About book American Grace: How Religion Divides And Unites Us (2010)
This was a fascinating read! More analytical than critical, this book uses data from social surveys, primarily the Faith Matters Survey, to understand and explain the recent religious history and current religious climate in America. Relying heavily on graphs and statistical analysis, this book feels scientific and objective but is still interesting and readable. I particularly enjoyed the sections on religion and politics and the women's revolution, and the vignettes describing different religious experiences. While it was enjoyable and I learned a lot, this was some serious non-fiction. It was quite long and very thorough--thorough to the point of being redundant and long-winded at times. If you are interested in religion, politics, sociology, or statistics, definitely read this book. This book really appeals to me. It is loaded with graphs of statistical data from a 2006 phone survey of over 3000 participants. It is like finding a particularly striking fossil on the shelf of a souvenir shop. It is probably just another fossil (just another book about religion), more or less, the same as all of the rest on the shelf that are for sell. But this one appeals to you (in this case me).This book should appeal to people interested in looking at and evaluating the statistical data. The book says things about religion in the United States. It should appeal to readers interested in what the authors have to say about our perceptions of folk with various degrees of religiosity and the view that we are a country divided in the political arena by religion. Personally, I find it to be a dazzling piece of writing to look at and to think about. There is so much there that, like the fossil from the souvenir shop, I look forward to the pleasure of looking at it and letting it inspire my imagination. Maybe in time it will impact what I think. Regardless, I really like this book.
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Like Bowling Alone, this book roams all over the place in a fascinating way. Lots of complex ideas!
—Gman
Informative and fascinating demographic and sociological study of American religious life.
—shade
Great book! Many surprising insights. Proud to be an American.
—brad
I will take FOREVER to finish this book, but it is AWESOME!
—Kat
