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Religious Research Association, Inc.

1965 Harlan Paul Douglass Lectures: Religion in a Modern Pluralistic SocietyAuthor(s): Talcott ParsonsSource: Review of Religious Research, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Spring, 1966), pp. 125-146Published by: Religious Research Association, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3509920 .

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1965 HARLAN PAUL DOUGLASS LECTURESRELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY'

Talcott arsonsHarvard niversityThe theme f theseecturess to pre-sent omeof thesociologicalspects ftheplaceofreligionn ourmodern,r-ban industrialociety. he focuswillbeon theUnited tates, utat theendthe

questionwillbe raisedof the extentowhich hisdoes or does notpresentmodelof moregeneral elevance atherthan s a wholly niquedevelopment.wantto stress articularlyhat shallcall pluralisms a characteristicf thissociety.he term ere smeantodesig-nate,not simplediversitys of ethnicorregional ariationsf socialtype ndculture,but systematic ifferentiatednessat all levels.n particularhe ndividual'sparticipationsn social interactionys-tems rehighlyifferentiatedt the evelof whatsociologistsall his roles,andthese olesare to somedegreendepen-dently ariable.Thus fromknowingman'sreligiousffiliationndcommunityof residencet is becomingess ratherthanmore asyto deducehisoccupationor his political ffiliations.t thecol-lectiveevel t is decreasinglyossible ospeakof solid "blocks" f interest,.g.thebusinessnterest,heagriculturalrthe abor nterest.inally t theculturallevelpluralismlso enters. he differen-tiation fsecularntellectualultureromreligiouss a notablexample. hestrict-ly denominationalnstitutionf highereducation as beensteadily ecliningnrelativemportance.ven n theCatholic

system otonly s therencreased ar-ticipationf laymen n faculties,ut tis becomingegitimateo appointnon-catholicsn considerableumbers. fterall what s Presbyterianr Catholicphysics?uch a conceptions basicallyanachronistic.his need not,however,implyhat religion"asdeclined.thas,to be sure,assumed morerestrictedplace in theculturalnd socialsystem,but thismayin factstrengthenatherthanweakentsstrategicmportance.Historical ackground

The contemporaryituationan cer-tainly e moreclearly nderstoodfitshistoricalackgroundnthedevelopmentofAmericanulturendsocietys madeexplicit.n what ollows shall itefewfactswhich re not verygenerallya-miliar o suchan audience.t is, how-ever, articularlymportantothethesesI wish o advance boutthecontempo-rary ituationhat hese ackgroundactsshould eclearlyeptnmind.Theseventeenthcenturyolonies romwhich henation evelopedadanextra-ordinarypportunityo startwithmax-imalfreedomromnheritednstitutionswhichwerenecessarilyasic oEuropeansociety. he backgroundf establishedchurches hich ormany enturiesad125

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126 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHbeen deeplyinvolvedwithpoliticalsys-tems is the freedommost important tthereligious evel. In strictlyecular so-ciety the most importantwas freedomfrom the inherited tratificationystem,above all the distinction etweenheredi-tary aristocracynd commonpeople. In-sulationfrom hepower system fEuro-pean stateswas also fundamental.

To be sure the settlers rought re-ligious traditionwiththem which morethan any othersinglefactordeterminedtheir orientationsnd goals. It included,at the evelofdevelopmentt had reachedin the earlyseventeenthentury,he es-tablishment f religionas a self-evidentnecessity, ut thiswas stillverydifferentfrom uropeanestablishedhurches,vensuch as the Church of England, or ofScotland.There was a much closer ap-proximation o coincidenceof the secu-lar and religious eadership han in anyEuropeancase; it was indeed, n theearlyphases,a kindof"theocracy."

InstrumentalctivismThe Protestantism rought to thiscountrywas mainlyderivative romCal-vinism, utin the formwhere a "liberal-ization" from the earlierrigorswas al-readyunderway.The relative emocracyof Congregational hurchpolitywas in-dicative, ven thoughmembershipn thechurchwas confined o thepresumptive-ly Elect. The religioustradition haredwith the more orthodoxCalvinismtheorientation have called instrumentalactivism." With its long historygoingback to theOld Testament,t conceivedthereligious ommunitys a Holy Com-munity stablished o do God's Will onEarth,to establish ndeeda kingdom f

God on Earth. This orientation as cer-tainlygreatly ccentuated n the Calvin-istic movementgenerally nd could beparticularly alient among our colonialancestorsbecause of the freedomfromEuropean entanglements hichtheyen-joyed.The Calvinistic radition ertainly ada potential ftheocraticuthoritarianism,whichwasconspicuousn tsearlyphases,and crystallizedn such cases as thePrussian monarchy the Hohenzollernswere Calvinists,) and the AfrikanersnSouth Africa.' The main line of devel-opmentin the United States,however,has beenquitedifferent.5The crucial religiousprocesswas thebreaking throughof the religio-social"two-class" ystem, heologicallyf ElectandReprobates, ocially f Churchmem-bersandthosedeliberatelyxcludedfrommembership,withthe presumptionhatthe former were also the "governingclass."All came eventually o be consideredeligibleforsalvation ftheywouldmakethe basic commitment f faith. Thesethen could scarcely be excluded frommembershipn the church.The churchbecame the association,not of thosedi-vinely ppointed yElection,but of thosetrulyn thefaith,whobytheir wncom-mitments ad qualified or nclusion. al-vinismfurthermore,estroyed nybasiclegitimationf the institutionf aristoc-racyby biologicalheredity. he secularsocial parallel to the suspicionthat anelect who overtly roclaimedtheirownsainthoodmightn factbe, notDivinelyElected, but merely elf-appointed, asthatpositions f leadership nd privilegein the secularsociety ould not be legiti-matedby hereditarytatus,but only byindividual uality ndachievement.


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 127Given the activismof the whole cul-turalmovement,heseconsiderations n-derlaya powerful mpetus o generalizedeligibilityfor church membership, odemocratization f internal hurchpol-ity,and to the voluntary rinciplewithrespect o membership.ince thereneverwas only one possible denominationalcollectivity,his n turn trongly uggest-ed the desirabilityf religious olerationin principle, ot as onlya matter f ex-pediencyfor theprotectionf public or-der. Granted thisconception, he legiti-macy of a plurality f denominationalgroupsfollowed. t was, furthermore,l-logical that any one such group shouldenjoy the special privileges f establish-ment, includingfinancialsupportfrompublic taxation;hence thedoctrine, eryradical for its day, of separationofChurch and State,was an almost inev-itable conclusion,when a federal unionwas to be formed specially mongpre-vious colonies which had had differingreligiousconstitutions. There was noChurch of Englandwhichhad been pre-viouslyestablishedn all the colonies tostand n theway.That thisprovisionwasnotfelt o be an abdication fthe seriousinterests f religion s stronglyndicatedby Miller's statement" hat it was notseriouslycontroversial n the Constitu-tional Convention. urelythe Enlighten-menthad not by that time so "under-mined religion" n America that therewere no defendersof its cause braveenough o speakup.

IndividualizationRevivalism, irstn theGreatAwaken-ing of the eighteenthentury nd thenthroughouthefirst alfofthenineteenth,

played a very prominentrole in thisprocess, n playingdownthesignificance

of the specific enetsof belief and reli-gious practicewhichdivided Protestantdenominations rom ach other, n favorof the common foundation f commit-ment nChristian aith.

In secular societytherewas a con-comitantand relatedprocess of "indi-vidualization".Thus therewas progres-sive political democratization,with forexamplethe abolitionof propertyuali-fications or hefranchise. here wascon-solidation f thesystem funiformegalrights,n the firstnstanceembodied ntheBill ofRights, utplaying n impor-tantpart in the state constitutions,ndbeingfurtherevelopedby theprocessesof judicial decisionand sometimesnewlegislation. Though a stratifiedociety,the emergingAmerican,withthe West-ward movement nd the growth f in-dustries nd cities n theolderparts,wasa societyof unusualopennessof oppor-tunity.Hence its stratification as notpredominantlyne of thehereditaryta-tus groupsbutrather ne of a good dealof mobility n relationto achievementvalues.

