Religion in America : Putnam & Campbell

1. Religion in America:Putnam & Campbell “It is difficult to damn those you know and love.”

2. Essay prompts are posted on the course website • As are guidelines for writing a good argumentative essay • Due at end of class Wednesday, 2/29. • Prompts will be discussed in class Wed. 2/22

3. 13.11

4. 13.13, note polarization

5. Increasing tolerance appears to be driven by generational succession • Secular Americans more tolerant of all points of view • Secular Americans also more robust defenders of civil rights • Religious Americans more inclined to respect authority and tend to be more ready to shun dissent (479-489) • Given what we know from Durkheim re: strongly coherent societies, this makes sense when combined with higher levels of civic activity among the religious

6. Diversity & Toleration • America has high levels of both religious belief and religious diversity, yet has somehow managed not to collapse into religious conflict • Why? • 72% Americans agree that the country is divided by religion • 46% strongly agree • But there is a broad consensus that religion is beneficial for American society • People who are only mildly religious say so to the almost the same extent as do the intensely religious • 85% of moderately religious Americans say right & wrong should be based on God’s law (493-498)

7. 14.1

8. Diversity & Toleration • Religious & secular Americans tend to see each other as selfish & intolerant • Both see selves as generous & intolerant (499-500) • Further, there exist inter-religious conflicts • Example: Romney 2008: • Trouble capturing evangelical support • This despite majority of Mormons & evangelicals sharing nearly identical political agendas • 54% of evangelicals said that they would be bothered by a Mormon president, compared to 18% of non-evangelicals • Importance of theological differences • Mormonism frequently called a ‘cult’ in evangelical circles • LDS church & evangelical Christianity both aggressively proselytizing faiths, may be in direct competition (500-502) • Not much on this note seems to have changed since 2008 • “Feeling thermometer” • 100 = extremely positive, 0 extremely negative. 55 average score

9. Pew poll

10. 14.5

11. 14.6

12. Diversity & Toleration • Anti-Semitism in America has declined continuously since WWII • As has anti-Catholic bias • Three groups notable for unpopularity: Mormons, Muslims, Buddhists. Why? • Minority status? • But Jews are a small minority, and the most popular religious group nation wide • Negative images? • Polygamous cultists, jihadist fanatics • But there is no corresponding negative image for Buddhists • Othered? (506-507)

13. Table 14.1

14. Diversity & Toleration • Almost everyone likes mainstream Protestants and Jews • Almost everyone likes Catholics, more than Catholics like everyone else. • Evangelicals like almost everyone else more than they are liked in return. • Catholics and Evangelicals rate each other warmly (despite past animosities). • Mormons like everyone else, while almost everyone else dislikes Mormons. • Except Jews, who give them a net positive rating. Sympathy for minority religion? • Muslims & Buddhists disliked more than almost any other group. • But Jews are warm to Buddhists and cool toward Muslims. • Too few Muslims or Buddhists in sample (though reflective of national population) to say anything about their feeling about other faiths (509)

15. Diversity & Toleration • By contrast, the average rating by people who describe themselves as “very liberal” for conservatives is 36, while “very conservative” people rate liberals at 38. • Political resentment much stronger than religious • 6% of Americans have “often” heard negative remarks about their religious beliefs, 23% have “occasionally.” 46% never. • Could this reflect homogenous environments? • 24% of “nones” often or occasionally here negative remarks about their religious beliefs • About a third of evangelicals • 60% of Mormons • About the same share of “others” • 38% of Jews (510-511)

16. 14.7

17. Not So Divided • 72% Americans say country is divided along religious lines • But: 93% say divided along racial lines, 96% economic, 97% political • Civil religion • References to God and special destiny of the United States deployed to mobilize, persuade Americans • Spoken by liberals & conservatives, Republicans & Democrats • The God of America, Thanksgiving (516-519) • Religious diversity means that it is highly likely that the individuals knows someone of another faith, or of none in particular

18. 15.1

19. 15.3

20. 15.4

21. Religious Bridging • If diverse groups interact and • Have equal status • Share common goals • Have intergroup cooperation • Have the support of authorities, law, or custom • Social bridging may result. • Friendship, work, marriage, military • For example, gaining a friend from a particular groups tends to result in a more positive evaluation of that group (526-530)

22. As more complex & diverse bridging develops • A person gains an evangelical, Muslim, & nonreligious friend) • “Feeling thermometer” evaluations rise across the board, even for groups that are not directly bridged • For example, that person likely feels modestly more positively toward Mormons • Thus, those groups viewed most coldly (Mormons, Muslims, Buddhists) are those with whom most Americans have limited exposure (526-534) • This results in Americans even endorsing the validity of each other’s religious beliefs (526-537)

23. 15.5

24. 15.6

25. 15.7

26. 15.8

27. But not all faiths thought equally likely to achieve salvation • 35% of evangelicals say Muslims can go to heaven • 58% of Black Protestants say so • Indicates presence of bridging • A major disagreement between clergy and parishioners (537-540) • A minority of Americans (11%) says that their religion is the only one with any truth, and tend to be less tolerant of those with other beliefs • These people tend to be from homogenous social environments • This rate seems to be stable across time, from 1998 to 2008 (545-47) • Exposure, equality, and interaction seem to shield the United States from the religious tensions that would be expected in a devout and diverse nation