private religion In conventional sociological terms, religion is a public activity involving communal practices (such as worship and sacraments), and commonly shared beliefs. In modern society, where there has been some secularization of religion, some sociologists argue that religion can only survive as a more private set of beliefs or feelings. Max Weber, in his essay on ‘Science as a vocation’, argued that religion would continue only ‘in personal human situations, in pianissimo’. The concept is occasionally used as equivalent to invisible religion.

religion, private See PRIVATE RELIGION.