In the early 1960s; American conservatives seemed to have fallen on hard times. McCarthyism was on the run; and movements on the political left were grabbing headlines. The media lampooned John Birchers's accusations that Dwight Eisenhower was a communist puppet. Mainstream America snickered at warnings by California Congressman James B. Utt that "barefooted Africans" were training in Georgia to help the United Nations take over the country. Yet; in Utt's home district of Orange County; thousands of middle-class suburbanites proceeded to organize a powerful conservative movement that would land Ronald Reagan in the White House and redefine the spectrum of acceptable politics into the next century. Suburban Warriors introduces us to these people: women hosting coffee klatches for Barry Goldwater in their tract houses; members of anticommunist reading groups organizing against sex education; pro-life Democrats gradually drawn into conservative circles; and new arrivals finding work in defense companies and a sense of community in Orange County's mushrooming evangelical churches. We learn what motivated them and how they interpreted their political activity. Lisa McGirr shows that their movement was not one of marginal people suffering from status anxiety; but rather one formed by successful entrepreneurial types with modern lifestyles and bright futures. She describes how these suburban pioneers created new political and social philosophies anchored in a fusion of Christian fundamentalism; xenophobic nationalism; and western libertarianism. While introducing these rank-and-file activists; McGirr chronicles Orange County's rise from "nut country" to political vanguard. Through this history; she traces the evolution of the New Right from a virulent anticommunist; anti-establishment fringe to a broad national movement nourished by evangelical Protestantism. Her original contribution to the social history of politics broadens―and often upsets―our understanding of the deep and tenacious roots of popular conservatism in America.
#866521 in Books Mark Chaves 2013-08-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.40 x .60 x 5.40l; 1.00 #File Name: 0691159661160 pagesAmerican Religion
Review
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Little Good News for America's Religious LeadersBy George P. WoodAmerican Religion by Mark Chaves contains little good news for America's religious leaders. Subtitled Contemporary Trends; the book examines continuity and discontinuity in American religious belief and practice over the last 40 years. While there are significant points of continuity in this time period--of belief in God and weekly attendance at religious services; for example--overall; the trend is toward discontinuity. "The religious trends I have documented point to a straightforward general conclusion;" Chaves writes: "no indicator of traditional religious belief or practice is going up" (emphasis in the original).Chaves' primary data sets are the General Social Survey (GSS) and the National Congregations Study (NCS); which he directed. Both surveys were conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. GSS has been conducted annually since 1972 and NCS in 1998 and 2006-7. Chaves is professor of sociology; religion; and divinity at Duke University; and his book is published by Princeton University Press. The book is brief (160 pages); but its data; author; and publisher make it an authoritative text whose conclusions religious leaders must wrestle with.Here are some of those conclusions:* America is increasingly a religious diverse nation; with a rising number of religiously unaffiliated persons--the so-called "nones" (chapter 2).* Americans' religious beliefs show remarkable continuity; except in the area of biblical inerrancy; which is declining (chapter 3).* American religious involvement; measured by weekly attendance at a religious service is stable but softening (chapter 4).* American congregations are shaped by "the same cultural; social; and economic pressures affecting American life and institutions more generally" and can be seen in six trends: "looser connections between congregations and denominations; more computer technology; more informal worship; older congregants; more high-income and college-educated congregants; and...more people concentrated in very large churches" (chapter 5).* American religious leadership is a career choice for fewer and fewer people; and its ranks are older and less esteemed as pressionals than they used to be (chapter 6).* Liberal Protestant denominations are declining but liberal religious ideas are increasing in influence. The decline in liberal Protestant denominations is not explained by transfer growth to conservative Protestant denominations. Rather; liberal Protestants are becoming "nones;" largely because of the increasing identification of religion and conservative politics (chapter 7).