Carole M. Cusack, Religion as Culture and Communication: Bridging and Bonding Social Capital By Carole Cusack

https://www.academia.edu/145781258/Carole_M_Cusack_Religion_as_Culture_and_Communication_Bridging_and_Bonding_Social_Capital?email_work_card=title Religion is a source of identity and social solidarity for in-groups (a secular term that I apply to religions, for example, Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity, and newer examples like the Unification Church and the Church of Scientology). Sociologists propose that in-groups and out-groups struggle to find common ground. In general, members of a specific religion think it is right to advantage their members over others (what American sociologist Robert Putnam calls “bonding social capital” as it is directed inward) and are confused by moral systems that suggest they should help outsiders from other groups/ religions (what Putnam calls “bridging social capital” because it reaches to outsiders). I argue in this paper that identifying basic human connections (for example, anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss said that ALL humans understood eating food together as a profound common experience) and using caution in foregrounding of religious dogma, preferring to find common experience, is one concrete strategy that religious negotiation bodies can employ to create positive vibes that lead to change in formerly hostile or uncomprehending groups. ...