Role ofPublicEducationA particularlymportantointof crys-tallizationof the differentiationetweenreligiousand secular sphereswhich fo-cused on the separationof church andstate,was thedevelopment,tartingbout1840 of a comprehensiveystem f freepubliceducation. incethe eparation adbeen generalized o the state level, de-nominationallyontrolled ublic schools-as for xample n Quebec-were inter-preted o be clearlyunconstitutional,ndthepublicschool system ecamein prin-ciple secular.Gradually,notonlydid an


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128 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHincreasingroportionf thepopulationreceive elementaryducationthroughthis ystem,utfirsthesecondaryndthenthehigher ducation ectorbegantoexpand reatly.n the atterasetherebegan hedevelopmentf thesystemfstateuniversitiesnd colleges,whichntheconstitutionalature f thecasehadto be secular, ut at the sametime twas most ignificanthat he eading ri-vate nstitutionsfhigherducation,re-ciselyn theirvolutionromolleges ouniversities,ecamebroadly,hough otpainlessly,ecularized. hismay,ndeed,be consideredohavebeena major on-dition fthedevelopmentftheAmeri-can universityystem. Since religiouscontrolfeducationasbeen o jealous-ly guarded n so much of the past,thiswas a particularlymportantocusof the autonomyf secular ocietynAmericanevelopment.

NewImmigrant roupsAt leastfor hefirstenturyf ts n-dependentxistence, merican ocietythougheparatinghurchnd state ndinstitutionalizingeligiousoleration,otonly mongtsplural rotestantenom-inations, ut beyond,was basicallyProtestantociety.Jews and Catholics,thougholerated nd notsuppressedrpersecuted,were negativelyolerated;theydidnotfully elongn thereligio-social community.ven withthe con-siderablerish ndGermanmmigrationin themid-centuryhe non-Protestantswere relativelymall minorities. utabout1890 there tartedhemajor n-flux fthe new mmigration"ainlyfJews rom astern urope ndofCath-olics fromEastern especially oland)andSouthernespeciallytalian)Europe.In theperiodfrom hento thebeginning

ofthefirstWorldWar,whichtoppedt,somethingike 15 millionscame in,which, onsideringhepopulations of1890 (62,947,714)7 was a verysub-stantialncrement.urthermore,nlikemostof theprevious ineteenthenturyimmigration,he bulkofthesewentnotto theopenagriculturalands, uttothegrowingndustrialities, ormingnitial-lytheprincipalower lassofthese om-munities.Thoughdenominationallyluralistic,Americanociety ad,up to that ime,

enjoyed notable eligio-ethnicomog-eneity;t was predominantly,nEnglishterms nonconformist"rotestant,ndethnicallynglo-Saxon.urthermore,hespecial roup ftheformeregro laves,which hough rotestantere n a veryspecialposition, ererelativelynsulatedfromhemain ocial urrentsn theruralSouth, n isolationeinforcedytheJimCrowsystem hichhad beenpermittedby the North o growup in thePost-Reconstructioneriod.Thenew mmigrantroups, hich if-fered romheWASPmajorityoth th-nically nd religiously, ight erywellhavebecome onsolidateds solidaryn-claves withinhehostsociety,ike theJewsn the aterRomanworld,n suchcities s AlexandriandRome tself.ora time his eemedikelyohappen,withtheEthnic ensenessf theJewishow-er East Side of New York,thePolishconcentrationsn Chicago, he "littleItalys", ot ospeak fthe rish nSouthBoston. hishasnot,however,eenthemainpattern. ather,hese roups avecometo be "included"n the mainna-tionalcommunityn such a way thatboth thnicndreligioustatus avebe-come,though ot by anymeansran-domly, tillvery ubstantiallyross-cut


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 129with most of the other mportantocialand economic bases of differentiationfthesociety.

On thesocial side one important ointis thatthemetropolis ame to theimmi-grantpopulationsrather hantheirhav-ing to diffuse ut into rural and small-townAmerica. By this I mean that theinflux f newimmigrantsnto the argesturbancommunitiesoincidedwith a ma-jor trend or hesociety s a wholeto be-come morehighly rbanized, o thatbythe latestcensus,of 1960, substantiallymore than halfof thepopulation ive inwhatthe Bureau of Census calls "Stand-ardMetropolitan reas." In all societies,citieshave been farmoreeffectivemelt-ing pots" than rural communities ndsmalltowns.Theyhave,given heclosingof thefrontier,bviouslybeen theprin-cipal loci of occupational opportunity.Theyhave, above all, been the social lo-cations in whichthe higher ccupationsand hence the biggeropportunitiesavebeen concentratednd inwhich hequal-itatively ifferentypesof such occupa-tions,e.g. businessmen, oliticians, ivilservants nd members f theprofessionshave most been throwntogether.Thisis to say that,giventheprobabilityherewould be a major trendof upwardmo-bilityn the mmigrantopulation, t waslikelyto go farthest nd fastest n theincreasinglyrban nvironment.

On the ethnic and religious ide it isprobablyparticularlymportanthatboththeJewish nd theCatholicgroupswereethnicallydiverse.Moreover,both hadsubgroups which were established inAmerican ociety nd in certainrespectsintegratedn it before hemajornumer-ical influx,namely in the Jewishcasecertain groups of German origin with

theirassociationwiththeReformmove-ment, nd in theCatholiccase, ofcourse,theIrishand to a lesser extentGermans.In anycase, as Herberg8 rgues,religionhas tended to replace ethnicity s themain focus of identity f membersofthese groups in the second and thirdgenerations.An indexof this is the in-creasingly igh ncidenceof ethnic nter-marriagewithin ather han between hereligiousgroups.Religion n these cate-gories is a more generalized nd hencepotentially niversalisticasis of identi-fication han s ethnicityforigin.More-over ethnicdiversity,nd in the Jewishcase denominational,could provide astructural arallel to the denominationaland otherdiversity ithin he Protestantcommunity.One should not underestimate hestrainput by this immensewave of im-migration f relatively foreign"groupson theolderAmerican ommunity. ore-over thetrend o inclusion n essentiallya pluralisticasiswhichhas emergedwasnot the "easy" way, indeed in cases ofanything ike comparable scale, it hasbeen rare in history.Two evidences ofthe strain may be brieflymentioned.One of these was the tendencyof theWhite,Anglo-Saxon, rotestantWASP)communityo consolidatedefensivelyycontrastwith he new mmigrantsn sucha way as in variousrespects o seem toexclude them from full "citizenship."There have been various evidences ofthis,not least of whichwas the fact thatthe periodfromroughly he turnof thecenturyhrough hetwentieswas one ofperhapsthestrongestretensionso aris-tocracy since before Andrew Jackson.This centered n the "Eastern Establish-ment," ducationallynthe"IvyLeague."A strong ura of "snobbish"anti-Semi-


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130 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHtismwas involved.Apartfrom dmissionto colleges at all, Jewswereemphatical-lynotwelcomed n fraternitiesndclubs,or in elite summerresorts nd the like.Quite clearlythe masses of Irish,Polesand Italians, were simply the "lowerclasses" who counted only as a laborforce. This was a period of the widecurrencyfderogatorythnic abels suchas "kike,""wop," "mick" and "polack."The virtualdisappearanceof such labels-and the strong ontestingf the rightto speak of "niggers"-are symptomsfa majorchange.

Anti-ForeignentimentThe other most important videncewas thestrongwave ofanti-foreignenti-mentwhichculminated n theyearsafterthefirstworldwar.Radicalismfigurednthe indictment f the "foreign" s manymanifestations uch as the Sacco-Van-zetticase showed,but perhaps ts mainmeaningwas hostilityo everythingon-WASP. That thiswas by no meansonlya matter f sentimentss shownby thehighlyrestrictive mmigrationAct of1924 whichestablished henational ori-gins quota system significantlyith1890 as the base year whichhas onlyin the last sessionof Congressbeen re-pealed. This was the period of revivalof the Ku Klux Klan not only in theSouth but nationwide. t was at onceanti-Negro, nti-Semiticnd anti-Catho-lic. This in turn was surelyrelated tothe isolationismwhichprompted he re-pudiation ftheTreatyofVersailles ndtheLeague ofNations n theSenate; in-deed thewholetragedyfWoodrowWil-son. The pressure n thenationderivingfrom n involvementn theworldpower

system ommensurate ithour resourceswas certainly evere,butwithout hein-

ternal trains ccasionedbytheassimila-tive problemmanyof the reactionsdonot eemtobe comprehensible.Mass anti-Semitismf the typecom-monest n Europe,especiallyn theNazimovement,did not appear here earlyand its most importantmanifestation,themovemented byFatherCoughlin nthe 1930's was relativelyevanescent.Neverthelesst seems egitimateo assertthat the most important arly focus ofthe inclusionprocessfrom hisside wasthe upward mobilityof the immigrant

Jewish roup, ndthatwhat havecalledsnobbishanti-Semitismas largely re-action to that.This mobility evelopedindependent ases, especially n certainsectors fsmaller usiness elativelyloseto the consumer, .g. clothing,depart-mentstores nd certain ields ffinance.Lack of Jewishparticipationn the de-velopmentof big industry as been soconspicuous as to open these industriesto the same charge of anti-Semiticx-clusion as has appliedto ivy eague fra-ternities. ence plausibly heirmoveintothesystem f higher ducationhas beenconspicuous, utnot initially ia the IvyLeague, but above all themunicipal ol-leges such as those of the New Yorksystem.

