How Religion is Transforming America
The recent uproar over building a mosque and community center near Ground Zero illustrated an interesting paradox about religion in America. “America is very religiously devout and religiously diverse,” said Robert Putnam, the groundbreaking political scientist and author of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. “In most places in the world, that combination produces mayhem – Belfast, Bosnia, Beirut, Baghdad, Bombay.” But the U.S. is, he said, “surprisingly tolerant across racial lines.” In an event co-presented with the UCLA School of Public Affairs’ Center for Civil Society, …
