ABSTRACT
The intriguing link between modernity and religion has inspired an ongoing debate among scholars. Classical sociologists have maintained that moder- nity, with its emphasis on individualism and scientific thinking, posed a threat to the mystical and communal nature of religion. It has been suggested that modernity ‘disenchants’ the world, rendering the role of the divine and the sacred trivial in everyday life (Weber, 1922/1978). Others in postmodern milieu have argued that modernity paradoxically fosters the quest for reli- gious affiliation as the disenchanted and alienated modern individual desper- ately seeks for meaning in life (Firat and Venkatesh, 1995).