Partly parallel, was the rise of thespearheadingCatholic group, the Irish,above all through he channel of localpolitics nd the morecloselyrelated ec-tors of business,notablythe kinds ofcontractingwhich were especially de-pendent n publicexpenditures. atholicinvolvement n higher education haslagged far behindJewish, speciallybe-cause of the relative ultural solationofthe Catholic systemuntilveryrecently,in qualitative erms.9More slowly hesepredominant rish developmentshave


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 131been imitatedn the othermainlyCatho-lic groups, houghwithconsiderabledif-ferences f emphasis n each. Perhaps aparticularly ignificantymbiosis ay inthefact thattheless-than-eliteectorsofthe legal profession, otablythe gradu-ates of urban nightschools, containedextremelymportant roupsofboth Jew-ish and Irishorigin.

UpwardMobilityGiven the fact that the locus of both

thesemajor processeswas in the largercities,and that the citieswere growingin relative mportance otheconomicallyand politicallyduringthisperiod,thesemajor processes of upward mobilitybrought the groups involved squarelyinto the mainstreamf American ociety.They could not be insulated n ghetto-like enclaves but were exposed to thefullforce f thedifferentiatingndplural-izingtrends f the main society.Here itis particularlyignificanthatupgradingwith respect to wealth and degree of"Americanization"coincided with twomajor developmentsn the social struc-ture,connectedwith,but distinctfrommetropolitanizations such. These werefirst he growth f large-scaleorganiza-tion and with t the individualization fthebasisof status ndmobility rospects.The old typeof smallfamily irm oulduse formal or oftentotallyunconsciousexclusionist olicieson a basis whichthelarge corporation r public agencycan-not,even apartfrom egal restrictionsntheir reedom o do so, whichhave beenmultiplying.The second is thefactthattheperiodin questionwas one of thebeginning fthemassiveeducationalupgrading f the

populationbeyondthe elementaryevel.This clearly nvolves heparticipationfbroadening ectionsof the relevant gegroups n thesystem,ndprecisely iventhe situationust sketched,not only in-cluding the non-WASPS in secondary,butincreasinglynhigher ducation.Thislatter is probably the most importantdevelopment. s David Riesmanhas ra-marked, f there s a definedAmericanline between upper" and "lower" class-es, the most important ingle criterionhas come to be thatof collegeeducationas definingheformer roup.Not onlyhas a farhigher ractionofthe age cohort in the United Statesbeen receivinghigher ducationthan inour own past or in the principalEuro-pean countrieswithwhichwe are wontto compareourselves, ut suchextensivehighereducationcould not be confinedto a narrow elf-appointedristocracyfWASP character. ts linesextend ar ntothe new immigrant roups. Probably aconsiderably arger proportionof Jewsthan of WASPS are now college gradu-ates,and though or theCatholicgroupsit is not yet as high, t has been veryrapidly ising.There are various other importantchanges,which annotbe goneintohere.One point is, however, clear beyonddoubt. This is that the fear,especiallyclearly expressed by Andre Siegfried'0that the stratificationntroduced y thenew immigration ould crystallizentoa permanent lass division longthe ineof ethnicitynd religion, as provednotto be wellfounded.The ethnicgroupsofthenew immigration ave by and large,though still incompletely,ome to be"included" in the main Americancom-munitywithout eference o special class


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132 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHstatus.Our pluralistic ases of differenti-ation cut increasinglycross theseethniclines, rather han coincidingwith them.A richJewish amilyiketheStrausesortheGuggenheims, r a rich rishfamilylike the Kennedys s much more a richfamily ike rich Protestants,han it ismarkedbyitsethnic-religiousrigin.Thesame principle applies down the line,perhaps considerably ccentuated y thefact that both the professional nd thegovernmentalectorsof thehigher ccu-pationalstructure ave greatlyncreasedrelativeothebusinessworld.

TheNegroesIf by and large,as suggested,henewimmigrationas come to be successfullyincluded n the Americannationalcom-munity, hereis now acute strain overanother migrant group, the Negroes.Though, of course, not immigrants othecountryn recent imes, s mass mi-grants into the large cities, especiallythe Northbut also the South,fromtheruralSouth,theyare in manyways in apositionsimilarto the new immigrantsof two and moregenerationsgo, as theuse of the term ghetto" uggests. hereis probably critical enseinwhich heyconstitutehe "end of the ine" so farasthe process of inclusion of new groupsin the maincommunityoes. In anycasethe factthat nclusion f thenew immi-grationhas gone beforeis, in spite ofthe very importantdifferences f thecases, exceedinglymportant. here hasnot as yetbeen as marked a processofspontaneous pwardmobility mongNe-groes-largely thoughnot entirelybe-cause of barriers mposed in the whitecommunity-as amongthe white mmi-

grants, uttheres goodreasontobelievethatthepathof inclusionwill in fact be

followed n this ase also.12 The religiousaspectof the case will be discussedbe-low.II

Intimately ssociatedwith the socialchanges just sketched,there has beenemergingntheUnitedStatesa new reli-gious constitutionwhich is even moreuniquethanthe Protestant enomination-al pluralism,withseparationof churchand state,which characterized he firstcenturyfournational xistence. his is,of course, the ecumenicalJudeo-Chris-tiansystem, irstlearly utlined yHer-berg.Here theJewishgroups,and evenmorenotablyperhaps, heRoman Cath-olic group,have come to be included nourpluralisticeligious ommunity.hesegroupsare no longer olerated y an es-sentially rotestantommunity,uthavecome to be included as full membersin it. This brings eligious ffiliationntolinewith ecularcitizenshipnd freedomofopportunityn thesecularworld.Thismeans that the religiouscommunity fthe American nationis no longerProt-estantexcept in its historicalorigins-it is an ecumenicalJudeo-Christianom-munity.TheEcumenicalJudeo-ChristianystemThe processhas certainly een goingon fora considerable eriod,butreacheda special symbolicculmination n thecandidacy,electionand assassination fJohnF. Kennedy.Therehas neverbeenevena Jewish andidate f a majorpartyforthePresidency, ut this fact s prob-

ably explained more by the relativelyapolitical tendenciesof Jewishculture


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 133thanby a strongerrejudice gainstJewsthan againstCatholics in this field.Onmoregeneralgrounds shouldarguethatthe inclusion n the broad sense of boththeabove social and thepresent eligiouscommunity,f the Jewspresentsfewerdifficultiesn theAmerican ituation handoes the Catholic.

