Forum: American Civil Religion Revisited

Civil Religion

“…Rather, it is the 'kind of cultural awareness' that comes with a religiously pluralistic society that drives the changing conception of American civil religion (161). Sarna (in Hammond et al, 1994), likewise, suggests that we continue to see "deep-seated cultural differences that . set Americans at odds with one another" with regard to the expression of religion, complicating how civil religion may be publicly exercised (21).…”

“…Work on American civil religion has generally revolved around attempts to theoretically situate and refine the concept (Bellah, 1992;Cristi and Dawson, 2007: 273;Porterfield in Hammond et al, 1994), and, contemporarily, much theoretical work rests on what the diversity of American society means for the concept of civil religion. American religion has seen increasing pluralism with regard to ideology, faith tradition, practice, and increasing amounts of secularism and irreligiosity (Putnam and Campbell, 2010;Kniss and Numrich, 2007;Roof, 1999;Wuthnow, 1988).…”

“…Mark Silk (2007), for example, presents evidence that approaches to pluralism in the United States are regional, with what it means to be 'pluralistic' differing greatly in both application and appreciation based on social context. While Bellah's original conception of civil religion posited certain understandings of the core elements of American national identity, contemporary work is more likely to point to divergent visions of national identity that are used as cultural resources in conflicts over meaning in a pluralistic society (Cristi and Dawson, 2007;Fenn, 2001;Lichterman, 2008;Long, 1974;Porterfield in Hammond et al, 1994;Williams, 1999). Richard Hecht (2007), in fact, suggests that we have seen a shift from what he terms 'passive pluralism,' the form of pluralism of the mid-twentieth-century United States documented by Will Herberg (1955Herberg ( /1983, to 'active pluralism,' where diverse groups seek full participation while maintaining their unique identities.…”

“…West (2008), for example, studies 'international civil religious pilgrimage' to draw conclusions about how such visitations shape national collective memories. In particular, he examines Australians, predominantly young backpackers, as they visit the Gallipoli battlefields, experiencing both a heightened engagement with a legitimizing myth (Hammond in Hammond et al, 1994) of their nation and a sense of disruption from being presented with a Turkish point of view. In this way, visitation of sacred civil sites can create a complex range of understandings when presented with a variety of national viewpoints.…”

The trap of intellectual success: Robert N. Bellah, the American civil religion debate, and the sociology of knowledge

“…As we have seen, abandoning the term "civil religion" was not a sign of Bellah's loss of interest in 26 As some transcripts show (e.g., Tanenbaum 1975;Bourg 1976), the same was happening at seminars and conferences. Later on, attempts at synthesis (West 1980;Gehrig 1981;Hughey 1983) produced modest results, and symposia devoted to Bellah or civil religion failed to convey the complexity of his thought on religion in America (Hammond et al 1994). 27 My description seems to imply that Bellah's changes of mind had gone entirely unnoticed.…”