Religion as a Chain of MemoryFor most of the last twenty years, sociologists have studied the decline of religion in the modern worlda decline they saw as a defining feature of modernity, which promotes materialism over spirituality. The revival and political strength of varying religious traditions around the world, however, has forced sociologists to reconsider. This paradox has led Hervieu Lger to undertake a sociological redefinition and reexamination of religion. For