--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just when we are in many ways moving to…" description: "\"“Just when we are in many ways moving to an ever greater validation of the sacredness of the individual person, our capacity to imagine a social fabric..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/robert-n-bellah-89955_economics_just-when-we-are-in-many-ways-moving-to_1122558.jpg" --- # Just when we are in many ways moving to an ever greater… ![“Just when we are in many ways moving to an ever greater validation of the sacredness of the individual person, our capacity to imagine a social fabric that would hold individuals together is vanishing. This is in part because of the fact that our ethical individualism, deriving, as I have argued…” quote by Robert N. Bellah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/robert-n-bellah-89955_economics_just-when-we-are-in-many-ways-moving-to_1122558.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/robert-n-bellah-89955_economics_just-when-we-are-in-many-ways-moving-to_1122558.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/robert-n-bellah-89955_economics_just-when-we-are-in-many-ways-moving-to_1122558.jpg) > ““Just when we are in many ways moving to an ever greater validation of the sacredness of the individual person, our capacity to imagine a social fabric that would hold individuals together is vanishing. This is in part because of the fact that our ethical individualism, deriving, as I have argued, from the Protestant religious tradition in America, is linked to an economic individualism that, ironically, knows nothing of the sacredness of the individual. Its only standard is money, and the only thing more sacred than money is more money. What economic individualism destroys and what our kind of religious individualism cannot restore is solidarity, a sense of being members of the same body. In most other North Atlantic societies, including other Protestant societies, a tradition of an established church, however secularized, provides some notion that we are in this thing together, that we need each other, that our precious and unique selves are not going to make it all alone.”” [Robert N. Bellah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-n-bellah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal bonds erode when economic and religious individualism prioritize money over communal solidarity, undermining shared responsibility. **In simple terms:** Individualism weakens community ties. Key Takeaway Foster communal values beyond profit. Themes individualism solidarity religion economics culture Mood reflective concerned Type analysis commentary When to use this quote - public policy - faith communities - education - workplace culture Key Concepts ethical individualism social fabric collective identity Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions nurture solidarity today? - What role does religion play in communal health? A Different Perspective Economic focus can overlook spiritual needs; balance required. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Economic Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-individualism-3044067/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Ethical Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical-individualism-3044068/) [Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individualism/) [Individualism Restore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individualism-restore-3044069/) [Protestantism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protestantism/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-individualism-3044066/) ## Related quotes > [I think religious individualism doesn't fulfill impulses toward community and solidarity and it doesn't necessarily work for people when things go really bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-think-religious-individualism-doesn-t-fulfill-impulses-toward/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/the-gates-of-hell-shall-not-prevail-against-it/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [“Repentance is a 180 degree turn, whereas Reformation is only a 90 degree turn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atom-tate/repentance-is-a-180-degree-turn-whereas-reformation-is-only-a-90/) [Atom Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atom-tate/) > [“It is as if Protestantism by clinging to the Scripture wished to preserve the last faint echoes of God’s Word in a world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/it-is-as-if-protestantism-by-clinging-to-the-scripture-wished-to/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“It is widely unknown, but nonetheless true that Catholicism fervently promotes the 'spiritual disciplines' whereas Protestantism has largely neglected them altogether. 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