“American Grace” - Robert Putnam
Last night I attended a talk by Robert Putnam (of “Bowling Alone” fame). He spoke about his new book, “ American Grace ” and the influence of religion on American politics. His main point is that Americans are highly divided on religious matters but also highly tolerant of each others religious views. In brief, Putnam’s thesis is that during the sixties young Americans became less religious but that older Americans became more religious as a reaction to the changes in social mores which took place at the time. This lead to the religious division we see in American today and the rise of the “young nones” – young people who do not identify with any formal religious group. Putnam measures religiosity using survey questions such as “How often do you say grace or give thanks to God before a meal?” However, despite this divide, Americans are very tolerant of people who do hold divergent religious views. Surprisingly, a majority of evangelical Christians in America believe that good peop...