Evaluation of Religion at Two North Carolina HBCUs


Review of "The Dudley and Cruise Religious Maturity Scale: A Critical Evaluation"  by Cole, Margaret and Wortham, Robert. In The Social Science Journal 37:3 (2000),  pp. 445-452.

    Dudley and Cruise (1990) attempted to develop a scale to measure Allport's (1952)  concept of religious maturity.  The questions measuring religious maturity are found in Table 1.  Allport proposed that mature religious sentiment is characterized by values. The questions in Table 1 are attempting to measure the following values:

    In reviewing the article, it is clear that one of the main issues which confronted the writers was whether the above points simply a proxy variable for liberal Protestant religious views, views which might not be reflected in Southern religion among students raised in a basically conservative religious tradition.  Scales worked out to reflect Northern whites might not be acceptable to African American students attending school in a more conservative area of the world.

    Cole and Wortham therefore administered the Dudley and Cruise (Table 1) Religious Maturity Scale to 251 students at two Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) in North Carolina.  Factor analysis of the 11-item scale revealed that three of the scales

 Table 1
The Original and Revised Dudley and Cruise Religious Maturity Scales
(This Color Denotes Item Not Confirmed in Current Study or *)
  1. My  religious beliefs provide me with satisfying answers at this stage of my development, but I am prepared to alter them as new information becomes available.
  2. I am happy with my present religion, but wish to remain open to new insights and ways of understanding the meaning of life.
  3. As best I can determine, my religion is true, but I recognize that I could be mistaken on some points.
  4. Important questions about the meaning of life do not have simple or easy answers; therefore, faith is a developmental process.
  5. I could not commit myself to a religion unless I was certain it is completely true.*
  6. I have struggled in trying to understand the problems of evil, suffering, and death that mark this world.
  7. Churches should concentrate on proclaiming the gospel and not become involved in trying to change society through social or political action. *
  8. While we can never be quite sure what we believe is absolutely true, it is worth acting on the probability that it might be.
  9. I have found many religious questions to be difficult and complex so I am hesitant to be dogmatic or final in my assertions.
  10. In my religion my relationships with other people are as fundamental as my relationship with God.
  11. My religious beliefs are pretty much the same today as they were five years ago. *

were not highly clustered with the others, lowering the reliability of the overall scale.  Items which asked if the student's religious beliefs were unchanged over five years and the question that churches should stay out of politics, along with the question that one could be committed to a religion unless you were certain it was completely true formed a second factor.

    Analysis additionally showed that relationships with people as basic as relationship with God (Item 10, in italics) and answers to questions about life not being simple (Item 4, in italics) are actually negatively related to the other items, although in the same cluster.  In short, the essence of the Religious Maturity Factor is contained in the six remaining items.

    The authors refrain from discussion of  how the issues of civil rights and the church in the American south might have influenced the responses of the students.  However, it would not be surprising that, given the role of churches in civil rights, students at a HBCU would reject the idea that involvement in political action should be a sign of a lack of religious 'maturity.'   Students are also at that stage in life when religious views are maturing, as one would expect.

    Religion and society represent a complex interaction.  Given the role of the church in the American south, it is clear that scales designed to measure points of view in other parts of the nation have failed to take into account regional differences and the functions of the church in the African American community.  Churches simply would appear to have a different function in the south than they do elsewhere.   To measure what is assumed to be religious maturity it is necessary to realize that religion has social functions which vary in different locations, especially when the issue of segregation and slavery impacts on societey.

References

Allport. G. W. (1952).  The Individual and His Religion.  New York: McMillan.

Dudley, R. L. and R. J. Cruise (1990).  "Measuring Religious Maturity: A Proposed Scale."  Review of Religious Research 32: 97-109.

Reviewed by George H. Conklin
for Sociation Today, Web Edition,
April 2001.

 


 
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