Pews, Prayers, and Participation

by Smidt, Corwin E.; Den Dulk, Kevin R.; Penning, James M.; Monsma, Stephen V.; Koopman, Douglas L.

• ISBN13: 9781589012189
• ISBN10: 1589012186
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr

Summary

Is the "private" experience of religion counterproductive to engagement in public life? Does the "public" experience of religion contribute anything distinctive to civic engagement? Pews, Prayers, and Participation: Religion and Civic Responsibility in America offers a fresh approach to key questions about what role religion plays in fostering civic responsibility in contemporary American society. Written by five prominent scholars of religion and politics, led by Calvin College's Corwin Smidt, the book brilliantly articulates how religion shapes participation in a range of civic activities-from behaviors (such as membership in voluntary associations, volunteering, and charitable contributions) to capacities (e.g., civic skills and knowledge), to virtues (e.g., law-abidingness, tolerance, and work ethic).In the course of their study the authors examine whether an individual exhibits a diminished, a privatized, a public, or an integrated form of religious expression, based on the individual's level of participation in both the public (worship) or private (prayer) dimensions of religious life. They question whether the privatization of religious life is counterproductive to engagement in public life, and they show that religion does indeed play a significant role in fostering civic responsibility across each of its particular facets.Pews, Prayers, and Participation is a bold and provocative clarion call to the continuing importance and changing nature of religion in American public life. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of religion and politics, and culture and politics, as well as general readers with an interest in the impact of religion in the public sphere.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction: Religion and Civic Responsibility	p. 1
Civil Society, Civic Responsibility, and Citizenship	p. 19
Religion in Contemporary America	p. 41
Religion and Membership in Civic Associations	p. 69
Religion, Volunteering, and Philanthropic Giving	p. 98
Religion and Civic Capacities	p. 134
Religion and Civic Virtues	p. 174
Religion, Civic Participation, and Political Participation	p. 208
Appendices:
Description of Surveys Employed	p. 233
Variation in Questions and Question Wording on Membership in Voluntary Associations	p. 237
Question Wording Related to Volunteering by Survey	p. 241
Question Wording Related to Charitable Giving by Survey	p. 245
References	p. 247
Index	p. 269
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