AT A time when Americans are worried about their crippling political divisions, it is pleasing to report that two social scientists, Robert Putnam of Harvard University and David Campbell of the University of Notre Dame, have just written a book that examines a powerful source of American unity. Perhaps unexpectedly, the unifying force they focus on is religion.
如今,美国人越来越担心国内日益严峻的政治分歧,而正在这个紧要关头,哈佛大学社会科学学家罗伯特 普特南和其圣母大学的同行大卫 坎贝尔联手出版了一本书,研究到底是什么维系了美国的团结统一。但是,也许没人能想到,他们笔下的“凝聚力”却归结于‘宗教’。
America's religiosity has been extensively documented and should surprise no one. It is, Sarah Palin said in her own new book this week, "a prayerful country". More than eight out of ten Americans say they belong to a religion. More Americans than Iranians (four out of ten) say they attend a religious service nearly once a week or more. What is a surprise―or should be, when you think about it in the way Messrs Putnam and Campbell have―is that religion in America is not more divisive. They argue in "American Grace" (Simon & Schuster) that religion gives Americans a sort of "civic glue, uniting rather than dividing".
对于美国人的宗教痴迷情结,人们也早已司空见惯了。莎拉 佩林在其于本周发行的新书中也如是说,‘美国是个宗教虔诚的国度’。10个美国人就有8个称自己信教。10个伊朗人里面有4个称自己一星期至少会做一次宗教服侍,但是他们跟美国人比起来就又稍逊一筹了。按照普特南和坎贝尔的逻辑往下推理,我们得出结论:相对政治来说,美国宗教要和谐的多―――这还真够耸人听闻的。在其新作中,普特南和坎贝尔说,上帝保佑美国,宗教将人民万众一心,使美国团结和谐而不会走向分崩离析。
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