Death and Religion in Theory : Critical Examination of the Rational Choice Theory

This paper examines and critiques the importance the Rational Choice Theory (RCT) attaches to death anxiety and longing for immortality in its theoretical model of religion. The paper presents a detailed review of the criticism leveled at the theory of religion advocated by Rodney Stark and his colleagues, analyzes its overall concept of religion and perception of death-related religious beliefs, and offers a critique of this theory from the viewpoint of religious studies, specifically, psychology of religion. The paper points out ethnocentric and ideological elements in the RCT concept of religion and afterlife and concludes that RCT, in its deliberations on the relationship of death and religion, although aiming for a broad explanation of religion in general, in fact remains insensitive to the diversity of religious beliefs and presents only an explanation of Christianity, or monotheism at best. Furthermore, the theory heavily relies on the notion that the greatest attraction of religion in general and the largest motivation behind religious faith is the fear-assuaging, comforting promise of afterlife, but this basic theoretical tenet is adopted without due reference to empirical research on death attitudes and religion in the field of psychology, and is, actually, not fully supported by empirical evidence