RELIGION AND THE AMERICAN METROPOLIS: A Sociological Study of Religion's Impact on Politics, Economics and Family Life

You won't put this book down without having some of your fixed notions about the place and the relevance of religion in American life considerably altered, and by some hard-to-argue-with evidence gathered over a four year period by the Detroit Area Study. You are not likely again to say, ""It doesn't matter what you believe if only you practice it."". It does make a difference what you do, how you vote, what you expect from the government or the place where you work; all have tie-ins with your faith -- and further tie-ins with how well you participate in your faith. Did you know that college graduates go to Church better than less educated people? Or that all Churches have reason to expect more attendance; and that sociologically speaking, the future looks brighter for the Democratic party and the Roman Catholic Church? Dr. Lenski, the Yale-trained Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, has produced a volume that no metropolitan or suburban pastor can ignore. Granted that Detroit is a ""limited"" sample, the observations drawn by this study have wide application to the developing plans and programs of all Churches. They also have implications which should be noted by educators and politicians. Dr. Lenski can be especially thanked for making a solid study so readable, and for phrasing his facts and interpretations in such a way that anyone with a high school education can get the point of his conclusions.