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pews prayers and participation religion and civic responsibility in america
p is the private experience of religion counterproductive to engagement in public life does the public experience of religion contribute anything distinctive to civic engagement pews prayers and participation offers a fresh approach to key questions about what role religion plays in fostering civic responsibility in contemporary american society . written by five prominent scholars of religion and politics led by calvin colleges corwin smidt the book brilliantly articulates how religion shapes participation in a range of civic activities from behaviors such as membership in voluntary associations volunteering and charitable contributions to capacities such as civic skills and knowledge to virtues such as law abidingness tolerance and work ethic . p in the course of their study the authors examine whether an individual exhibits a diminished a privatized a public or an integrated form of religious expression based on the individuals level of participation in both the public worship or private prayer dimensions of religious life . they question whether the privatization of religious life is counterproductive to engagement in public life and they show that religion does indeed play a significant role in fostering civic responsibility across each of its particular facets . p pews prayers and participation is a bold and provocative clarion call to the continuing importance and changing nature of religion in american public life . it will be of particular interest to students and scholars of religion and politics and culture and politics as well as general readers with an interest in the impact of religion in the public sphere .