Religion’s civic effect depends on cross-group connections beyond private virtue

Evidence

Religion may have a salutary effect on civil society by encouraging its members to worship, to spend time with their families, and to learn the moral lessons embedded in religious traditions. But religion is likely to have a diminished impact on society if that is the only role it plays. What interested Tocqueville about voluntary organizations was…their ability to forge connections across large segments of the population, spanning communities and regions, and drawing together people from different ethnic backgrounds and occupations. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 254

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clear articulation of what makes an organization civically bridging rather than merely bonding.
• XREF: connects to: Religious behavior depends on situational context, observable action, and intergroup competition — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 19; Large-scale cooperation and religion’s endurance explain each other; Secularism produces the unconnected citizen against racialized others

Broader Connections

• Religious behavior depends on situational context, observable action, and intergroup competition #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 19
• Large-scale cooperation and religion’s endurance explain each other #corroborates (0.75)
• Secularism produces the unconnected citizen against racialized others #qualifies (0.72)