In any case, after32 years,for thesecond time a Roman Catholic of Irishoriginwas nominated y theDemocraticParty.That "prejudice"on the score ofreligionwas by no means dead is indi-cated by thefact, ccording o themostcompetentestimates, hat his religioncostMr.Kennedy pproximatelywomil-lion votes-in otherwords had his othercharacteristicseen about the same astheywerebuthe had been a Protestant,he wouldhave had a considerable opu-lar margin nsteadofwinning y a hair.But he was elected and this factbrokethespellof the fearsofwhatwouldhap-pen were a Catholic ever to occupytheWhite House. This symbolicsettlementof the ssuewas, furthermore,astly on-solidated by the public significance fand reactionto the assassination.Therewas no questionwhatever fthe ntensityand evenmorethealmostuniversal ar-ticipation n the "griefreaction" occa-sioned,whichclearlymeant the full ac-ceptancethatnotonlythePresident, uttheFirstCitizen of thenationhad beenlost. The religious spect,of course,wassymbolically ighlighted y the fact thata dead Catholicnaturallywould have aCatholic funeral.The funeral,however,was not only a privateoccasion fortheKennedyfamily nd theirfriends, ut asolemn tateoccasionat thehighestevel.Hence Cardinal Cushing, n conductingtheservice n theWashington athedral,was not only a priestof the Catholic

church, ut actedas religious pokesmanforthenationas a whole,the first imea non-Protestantould be said to havefunctionedn thatrole. Clearlythe im-mediacyof theseeventsfor thepopula-tionat largethrough elevisionmmense-ly increased heir mpact.A furthercu-menical ouchwas addedbythefactthatthe first ccasion forLyndonJohnson'sleavingWashington s Presidentwas toattend he funeral f a Jew n a ReformTemple--SenatorLehmanofNew York.It goes without ayingthat thesede-

velopments n the United States werelinked withand reinforcedy those out-side. Revulsionagainst the Nazi policyagainsttheJews, ulminatingn their t-temptat extermination,ertainly osedverysharply heproblemof thepositionof theJews n Western ocietygenerallyand strengthenedhe forcesmakingforfull nclusion, n thiscountry s well asin Europe. In worldwideCatholicismtherehad been liberalizingurrents low-ing for a considerabletime, but theycame to a dramaticpublic saliencewiththe new tone set by Pope JohnXXIIIin his briefreign, nd theseweretrans-lated intomore than "tone" by the ac-tionsoftheVaticanCouncil.Ecumenicalextension beyond the Judeo-Christianrange has been at least suggestedbyJohn's marked softening f the olderCatholic campaign against "atheisticCommunism"ndbyhissuccessor's ver-tures o thenon-Westerneligiousworld,Arab Muslims on the occasion of hisvisit to Palestine, nd Hindus as well asMuslims on that of his later visit toIndia. The visit to the United Nationscertainlyonstituted stillfurtherxten-sion ofthistrend.Giventhefactthatformany centuriesno Pope had leftItaly,these are surely symbolic ventsof the


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134 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHfirstmportance.ertainlyimilar cu-menical rends avebeenoccurringn aworldbasis in Protestantism,speciallythroughheWorldCouncil fChurches.

Religious omponentsrivatizedReturningo theAmericanituation,three spects fthegeneral evelopmentmaybe emphasized.irst,t s clear hatthemore xtensiveherange f denom-inationalnclusion ithinhe Americansystem he more the denominationally

specific omponentsf religious elief,practicendorganization ustbe "pri-vatized."As Millerhas shown,"withinAmerican rotestantism,he ong-stand-ingRevivalistmovementlayed n im-portant art n encouraginghistrend.Certainlyhe same can be said of theinfluencef theReformmovementnJudaism,nd now thenewposition fthe Catholic hurch n religiousibertybringst muchfurtherntothegeneralsystemnthis espect. t least t can besaidnow hat Rome"no ongeroleratesnon-Catholicsnlynegatively,utposi-tively;heyhave a positive ighto fol-low thedictates ftheirwn onsciences,even houghhedecisiongainst atholi-cism edeplored.

Atthe ociologicalevel his rivatiza-tion s, ofcourse, xpressedn thefirstinstancenthe onceptionfthe eligiousorganizations a voluntaryssociation,whichs entitledo conduct tsown af-fairs o longas it stayswithin hegen-eralbounds stablishedfor voluntarygroupswith eferenceopublic rder ndnoninterferenceith thers. his leavesconsiderableoom or ariation,otonlyin detailed elief, ut n ritual ndcom-munalpractice nd in church olity-e.g. bothrather entralized piscopaland

ratherradical congregational ormsarerepresented.Giventhe historical ackground ftheAmerican ystemntheactivisticoncep-tionof theHolyCommunity,hequestionobviously risesof whattheimplicationsof both ecumenical diversificationnd"secularization"as manifested oth inthe separationof churchand state andin thesecularizationf evenprivatehigh-er educationmaymean. Many have in-terpretedt to mean that the historical

background alue-conceptions dead; weallegedlyhave become a secular societyin a sense more or less like that envi-sionedby themore radical anti-religiouswing of the Enlightenment,nd carriedon in our own day by the Communistmovement.Some would even say thattheonlydifferenceetween urselves ndthe Communists n this respect s thatwe do not make the suppression f or-ganized religiona centralpublic policybut are content o let t "die on thevine."To me this seems to be a fundamentalmisconception.

"CivicReligion"One major evidence of this is themergence fwhatBellahW3as called theAmerican"Civic Religion." There is asubtle ine between heconstitutionale-quirements f the separationof churchand state,and the respects n which a"belief n God" is held to be character-isticof and even n a senseconstitutivefthe national ommunity. e use themot-to "In God We Trust" on coins and invarious other ymbolic ontexts. he ex-pression"One Nation underGod" is anational logan, lso usedofficially.resi-dential naugurationsre, so far,always


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 135attendedby prayersand invocationsbythe clergy, houghdeliberately ot con-fined o thoseof one "faith." The sameis trueofopening fsessionsof theCon-gress. Moreover the speeches and pro-nouncements f political eaders,notablyPresidents uch as Kennedy ndJohnson,abound with religiousreferenceswhichoften avean almost iblical one.

One may perhaps say that the "the-ology"of this "civicreligion" s carefullykeptat a verygeneral evel,so muchsothat t may sometimes e interpretedobe more deistic than theistic.This, ofcourse, s in accordwith hetrend ftheRevivalist raditionwithin rotestantism.A particularlymportant roblem t thislevel, however, oncerns ts implicationsforthe statusof the "secularhumanist"componentof the population,who.cer-tainly are numerically mall, but stra-tegically mportantecause they ompriseso many membersof the "intellectual"groups.That thesegroupsshould be in-cluded, certainly s the case-and inmanycases theyhave been in the van-guardof the most mportantnternal e-velopments f the religious radition t-self. In a more negativesense, in thelatterpartof the last century heyweretheones who above all insisted hatthereligioustraditionmust come to termswiththedevelopmentf modern cience,in thatperiod notablyDarwinism nd itsrelatedmovements.n our own timethemore radical movementswithinProtes-tanttheologywould be incomprehensiblewithout heir nfluence.t may well bethat the "deistic" tenor of so much ofthe civic religion s significantn pro-moting nclusiveness n thisfront.Thisis a major problemwhichhas existedforAmerican religion certainlyever sincethe Enlightenment,nd played a major

part in theatmosphere f thefoundationof the religiousconstitution f the na-tion. t is onlynecessary o mention henamesofFranklin nd Jeffersono makethis lear.

Further, t has oftenbeen notedthatmilitant theismof the variety o com-mon in Europe has been minimal n theUnited States over a veryconsiderableperiod. This is partly function f theabsence of an established hurch-therehas beenno singleofficial lergy o formthefocusofa stronganti-clerical"move-ment.Perhaps t can be said that n this,as in a variety f otherrespects,Ameri-can societyhas found tpossibleto!focusnear the"center"ofthemaintendenciesof Western olarization,withminimal t-traction y the extremes.We are not a"religious" societyin the sense of theolder models centeringbout the singleestablishe'dhurch, ven in itsReforma-tion period Protestant ersion,nor arewe a "secular" society n the sense oftheCommunistdeal.

"MoralCommunity"The "civicreligion" ertainly oes notconstitute single"church" n theusualmodern sense. It is, however, think,evidence of the existence f whatDurk-heim'1 called a "moral community,"whichat the evelofinstitutionalizedal-ues and their ultural egitimationas aunified eligious ase. This base, frompluralisticone in Protestant erms,hasbecome an ecumenical one in Judeo-Christianterms and may well broadenstill further. his is a phenomenonofwhat, technically, have called value-generalization. hisgeneralizations fully

compatiblewiththe integrityf the in-strumentallyctivisticvalue-pattern or


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136 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHa society,which fter ll had its firstmajorembodimentn classicalJudaism,andhascharacterizedhristianityhrougha longseriesof phases,particularlynWestern atholicism,nd at a more d-vanced hase nthemovementfasceticProtestantism.'5

The mostmportantink f thismove-ment o the mergingecular ociety aslain in the fundamentalonceptionfconscience. fthedouble rientationef-erencecomponents hichhave charac-terizedll Judeo-Christianradition,ndcertainlythers,his s thereferenceoreligiousman'sconcern orhis fellow-man, ndthesocietyfwhich oth reparts,nthis ife. uritanismimply en-eralizedhe onceptionfconsciencee-yond he evels ttainedy tspredeces-sors in the developmentaleries,andthereby ifferentiatedt more sharplyfromtherlementsnthe omplex,uchas the"cure fsouls" o essential otheCatholicposition.'6Conscience,n thissense,s the ndividual'seligiouslyased-in Tillich's enseof expressingulti-mateconcern"-definitionf his moralobligationsn histemporalife. orgoodsociologicalreasons these obligationscometo focus n theconceptionf thedesirableype fsocietynd thepositionofthe ndividual ithint,as thisworksout n hisvarious lural oles.The valu-ationof typeof society eferso whatwe as sociologistsall societalvalues.Butthis evelcannot e linkedwith heconsciences f individualswithoutrequisiteevel of normativentegrationor "consensus"n thesocietal ommu-nityof reference.t is thisconsensus,imperfects it sinourorany therase,whichonstituteshe moral ommunity"ofwhich speak.

