Movements grounded in preexisting churches mobilize better than those without social infrastructure

Evidence

McCarthy points out that although pro-choice and pro-life positions both garner substantial support in opinion polls, the two movements are structured quite differently. The pro-life movement rests on thousands of church-based grassroots organizations and can efficiently mobilize its supporters for direct action on the basis of those preexisting social networks. To take a single example, in 1993 the National Right to Life Committee claimed 13 million members and 7,000 local chapters. By contrast, the pro-choice movement (particularly with the demise in the 1980s of the organized grassroots women’s liberation movement) lacks a preexisting social infrastructure and therefore must rely more heavily on national advocacy organizations, using the technology of direct mail, telemarketing, media campaigns, and the like. Membership in the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, for example, more than tripled from 132,000 in 1989 to nearly 500,000 in 1996, but within two years membership had plunged to 190,000, of whom state leaders estimated that only about 3–5 percent had done more than write a check. Such volatility in membership is emblematic of affiliation based on symbolic identification rather than on personal networks. … In the absence of the opportunity or resources to establish face-to-face interactions, such symbolic affiliation may be the only available mobilizing structure that can link isolated individuals. … However, we should not mistake symbolic ties for personal ones. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 503

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Evangelical church attendance does not translate into broader community involvement — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 251; Religious rituals maintain identity and build lasting community support networks — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 892; Black churches served as the organizing infrastructure for political resistance — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 1031 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Black churches served as the organizing infrastructure for political resistance #exemplifies (0.95) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1031
• The Black church physically housed the civil rights movement’s organizing #exemplifies (0.95) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1043
• Evangelical church attendance does not translate into broader community involvement #complicates (0.75) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 251
• Reform movements succeed by marrying their cause to prevailing religious currents #expands (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 409
• Secular institutions achieved large-scale cooperation by usurping religion’s community-building role #qualifies (0.72)
• Religious rituals maintain identity and build lasting community support networks #expands (0.70) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 892