ABSTRACT
The postscript on the Watergate scandal that brought down many hopes, remains in the vein of the opening premise: “Religion, morality, and politics are not the same thing and to confuse them may lead to still worse distortions. The concept of civil religion simply points to the fact that in all societies there seem to exist some connections between them.” The Broken Covenant is a historico-sociological analysis of the relation between civil religion and the mythological support structure in America. To understand the importance of Robert Bellah’s proposal fully, which is certainly an attempt at recovery much more than an original suggestion, it would be essential to take up once more some basic characteristics of the formation of the US, its structure and genesis. The basis of North American culture is undoubtedly pragmatico-scientistic. Its characteristic exponents, from Charles Peirce to John Dewey, one way or another all show a clear tendency to consider an idea true when it works.