American eligious luralisms onlypossible s an aspect f a genuinemoralcommunityy virtue f thehigh evelofgeneralityt whichhenormativeys-tem o whichtsmembersre boundbyconsciences institutionalized.t is theextrementithesisf the "legalism" fmany ystemsf religiousaw, suchasthose f slam nd of Talmudic udaism.Theonlypecificontentsthat xpressedin thegreatmoralabstractionsf ourtraditionuch as freedom, ith ts im-plication f toleration,ustice,certainbasic equalities f status, ighachieve-ment, esponsibilityotonlyforothers,but ncollectiveffairs.Just s in mattersfreligionndividualfreedomndthevoluntaryrincipleavebecome ery rominent,o in secularifetheres a strongremiumn individualfreedom,utthis s onlypossiblefcol-lective esponsibilitys takenformain-tainingndimprovingheconditionsfsuch freedom nd of the goals andachievementsorwhicht is to be used.Henceour typeof "moralism"s deli-cately alancedn a range femphases,from heconscientiouserformanceyeach individualfhis owntasks n hispurely rivate apacity,n his job, hisfamilyelationsndthe ike, nd a wholerangeof collective ontexts romthemultifariousoluntaryssociationsro-motingoodcauses othe ffairsfgov-ernment.he value system resses o-ward ndividualisticmphases,uttheseare of a particularortbecause of theimportancef collective rovision orconditionsf freedomnd achievement,and because o many esirableoalscanonly, r farmore ffectively,e achievedthroughollectiverganization,rom hemanufacturef automobileso the "waron poverty."


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 137Consciencemaybe conceived s a kindof "moral currency,"n certainrespectsanalogous to money. To maintainthehigh evels of freedom nd responsibilityaccorded to individualsand subgroupsrequires veryhigh evelof mutual rust,of whichtolerations one major expres-sion. In the nature of such a societyformidable trains re put on thistrust,byvirtue f such factors s the still un-resolved differences nd conflicts romthe inherited ast, e.g. religious, thnic,sectional, tc.,by virtue f thecontinualgeneration f new lines of cleavage andconflict, nd above all of themerefactof rapid and fundamentalocial changecontinually oingon.

Similarto a monetary ystem,mpair-ment of this trust,which is similartobusiness"confidence,"maylead to "de-flationary"rocesses.Thesetake theformof the imposition f new restrictionsrthe revivalof old ones in the name ofmoralvalues,so that old abuses can al-legedlybe checked and new ones fore-stalled.This maybe called the reactionof moral "fundamentalism" hich s par-allel to and very closely related to re-ligiousfundamentalism. good examplewas the Prohibitionmovement hichwaslargely reaction frural nd smalltownAmerica to thegrowth f big citieswiththeirheavyinvolvement,t the time,offoreign-born opulations-thus in theirdifferent ays Irish, Jews, talians pro-foundlyobjected to being deprivedofalcoholic beverages entirely.The nearcoincidence n timeof the 18thamend-ment,the anti-foreigngitationof theearly 1920's, and the ImmigrationActof 1924 was not purelycoincidental.

This is not,however, hewhole story.Focus on very specificmoral issues hasoftenbeen a major step and factor nthegeneralprocessof extension nd in-clusion of the moral communitywhichhas been theprimaryhemeofthe earli-estpartofthese ectures.Thus theaboli-tion movement n the mid nineteenthcenturywas sucha movement, hichhadmuch to do with "moral mobilization"toward saving the Union. The SocialGospel movement f the late nineteenthcenturywas on thewhole "fundamental-ist" initseconomicpositions-Rauschen-busch forexamplecould see littlemoraljustificationf the free enterprise usi-ness system-but it was very mportantin paving the way for the inclusion ofthe immigrantmasses, and forthe typeof publicpolicy oriented o "social jus-tice" whichwas embodied in the NewDeal.

On the backgroundwhichhas beensketched bove, I have chosenthis ssueof the ambivalences nd fluctuationsftheAmerican onscience s my principalexample,forthe astpartof the ectures,of thecomplex ntertwining,n our kindof pluralistic ociety, f religion nd thesecular social order. This choice clearlyreflects sociological nterest nd there-fore s highlyelective elative o thetotalreligious situationof the present.Forexample I shall entirely eglectthe fas-cinatingrelationsbetweentheology ndcertain ntellectualmovements s mani-festedforexample n the "God is dead"theology. These movements lso havesociological relevance,but afterall onecannot treatthe whole universe n twolectures, nd perhapsa certain rbitrari-ness of selection s justified.


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138 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHIII

One of theprincipalkeynotes f theselectureshas been the natureand impor-tance of a process of change whichincomplex interdependence as involvedboththereligious nd the social systemsof American society.This has been aprocess of increasingdifferentiationfthe variouscomponents, nd of upgrad-ing previously iscriminatedgainstele-ments-e.g. the presumptive eprobatesof early Congregationalism-and nclu-sionof thepreviouslyxcluded, s in thecase of Jews and Catholics in a previ-ously Protestant ationalreligiouscom-munity. his has, finally,meantthat themain common normative tructure ascome to be placed on a level of higherand highergeneralizationfit was to in-clude widerranges fpluralistic iversity.

These processesof change,moreover,do notoccurevenly n all partsof eithersystem. he fact,however, hatthe mainprocess of change itself has a broadlyunitary haractermeans thatthere s acertainuniformityn the modes and ef-fectsof itsuneven ncidence.The systemis sufficientlyomplexso thattherewillbe diversificationf theseeffectsn dif-ferent ectorsof the culture nd the so-cial structure,utthesewill stillbe vari-ationson a theme.This finalsectionofthe lectureswillbe devotedto analyzingthismain theme nd a fewofthe diversi-ties andtheirnterrelations.

The maincommontheme s thetend-ency to polarizationon the axis of theprocessofchange tself, etween heele-mentswhich tendto be in theforefrontof the changesand thosewhich, n parthavingbeen bypassedby it,when it be-ginsto affecthemmobilizeresistance oits continuation nd spread,on occasion

evenattemptingoreverset,which ome-times can be partiallyand temporarilysuccessful.

The main outline f theprocess n thefield of religion tselfhas been sketchedabove. Here there s a sense nwhich heAmerican eligious ystems a majorpre-cipitateof the processes of differentia-tion which have occurred n the wholeof Judeo-Christianistory.Whatis new,however, s the inclusionof so manyofthese differentiatedomponents in asingle national systemon the level ofmutual toleration they have attained,whereas many of them took shape insituations of religious monopoly of awhole society, harply xcluding ll com-petition.n thecentral raditionfasceticProtestantismhe old two-classsystemhas been eliminated for most of thedescendantsof the colonial churches.Where it is stillpresent, s in the rela-tion of the Catholic religiousorderstothe laity, t is not in a position o dom-inate the religious ituation s a wholeas it once did,particularlyn theMiddleAges. As we have just pointedout, thepluralisticdiversity f religiousbodieshas brought he commonorientation o-ward secular societyto the level of abasicallymoral consensus,the religiouslegitimationf which s mediated hroughconscience. To operate successfullynsuch a complex societythis consensusmustconfinemoral mperativeso a verygeneral evel; thusto say thattheItalianCatholic to whom wine is one of thefundamental ood things f life is suchan immoralman that his drinking an-not be toleratedn our society s clearlyincompatible ithwhat have called theconditions f nclusion.


