--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Institutional Christianity has had clear…" description: "\"Institutional Christianity has had clear secular benefits to American life for hundreds of years. It's played both a prophetic role in terms of generat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/ross-douthat-2949_american-life_institutional-christianity-has-had-clear_871089.png" --- # Institutional Christianity has had clear secular benefits… ![“Institutional Christianity has had clear secular benefits to American life for hundreds of years. It's played both a prophetic role in terms of generating moral critiques of American excesses, and so on, and also a communal role, in terms of building community as the country moved westward to the…” quote by Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/ross-douthat-2949_american-life_institutional-christianity-has-had-clear_871089.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/ross-douthat-2949_american-life_institutional-christianity-has-had-clear_871089.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/ross-douthat-2949_american-life_institutional-christianity-has-had-clear_871089.png) > “Institutional Christianity has had clear secular benefits to American life for hundreds of years. It's played both a prophetic role in terms of generating moral critiques of American excesses, and so on, and also a communal role, in terms of building community as the country moved westward to the role my own Catholic Church played in assimilating generations of immigrants.” [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Religion has shaped U.S. society, offering moral critique and community building, especially for immigrants. **In simple terms:** Faith influences morals and community in America. Key Takeaway Recognize religion’s dual social role. Themes religion public life immigration community morality Mood analytical thoughtful Type essay sociopolitical When to use this quote - policy debates - church‑state discussions - immigrant support Key Concepts social cohesion civic identity cultural integration Questions to Reflect On - How should policy balance secular and religious influences? - What role should churches play in civic life? A Different Perspective Secularism may limit religious contributions; tension exists. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Benefits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Building community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building-community/) [Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic/) [Catholic church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic-church/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Critique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critique/) [Excess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excess/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Immigrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immigrants/) [Institutional Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutional-christianity-953195/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Prophetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophetic/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Role Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/role-catholic-953197/) [Roles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roles/) [Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular/) [Secular Benefits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular-benefits-953196/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Many things about American life, that even secular people consider good, have flowed from the presence of a robust, resilient institutional Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/many-things-about-american-life-that-even-secular-people-consider/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [The decline of institutional Christianity over the last 40 or 50 years has empowered a side of American religion that has always been there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-decline-of-institutional-christianity-over-the-last-40-or-50/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“As Peter Berger has noted, the strategy of apologizing for Christian faith by trying to demonstrate its social utility is always eventually self-liquidating. Sooner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-m-gay/as-peter-berger-has-noted-the-strategy-of-apologizing-for-christian/) [Craig M. Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-m-gay/) > [“Jefferson also founded the first intentionally secularized university in America. His vision for the University of Virginia was for education finally free from traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-c-cornett/jefferson-also-founded-the-first-intentionally-secularized-university/) [Daryl C. Cornett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-c-cornett/) > [ “\[M\]ost Americans are still drawing some water from the Christian well. But a growing number are inventing their own versions of what Christianity means,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/m-ost-americans-are-still-drawing-some-water-from-the-christian-well/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Books can make a difference in dispelling prejudice and building community: not with role models and recipes, not with noble messages about the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-rochman/books-can-make-a-difference-in-dispelling-prejudice-and-building/) [Hazel Rochman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-rochman/) > [I love being honest and intimate with people. I love building community. I love emailing with readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/i-love-being-honest-and-intimate-with-people-i-love-building/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [We are all one family in the world. Building a community that empowers everyone to attain their full potential through each of us respecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/we-are-all-one-family-in-the-world-building-a-community-that-empowers/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [You have to think about why you're asking an audience to come to the theater. It's not that they should come because it's good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-paulus/you-have-to-think-about-why-you-re-asking-an-audience-to-come-to-the/) [Diane Paulus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-paulus/) > [My whole life has been about building community, building business in our community, empowering people in our community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelieu-dennis/my-whole-life-has-been-about-building-community-building-business-in/) [Richelieu Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelieu-dennis/) > [Part of the transaction between writer and reader is the pleasure of building a community and encouraging people to play along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/part-of-the-transaction-between-writer-and-reader-is-the-pleasure-of/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [Building community is to the collective as spiritual practice is to the individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/building-community-is-to-the-collective-as-spiritual-practice-is-to/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [Human beings need community. If there are no communities available for constructive ends, there will be destructive, murderous communities... Only the social sector, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/human-beings-need-community-if-there-are-no-communities-available-for/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Collaboration is everything from getting along with others to controlling your impulses so you can get along and not kick someone else off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-hirsh-pasek/collaboration-is-everything-from-getting-along-with-others-to/) [Kathy Hirsh-Pasek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-hirsh-pasek/) > [I think the Internet has real potential for building community. People all around the world talking to each other can't be a bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-brown/i-think-the-internet-has-real-potential-for-building-community-people/) [Greg Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-brown/) ## More by Ross Douthat > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [The American intelligentsia has been pretty secular for a long time. There have always been figures like Oprah Winfrey, let's put it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-american-intelligentsia-has-been-pretty-secular-for-a-long-time/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [On