List of Tables
Introduction
The Stability and Diversity of American Faith
Part I
Congregations
1 Church-going
Labels Matter
2 Church Growth
Competing for Members
3 Strict Churches
The Reasons for their Popularity
4 The "Scattered" Church
Traditional Congregations are not Going Away
5 Megachurches
Supersizing the Faith
Part II
Beliefs and Practices
6 Religious Experiences
God Told Me to Go to Church
7 Gender
Women Believe More, Pray More
8 Heaven
We are All Going There
9 God
Love Makes a Difference
10 Evil
Did Sin Cause the Hurricane?
11 Spirituality
Religion and Spirituality Are Not Mutually Exclusive
12 Giving
The Rich, the Poor, and the Widow’s Mite
13 Personality
Are We Hard-Wired for God?
Part III
Atheism and Irreligion
14 Atheism
Godless Revolution Never Happened
15 Credulity
New Age Believers in Big Foot
16 New Age Adherents
Well-Educated, Formerly Irreligious Elites
17 The Irreligious
Simply Unchurched--not Atheists
Part IV
The Public Square
18 Faith and Politics
Is There a Secret Plot of Evangelicals to Take over the American Government?
19 Merry Christmas, Jesus
It’s Okay to Put Sacred Symbols in the Public Square
20 Incivility
Talking about Faith in Public
21 Religious Media Consumption
The DaVinci Code Effect
22 Civic Participation
Faith as Social Capital
23 Going to College, Getting a Job
What Happens when Mom and Dad Take Their Kids to Church
Epilogue
The Institute for the Study of Religion
Contributors
Notes