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 139Fundamentalist rientation

Especially in the Protestantcontextthepole ofresistanceo themainprocessofchange s broadlyrepresentedywhatwe call Fundamentalism.t is usuallyas-sociated with biblical literalism, ut be-yondthatwithwhat have called a "de-flationary"ypeof moralrigorism, hichwould impose a specificityf standardswhich cannotpossiblybe accepted gen-erally n our typeof pluralistic ociety.Literal compliancewith such standardsbecomes, however, a test of religiousstatus;thenoncompliers treated s ba-sicallydisloyal. t is evident hat such atendency reatly arrows herangeopento conscience.A member s not trustedto act conscientiously,n thelight f themoralprinciples, ut also of theparticu-lar circumstances, hichmayvaryenor-mouslyfromcase to case. Rather, t isprescribed o him ustwhathe mustandmust not do. Thus a certainfundamen-talistrigorism hichmaynot be entirelydead now would consider ndulgingn asimplegame of cards-not formoney-on a Sundaysufficientroundforexpul-sion from he church.

It is,ofcourse,bythiskindofpaththat"legalistic" ystems f religious aw haveled to a special typeof "moral solation"of theirmembers. The case closest toour own is that of the veryOrthodoxJews, o whom forexamplethe slightestdeviationfrom heelaboraterulesaboutKosher food are taken most seriouslyeven thoughto an outsiderthey seemwholly"trivial"and have nothing o dowith moralprinciple. t is, of course,afact of cardinal importance hat in theAmerican ystemnow, there s a funda-mentalist omponent,not just in Prot-estantism, ut in each of thethreeprin-

cipal faiths. think t is correct o callthe most OrthodoxJews-perhaps par-ticularlyheHassidicgroups-fundamen-talists n this sense. Similarly hereisclearly fundamentalisting n theCath-olic Church,both in the United Statesand moregenerally. ecause of its rela-tively nitaryrganization, owever, uchtendencies an be keptunderbetter on-trol n the Catholiccase thantheothers,though ccasionally heygetout ofhandand disciplinaryctionhas to be taken."7I have, then, uggestedhat he funda-mentalist rientation reatly arrows herange of operationof conscience as amechanism f ordering he relationsbe-tween religiousgroups and secular so-ciety.Conscience cannot operatewherethere s no freedom fconscience,wherethe individual s givenno rangeof dis-cretion within which he is responsiblefor makingthe morally rightdecision,

butwhat s rights prescribed o him inadvance. On the other hand it has beenmade clear that the pluralistic tructureof our religio-social ystemdemands awide rangeof suchfreedom,nd it is inestablishingreligious bases of it that,perhapsmore than n anyotherrespect,"liberal Protestantism" as been essen-tial to the developmentof Americansociety.

IsolationofFundamentalistsOn the religious evel there are twoprincipal ypesof consequenceof funda-mentalism-whicht willbe rememberedI have defined elativelyo the trendofprogressive hange.The firsts thetend-

ency to isolationof the fundamentalistgroup. Protestantismas providedthe


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140 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHopportunityot onlyfordenominationaldifferentiation,ut splitswithindenom-inations.Thus the "hard shell" Baptistshave split off from the main Baptistmovement s essentially fundamentalistgroup. n thecase ofthe Jewsthe isola-tion of the Orthodox s surelynotwhollya function f discriminatoryrejudiceonthepartof theGentilecommunities,utalso a tendency o self-isolation.n thecase of Catholicismwhere it is in aminority osition, s it alwayshas beenin the United States as a whole, thistakes the formof minimizing ontactswithnon-Catholics ndmultiplyingath-olic institutions,bove all in education,but also in all kindsof communityerv-ices and the like. In some Europeancountries, nd in Quebec, this takes theform of separatistpolitical positions-usuallyin such cases, however,religionismixedupwith thnic actors.

Resistance oSocial ChangeThe second tendency, owever, s theone which nterests s most.This is thetendency for fundamentalist eligiousgroups to resistthe kinds of processesof social changewe have been concernedwith,to identifyhemselveswitheither,according o perspective,he statusquoor:an He!!gedlyetterpriorstateof the:oyciy in some respect. n a verybroadway this is certainlythe combinationwhich n Europe in the 18th and 19thcenturiestended to involve what wasusually called the clerical-anti-clericalpolarizationn the moregeneralprogres-sive--conservative olarization n socialdevelopmentnd politics, o thatorgan-ized religion endedto be rangedon theside of politicaland social conservatism,and not uncommonlyreaction. TheMarxian viewof religion n this sense is

notwhollywithout oundation, special-ly for Europe in the time when Marxwrote.The American situation s different,buttheprinciples rebyno means rrele-vant. In the firstplace we developedwithin Protestantism religiousmove-mentwhichhas been a factor n favorofprogressiveocial changerather hanthereverse;this,however tself n part ex-plains the prominence f the fundamen-talist reactionwhich,forexample s not

nearly so prominent n Great Britain.Secondly by virtue of their "minoritygroup" positions,bothJewsand Catho-lics have, in American society, beenplaced in a positionwhichrangedthemin politics nd in social change generallyon theliberal ide.'s This has had muchto do with the rapiditywithwhichthepredominantlyrthodoxJudaismof theEast European immigrantsas been lib-eralized throughthe adherence of somany descendantsto the Reform andConservative ranches. heCatholicpop-ulation, of course,was overwhelminglymobilizedpolitically n the Democraticpartywith ts liberaltendencies special-lyintheNewDeal era.Therehave,how-ever, been many strains,partly occa-sioned by upward mobility f importantsectorsof these groups,but also by acertain nherent atholic "conservatism"certainly elative o liberalProtestantism.This kind of factorhas certainly eenrelevant o the prominent atholic par-ticipation n isolationistmovements,nthe anti-Semitismf FatherCoughlin nthe 1930's, and in theMcCarthymove-ment ntheearly1950's.

This means that herehas been a kindof "deflationary"ollapsingnot only of


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 141themechanism f conscience,but of in-fluence s it operatesbetweenthe gen-eral societal communitynd its govern-mental organization. Such movementshave sought to curtail the pluralisticrangeof the communityn thename ofnational securityand loyalty and theelimination r stringentontrolof sym-bolically"undesirable" nd presumptive-ly disloyal elements.'" For the briefCoughlin episode the Jew served as aprominent ymbolin this context,butby farthe mostpowerful ne has beenthatofCommunism, hich, f course, sverymuch withus still.Communism sthesummaryymbol t thenational andpolitical evel whichcorresponds o thevariousversionsof anti-Christiant themore trictlyeligiousevel.

Fundamentalistsnd RaceWe have been living through dra-matic set of developmentsn thiswholecomplex in the fieldof Race Relationsand CivilRightswhichprovidesbothanexcellent illustration f what has justbeen outlined,and opens the door toanother erymajorset of considerations.Certainly ne of the most mportant s-pects of the situationeadingup to theCivilWarwas, from hepresent ointofview, the relative "backwardness"ofSouthern ociety, s predominantlygrar-ian, aristocraticnd thelike. These fac-tors were immensely einforced y thepresenceof theNegro,firstn the statusofslavery hen, fter he warofa forcib-ly segregatedower class. The necessityforlegitimationf this system henputan immensepremium n Protestant un-damentalismn religion.Not only n theAmerican South but in South Africa20the evolution romCalvinism n the lib-eralProtestant irection as beenchecked

by such factors, nd in both cases hasproducedthebelief hatthe inebetweenthe racescoincidedwith hatbetween heElect and the Reprobates. t hence be-came thereligiousdutyof thewhites sthe presumptivelect,to keep theunre-generateNegroes"in order" n their p-pointed lace insociety.

