I'm sure Putnam is right that there's been a decline in certain kinds of organizations like bowling leagues. But people participate in communities in other ways.

If you say simply that pressures toward democracy are created by the market, I would say yes

The basic fault lines today are not between people with different beliefs but between people who hold these beliefs with an element of uncertainty and people who hold these beliefs with a pretense of certitude

One can't understand the Christian Right and similar movements unless one sees them as reactive - they're reacting to what they call secular humanism

But we don't have an example of a democratic society existing in a socialist economy - which is the only real alternative to capitalism in the modern world.

He who has the bigger stick has the better chance of imposing his definitions of reality.

India is the most religious country in the world, Sweden is the most secular country in the world, and America is a country of Indians ruled by Swedes.