Megachurch worship offers a spiritual ‘high’
Maybe religion really is the opiate of the masses—just not the way Karl Marx imagined. A University of Washington study posits that worship services at megachurches can trigger feelings of transcendence and changes in brain chemistry—a spiritual “high” that keeps congregants coming back for more.
“We see this experience of unalloyed joy over and over again in megachurches. That’s why we say it’s like a drug,” said James Wellman, an associate professor of American religion who coauthored the study.
The study, “‘God Is Like a Drug’: Explaining Interaction Ritual Chains in American Megachurches,” was presented August 19 at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Denver.