Hence Fundamentalismas on theonehand generally een farmoreprominentin the South than in the nation as awhole. On the otherhand it has beenclosely inkedwiththedisposition o tryto preserve social systemwhich, or hesecond time in American historywascoming into increasinglyevere conflictwith that of therestof thesociety.Thistime, however, herehas been a varietyof critical ifferencerom1860. The bal-ance of political powerwas such thatasecond attempt t secessionwas neverevenconsidered yanyresponsibleouth-ern politicians.The "Negro problem"was no longer predominantlyr evenmainly Southernby virtue of the im-mensemigrations,bove all to theNorth-erncities-paralleling he"newimmigra-tion."Furthermore,outhern ocietyhadbeen massively infected"by the intro-duction,through ocial change, of pat-ternscharacteristicf theNorth;a con-venient formula s industrializationndurbanization. hismeant, n our context,that the leadingclasses of Southern o-cietywere no longerunequivocally iedto the old system.This was manifestedat thereligious evel in the fact thattheupper level Protestanthurcheswere alldeeply conflicted ver the racial issue.Only real fundamentalistsould have acompletely lear conscience n unquali-fied upport fsegregation.21


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142 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHFundamentalistsndPoliticalConservatism

Most generally, merican ociety s awhole had, in the interveningentury,undergonevery major changes in thepluralistic direction. These changes,whichare too complexto analyzehere,above all can be illustrated y the gen-eralization f the egal system.More andmoreattentions beingpaid to thebroadstandards f the law, of whichthe cur-rentlymost importantone is "EqualProtectionf theLaws." But at thesametime,the applicabilityf thesestandardshas been continually xtendedto newlevelsin the society.The mostconspicu-ous form f this extension as been thatof the Bill of Rightsto matterswithinthe previous jurisdiction f the states.As a result of this type of movementthe "JimCrow" system f legal segrega-tion and subordination f the Negro inthe South has increasingly ecome notmerelymorally ffensive o all but Fun-damentalists,ut egallyntolerable.

In thissetting dramatic eneral on-frontationas occurredwhichmayproveto have a considerable mpact on reli-gious developmentsn this country.Onthe negative ide the essentialphenome-non was the coalescingof religious un-damentalismwithgeneralpoliticalcon-servatismwhich involves a greatmanyfactors, ut centers erhaps n rural andsmall townAmerica and in the sectorsof thecountry eographicallynd of theeconomywhich are most dedicated toalmost a frontier-typendividualisticn-terprise.There has been much discus-sion recently f the new radical Right,and studyhas shown a close associationofmembershipn theseorganizationsnda Fundamentalisteligious ackground."2

In any case, not only did the rightwing capture the Republican Party inputting hrough he Goldwaternomina-tion n 1964, but forthepresent nalysisthe most significantact was that theyadopted the "Southernstrategy" f analmostdirect ppeal to segregationismta timewhenthesegregationistause wasseverelybeleaguered,as by passage ofthe CivilRightsActof 1964. And indeedtheydid carrythe Deep South, but atthe expense of a catastrophic efeat nthecountrys a whole.

The readerwill recall Goldwater's n-sistence throughout he campaign thatthe issues were basicallymoral. This isclearly hefundamentalistypeofrestric-tive "deflationary"moralism. t was, Ithink,basicallyconsensus at this level,nottheshrewdnessfpolitical acticians,whichaccountedforthe Southern trat-egy. It was verymuch a case of birdsofa featherlockingogether.The coalescingof segregationismndgeneral"new Rightism" as, however,counterpartn therealmof moral ssueson theoppositeside. Indeed,so much sthisthe case that no groundof rationalcalculation fthefactors fpolitical uc-cess could account forrunning ead-oninto the wall of moral sentimentackingbasic equalitiesof rights or all citizenswhich has been so prominent, houghsometimes elativelyatent, ince theAb-olitionmovement f more than a cen-turyago. At any rate,the Civil Rightsissue has generated movementwithaverywide spread of involvement. hisincludes,farmorethan at anyprevioustime,major involvement f the Negrocommunitytself, nd increasedmilitan-cy on thepartof a very mportant eg-mentof it. At the same time t involves


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 143very important egmentsof the whitecommunity, otably hosewhohave beenin favorof "liberal" causes all along,butin thiscase on a widerfront hanmostsuchmovements.

Not only this, but Civil Rights hascoalesced to a highdegreewith hewholeproblemof substantivenequality, s dis-tinct from legal and political."' Thelarger ontext, fcourse, s that owhichtheconception f the"poverty roblem"has come to be attached.Now that theend of discriminationgainstthe Negroas such with eferenceobasic egal rightsand to the franchise s in sight, t be-comes increasinglyalient that this willnot suffice o end his "second-class iti-zenship,"butthatthisroots n theprob-lem of his capacities for full participa-tion n thesocietalcommunitynd there-by realistic ccess to its mostimportantrewards. As the center of Civil Rightsconcernmoves from the South to theNorth, hiscomponentmovesto thefore.But the most important oint here isthecoalescenceofconcern or heNegro,with hatofconcernfor thewhole sectorof the populationwhich is defined as"poor." It is because he is poor,as muchas because of his color, thatthe Negrois a second-classcitizen. Full inclusionof thepoor,Negro and white like,pre-supposesmassiveupgrading, ot onlyinmoney ncome,but in educational evel,family rganization nd manyotherre-spects.24

Mobilization n theLeftCorresponding o the mobilization fFundamentalist lementson the Rightover theseissues,therehas been a mo-bilization of religiouselements on the"Left" or theProgressiveide. Undoubt-

edly it has been the Civil Rightsmove-ment more than any othersinglethingwhichhas triggeredhismobilization,l-thoughfor importantectorsof the lib-eral elementsthe Peace issue has alsobeenhighly mportant.n religious erms,of course,the new note is the strikinglyecumenical spectof it. The liberalwingofProtestantismas a long history f n-volvement n various sorts of socio-political activism.The Jews have also,in part because of theirhighsensitivityto possibilities f discrimination,endedto be strongly n that side, althoughtheyare as a groupthe highestn gen-eral socio-economic tatus a connec-tion which Marxistsfind it difficultoexplain,since racial discriminations tothem imply case of theexploitationfthe "workers"by the capitalists. Thenewnote,however,s the ncreasing ar-ticipationof Catholics in these move-ments, ncludingprominentlymembersof the clergy, oth regularand secular.Thus the participationf Catholic nunsin theprotestmarches n Selma maybesaid to be a major symbolic andmark.Simplified oralism

I have suggested hata major aspectof thisprocessof mobilization as beenthe moral character of the issue pre-sented,and that it is on the basis of amoral consensus that the striking cu-menical ntegration ithrespect o a ma-jor issue of social policyhas been takingshape. In some aspectsof the movementtherehas been what,to a "complex ib-eral," is a disconcertingesemblance othe moralism f a Goldwateror of theSouthernFundamentalists. his lies inthe fact that it is treated as a simplemoral issue. Equality for the Negro is


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144 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHright,hereforehemost irectathmustbe takento secure t forthwithnd inevery espect.

The simplificationf themoral ssuesis, n an importantense, fundamental-ist trait. utwhere he ssue s commit-mentoa newmajor tep n theprogres-sive developmentalrocess, here s adifference.his n thefirstnstanceon-cerns hecontentf the ssue. f it ispushing orthe implementationf theprogressivealues, here s a presump-tionofintegrationnto hewider ystemof which ts implementedersionwillhave to be a part.Thiswillnecessarilyinvolve adjustments"o theother le-ments fthis omplex, hichneednot,however, e understood s "compro-mises" n themorallynvidiousense.Thus,thatNegroRightshould e sub-jectto legaladjudicationndnotalwaysenforcedorthwithypopulistrotest,snotcompromisen this ensebutan in-tegral eaturefthemore eneral mer-icansystem hichnstitutionalizeshosevery ights.Where,fcourse,he djudi-cationprocesss seriouslylocked, s ithasbeen ntheSouth-andelsewhere-theremaybe a case fordirectction.nthecase of regressiveimplificationntheother and, he contentf theposi-tionon the ssuepresses oward reezingin a status uo orreversiono an earlierstate.Simplifiedoralism,nthis ense,maybe viewed n a larger rameworks oftacticalignificancentheprocess f so-cialchange.tis, nboth tsfundamental-istand itsprogressiveersions, mani-festationf strainwhich omesto beexacerbatedn timesof crisis. n onesense thefundamentalistoralist as abetterhance f"winning"nthat fhis

cause is successful,he "settlement"smore ikelyo be on histerms-e.g., hepreservationf racial segregation.heprogressiveimplemoralist, owever,must lwaysn one sense lose,"namelyin thatprogressivennovationsn a so-cialsystemandecreasingly,ithhedif-ferentiationf societies, e fullymple-mented ytheforms f "direct ction"congenial o himbecausethisignorestherightfulluralityf proceduresndinterestshichny uch omplexystemmust nstitutionalize.he direct-actionspearheads f revolutionaryovementshavehencevery ften un nto hemostserious onflictsnce the initial tageswere ver, .g.theJacobinsnthe renchRevolutionnd the Old BolsheviksntheRussian.Simplifiedoralism,owever,s func-tionallyfthe firstmportanceorpro-gressiveocialchange.n theAmerican

systemtcan be a majorfactornpro-pelling he system ut of the kindofstalemate ith especto a morallyriti-cal issuewhich as beenso conspicuouswith especto thepositionf theNegrosince the post-Reconstructionsettle-ment,"which urelywas a compromisein that heNortherniberals roadlyc-quiescedn thepolicy f ettinghe outhpursuetssegregationolicies. he finalresolutionf such ssues,however,an-notbe on the termsf the implemor-alists,since the structuralnnovationswhich hey roducemustbe fittedntoa complex luralisticrameworkherethisparticularssuecannot reserven-questioned oral rimacyver llothers.I have hosen o devoteo muchpaceto the problemof Fundamentalismnd


