American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us

American Grace is a large and useful white paper on the place of religion in contemporary American society. Relying on a 2006–2007 survey of their own, but also employing an array of other survey data and monographic studies, Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell give a readable account of much of what is known about the religious demography of the United States and offer balanced views on how religion has shaped contemporary American social and political values and identities. They provide sophisticated analysis while eschewing social science jargon and technicality. There are footnotes for specialists and, for the general reader, extended vignettes of a number of congregations (written by Shaylyn Romney…