the evidence we have, the meritocratic ideal ends up being just as undemocratic as the old emphasis on inheritance and tradition, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/on-the-evidence-we-have-the-meritocratic-ideal-ends-up-being-just-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“The physical vanity of the diet-and-exercise obsessive is recast as the pursuit of a kind of ritual purity, hedged about with taboos and guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-physical-vanity-of-the-diet-and-exercise-obsessive-is-recast-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [There were times at Harvard when I actually longed to hang out with a few more Trotskyists, rather than yet another set of future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/there-were-times-at-harvard-when-i-actually-longed-to-hang-out-with-a/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Many things about American life, that even secular people consider good, have flowed from the presence of a robust, resilient institutional Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/many-things-about-american-life-that-even-secular-people-consider/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“What he felt during his Spanish encounter with left-wing anti-Christianity was similar to his reactions to the anti-Christianity of the right. The "novelty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/what-he-felt-during-his-spanish-encounter-with-left-wing-anti/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“In an age of stagnant or declining birthrates, too, these communities’ willingness to heed the admonition to be fruitful and multiply has led to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/in-an-age-of-stagnant-or-declining-birthrates-too-these-communities/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [America's problem isn't too much religion or too little of it. It's bad religion: the slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/america-s-problem-isn-t-too-much-religion-or-too-little-of-it-it-s/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [I do think you can see, throughout American history, this temptation, and it's both a liberal and a conservative temptation, to take a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-do-think-you-can-see-throughout-american-history-this-temptation/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Where conservative Catholics have the power to resist what seem like false ideas or disastrous innovations they must do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/where-conservative-catholics-have-the-power-to-resist-what-seem-like/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [It is not white nationalism to believe that countries like the United States would be better off with more babies. That belief can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-is-not-white-nationalism-to-believe-that-countries-like-the-united/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Most people want the convenience of the Internet far more than they want the private spaces that older forms of communication protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/most-people-want-the-convenience-of-the-internet-far-more-than-they/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [If you live under a system that claims to have high ideals but seems ineradicably opposed to your own people's flourishing, the desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/if-you-live-under-a-system-that-claims-to-have-high-ideals-but-seems/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Our crisis of the house divided was a Christian civil war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/our-crisis-of-the-house-divided-was-a-christian-civil-war/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Explore all 144 Ross Douthat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) ## More American life quotes > [“As we look over the list of the early leaders of the republic, Washington, John Adams, Hamilton, and others, we discern that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-truslow-adams/as-we-look-over-the-list-of-the-early-leaders-of-the-republic/) [James Truslow Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-truslow-adams/) > [Our families and our homes are the center of American life, Everything we do is to make those homes-and the lives in them-more beautiful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stewart/our-families-and-our-homes-are-the-center-of-american-life-everything/) [Martha Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stewart/) > [As Americans, we want peace - we work and sacrifice for peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/as-americans-we-want-peace-we-work-and-sacrifice-for-peace-but-there/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I'm Mexican-American, but I grew up with a normal American life. I don't have a low rider. I drive a Honda. I guess I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snow-tha-product/i-m-mexican-american-but-i-grew-up-with-a-normal-american-life-i-don/) [Snow Tha Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snow-tha-product/) > [“The line in the sand that Carter drew along Iran’s Zagros Mountains now stretches from Central Asia through the Middle East and across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-j-bacevich/the-line-in-the-sand-that-carter-drew-along-iran-s-zagros-mountains/) [Andrew J. Bacevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-j-bacevich/) > [Vanity Fair has but two major articles in its editorial creed: first, to believe in the progress and promise of American life, and, second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-crowninshield/vanity-fair-has-but-two-major-articles-in-its-editorial-creed-first/) [Frank Crowninshield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-crowninshield/) > [“The historical periods I like to learn about aren’t so much costume dramas as slasher flicks. The French Revolution is a favorite because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/the-historical-periods-i-like-to-learn-about-aren-t-so-much-costume/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [One of the manifestations of depression for me is that I lose my will. And I thereby lose my ability to focus. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/one-of-the-manifestations-of-depression-for-me-is-that-i-lose-my-will/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [“Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/football-combines-two-of-the-worst-things-in-american-life-it-is/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [I produced a play in New York that got nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best American Play.The play is called Stalking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-richman/i-produced-a-play-in-new-york-that-got-nominated-for-an-outer-critics/) [Adam Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-richman/) > [The final test of Afro-American studies will be the extent to which they rid the minds of whites and blacks alike of false learning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-saunders-redding/the-final-test-of-afro-american-studies-will-be-the-extent-to-which/) [Jay Saunders Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-saunders-redding/) > [In the decade of the 1980s, a massive and comprehensive study of religion in American life was undertaken by the Gallup organization. The results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/in-the-decade-of-the-1980s-a-massive-and-comprehensive-study-of/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Envy is the central fact of American life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/envy-is-the-central-fact-of-american-life/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [A trillion dollars spent, 2,000 American lives lost - Afghanistan is the longest war in American history. But you don't hear a word about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-baumgartner/a-trillion-dollars-spent-2-000-american-lives-lost-afghanistan-is-the/) [Michael Baumgartner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-baumgartner/) > [Crime and the fear of crime have permeated the fabric of American life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-e-burger/crime-and-the-fear-of-crime-have-permeated-the-fabric-of-american-life/) [Warren E. Burger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-e-burger/) [Browse all 344 American life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Institutional Christianity has had clear secular benefits to American life for hundreds of years. 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