* American religiosity is increasingly identified with social and political conservatism. On abortion; the most religiously active become increasingly conservative. But on gay marriage; the most religiously active liberalize at a pace slower than the religious population. Either way; the most religious active Americans are more conservative than the less religiously active (chapter 8).Chapter 9 summarizes the book's findings this way: "If there is a trend; it is toward less religion." Chaves' is ambivalent about whether this trend is good or bad for America as a whole. On the one hand; he writes; "Increased tolerance of; even appreciation for; religions other than one's own; described in chapter 2; is good news for our increasingly pluralistic society." On the other hand; "Countering this positive trend...is the increasing attitudinal difference between the more religious and the less religious." He goes on to write; "It would be ironic and unfortunate if Americans' increasing appreciation for religions other than their own becomes overwhelmed by increasing hostility between the more and the less religious."There is another danger in the trend of religious non-affiliation. Chaves writes: "If half of all the social capital in America--meaning half of all the face-to-face associational activity; personal philanthropy; and volunteering--happens through religious institutions; the vitality of those institutions influences more than American religious life. Weaker religious institutions would mean a different kind of American civic life."As I noted at the outset; there is little good news for America's religious leaders in Mark Chaves' book. The trend is toward less religion. One could accentuate the positives and say that less religion means less nominal religion and more authentic religion; and perhaps there's something to that. But in accentuating the positive; we shouldn't overlook the very considerable negatives; mainly; less religion and more political antagonism to religion.Of course; the New Testament church faced even greater odds and nonetheless grew in size and influence. But they were converting pagans to the faith of Jesus Christ. Can we experience a similar revival in a post-Christian society? In my opinion; that's the fundamental question the American church needs to answer. And if yes; how? That's the fundamental challenge facing American religious leaders today.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Handy; albeit slimBy EsauThis is a remarkably clear little book that presents a concise; well-organized survey of sociological trends in American religious practice (read: Christian practice--Chaves points out the statistical near-irrelavance of other faiths in a broad survey like this). It uses readily available data to re-examine trends we thought we knew; such as church attendance metrics and the political affiliations of church attendees; and to disabuse us of several "widely known" received wisdoms. What I find most remarkable is that Chaves deals with a huge scope so modestly and briefly; without any apparent loss of clarity. I found myself wishing for twenty or thirty more pages extrapolation--a rare thing; given the fondness of most academics for seeing their own opinions on the page.4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. the story of how American religion has changed since 1972.By Greg Smith (aka sowhatfaith)American Religion: Contemporary Trends is a must read for anyone interested in gaining a richer understanding of how American religion has changed since 1972. The book is both so well crafted and so timely that I am naming it as the first book to find its way onto what will become my Top 10 Books of 2011 (the 2010 list can be found here).The book relies on data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and the National Congregations Study (NCS). The GSS is considered to be the starting point for any research on societal trends; since it has been conducted at least every other year since 1972. The NCS; which Chaves directed; was a national survey of "religious congregations across the religious spectrum" conducted in 1998 and again in 2006-7 (p.5). The data from this research suggests that religious trends in America over the last four decades can be summarized as follows: "there is much continuity; and there is some decline; but no traditional religious belief or practice has increased in recent decades" (p.14).Seven topical chapters provide incredible insight into American religion. A quote of interest from each is included below.*Diversity - "Americans have become more accepting of religious diversity and more appreciative of religions other than their own" (p.26).*Belief - "When it comes to Americans' religiosity; the only thing that may be increasing slightly is what we might call diffuse spirituality" (p.37-8).*Involvement - ". . . the basic story about religious service attendance is that it declined in the several decades leading up to 1990 but probably has been essentially stable thereafter" (p. 49).*Congregations - " . . . the number of Protestants attending independent congregations has increased from 14% in 1989 to 19% in 2006. If the unaffiliated congregations were all in one denomination; they would constitute the second largest number of participants (behind only the Roman Catholic Church) and the largest in number of congregations" (p.57-8).*Leaders - "The average age for ordination for male clergy is now 31; for women it is 38' (p.75).*Liberal Protestant Decline - "The trend is striking. Since 1972; the percentage of Americans affiliated with theologically more liberal; mainline denominations has steadily declined while the percentage affiliated with more conservative; evangelical denominations increased slightly until the early 1990s and has remained relatively stable since then" (p. 87).*Polarization - "The tighter connection between religiosity and political and social conservatism does not yet amount to true polarization between religious and secular people in the United States" (p.106).
