perspective of religious economy, since religion substantially involves the moving heart, attachment and belief etc, not only rationality; 6. The research explicitly generalises the three types of religious conversion; 7. The dissertation proposed that there are two directions when social capital influences religious choice; 8. The research also discusses the role of Chinese traditional Confucianism and suggests the latent ways of its functioning to the conversion to Christianity in today's urban China.