After Bellah

“Robert N. Bellah, a distinguished sociologist of religion who sought nothing less than to map the American soul, in both the sacred and secular senses of the word, died on July 30 in Oakland, Calif. He was 86... Professor Bellah, who was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Bill Clinton in 2000, came to wide attention in 1967 with a seminal article, ‘Civil Religion in America’.... ‘It’s a complicated relationship between politics and religion,’ he said. ‘But our tradition by and large has used religion to hold the nation in judgment and to assert that it should operate under higher moral standards.’”

"Robert Bellah, Sociologist of Religion Who Mapped the American Soul, Dies at 86" - http://nyti.ms/13RJdyA cf. “Civil Religion in America.”