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RELIGION IN A MODERN PLURALISTIC SOCIETY 145its relation o theCivil Rights ssue,be-cause it seems to me to be an almostparadigmatic ase of the kinds of rela-tions whichexist betweenthe activisticcomponent of the American religioussystem-activistic n the sense of pro-moting he development f a religiouslysanctioned"Holy Community" andsecular society. t is a case whereun-questionably the religiouslygroundedconsciencehas beenoperatings a majoragentofprogressiveocial change. n its"effervescent"hase,however,t involvesa constrictionf the rangeof operationof theconsciencemechanismwhichmustbe corrected f the religious groundingof the largernormative rder is to bemaintained, ot easttheprocedural afe-guardsof the rights f manyplural in-terests. ortunately here seems to be aformidable uilt-in trengthfthe Amer-ican systemn theserespectswhich hasenabled t duringtshistoryo give reignto a considerablenumber f suchsimplemoralisticmovementsnd yeteventuallyto absorb them ntothe argerpluralisticsystemhrough eneralizationfthemor-al principlesnvolved,not through un-damentalist ixation n a simplernorma-tiveorder.

Perhaps mayclose with wodistinct,but still relatedpoints. First,we hearmuchabout the nternal risesofreligionin America-as elsewhere-today.Someof themostvocal exponents f the crisisposition nsist that religionhas nothingto do withthesocial order-except,fre-quently, o assert ts state of corruptionbut onlywiththe stateof the individualsoul. This "Lutheran" train n the con-temporaryeligious ituation s undoubt-edly mportant. owever, n selectinghe

more directlyocial involvementsf thereligious radition ordiscussion, havemeant o emphasize hat he broadtrendsof historical evelopment rom he "Er-rand into the Wilderness" o the CivilRightsmovement,s unlikely o lose itsrelevance.By thedeepesthistorical om-mitments,merican eligion, owinclud-ing its Catholic and Jewish omponents,is committed o the morallyacceptablesecularsociety, ne which ndeed is notmerely passivelyto be "accepted" butpositively formed by the religiouslygrounded onscience. t is highly nlike-ly thatreligiousmovementswhichbreakradicallywith his traditionwillbe likelyto exertmajor influence n our future.

Secondly, t seems most unlikely hatthestory f American ocio-religious e-velopmentwhichhas been sketched ere,is of purely parochial significance. hedivisionofEurope into nationstateshasimpeded religiouspluralism,but by nomeans stopped t-Europe is now a longway from he formula uius regio,cuiusreligio.The Vatican Council is onlythemosttangible videncethat a newlyplu-ralistic eligious rder s developingnthewhole of Western ociety.American ir-cumstances re suchthat omeaspectsofour situationwill remaindistinctive,nddifferentatternswilldevelop n Europe.But the basic typeof religious onstitu-tion is likelyto be held in common-thedays of a "one truechurch"on any-thing ike the Medieval basis are surelyover. Finally, there s considerableevi-dence thattheecumenicalprocess s be-ginning o transcendheJudeo-Christianworld and to bring bouta new orderofrelation o theothergreatreligions ftheworld, nd therebyhesocieties n whichthey ive.


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146 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCHEXPLANATORY NOTES

1. These lectures were delivered orally at the meetingof the Religious Research Association, at Loyola Uni-versity, Chicago, Ill., on June 17th and 18th, 1965. Inreorganizing the materials for publication it has seemedbetter to divide them into three rather than two parts.The first deals with the historical background of thepresent relation between religion and secular societyin the United States. The second attempts to outlinethe main cursrent organization and mode of relation-ship, the new Judeo-Christian pluralist system. Thethird presents a highly selective case study of dynamictrends, with special reference to the relation betweenreligious Fundamentalism, political Conservatism andtheir obverses, religious "libera!ism" and progressivesocial change with special reference to the Civil RightsMovement.2. The concept instrumental activism sas not yetbeen fully explicated in print. The fullest discussionto date is in Parsons and White, "The Link BetweenCharacter and Society" in Social Character and Culture,Seymour Lipset and Leo Lowenthal (eds.), (New York:The Free Press, 1961).

3. On the importance of Calvinism for the develop-ment of Prussia, cf. Christine Kayser: "Calvinism andGerman Political Life" (Doctoral thesis, RadcliffeCollege, 1961).4. Cf. Johannes J. Loubser, "Calvinism, Equality, andInclusion: The Case of Afrikaner Calvinism," paperpresented at the annual meeting of the Society for theScientific Study of Religion, New York, Octobher, 1965.(For South Africa, cf. reference to Loubser, p. 26).5. Among the works of Perry G. E. Miller, the mostsuccinct from this point of view is tlhe collection ofessays under the title Errand into the Wilderness.(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956). The NewEngland Mind is more systematic and comprehensive.6. Miller, especially his Edwards and the treatmentof revivalism in the first main section of the posthu-mous, The Life of the Mind in America, from theRevolution to the Civil War (New York: Harcourt,Brace, and World, 1965).7. World Almanac, 1966.8. Will Herberg, Protestant, Catholic, Jew (GardenCity: Anchor Books, 1955, rev. ed. 1960).9. Thomas F. O'Dea, The American Catholic Dilem-ma (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1958).

10. Andre Siegfried, America Comes of Age (NewYork: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929)12. Talcott Parsons, "Full Citizenship for the NegroAmerican?" Daedalus, Fall, 1965.13. Robert N. Bellah, "Heritage and Choice inAmerican Religion" (Working paper for Daedalus Con-ference in religion in the United States, Oct., 1965).14. Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of theReligious Life. (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1954).15. Talcott Parsons, "Christianity." Article writtenfor the new International Encyclopedia of the SocialSciences. Not yet published.16, Benjamin Nelson, "Casuistry," Encyclopedia Brit-annica, 1963.17. A particularly dramatic example, in the late194's was the case of St. Benedict's Center in Cam-bridge, Mass., directed by the Jesuit, Father Feeney.This group became so much "more Catholic than thePope" that it was very firmly disciplined by the Arch-diocese, the Director being initially "deprived of hisfaculties" and eventually, after prolonged recalcitrance,excommunicated. Thomas F. O'Dea, in a notable sen-ior distinction thesis at Harvard, documented this epi-sode with exemplary thoroughness.18. Cf. Seymour Martin Lipset, Political Man, for adiscerning analysis of the complex interplay betsween theculturally inherited conservatism of many Americangroups in politics, and their involvement in the liberalmovements by virtue of their structural position in thesociety.19. Edward Shils, The Torment of Secrecy. (Glen-coe: Free Press, 1956). Also Talcott Parsons, "SocialStrains in America" and Postscript, 1962, in DanielBell. Ed., The Radical Right (Garden City: Doubleday,1963).20. On South Africa, Cf. J. J. Loubser, op. cit.21. Ernest Q. Campbell and Thomas F. Pettigrew,Christians in Racial Crisis: A Study of the Little RockMAinistry. (Washington, D. C.: Public Affairs Press,1959).22. Talcott Parsons, "Negro American" Daedalusop. cit.23. T. M. Marshall, Class, Citizenship, and SocialDevelopment (Garden City, 1964), Chap. IV.24. Talcott Parsons, Daedalus, op. cit.

LAW AND RELIGION:PATTERNS OF INTERSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPSJamesE. WallacePrincetonTheological Seminary

In a prior article1 model was out-lined setting orth ome possible pointsof exchangebetween aw and religionnAmerican society.In order to developthismodel, law and religionwere con-ceptualizedas systemsof behavior or-ganized toward the accomplishment f

distinguishableocietalgoals. As systemsin this sense, law and religion re bothcharacterized y the centrality f their"high priests." Behavior withinthesesystems s orientedabout professionalswho are speciallytrainedin the skillsand knowledgeof particular raditions,

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