ABSTRACT
When asked why he robbed banks, the legendary Willy Sutton replied, "Because that's where the money is." In much the same way, political scientists who study religion pay attention to churches because that is where the parishioners are. By joining churches in large numbers, attending them frequently, and funding church activities generously, Americans have made religious association the single most frequent form of voluntary organizational affiliation in the United States. As a result, the religious sector enjoys a dynamism and pervasiveness unmatched in other advanced industrial societies. Describing the United States memorably as "a nation with the soul of a church," G.K. Chesterton recognized the deep imprint of religious attachment on the national culture.
