ABSTRACT
Communal life in the United States came to be organized around the churches. The church and political parties were essential organs for propagating divergent ideologies about Armenians as a people; their ancestral origins, their raison d'etre, and their future aspirations. The history of the Armenian Apostolic church and that of the Armenian people have been fused together since the fourth century A.D. when the Armenians became the first Christian nation. For the first and second generations, Armenian-Americans are equally at home in Armenian and American politics. Accelerating with the second generation, the proportion of respondents who are indifferent to Armenian politics increases dramatically. Later-generation Armenian-Americans are less and less likely to know and practice the subculture of their immigrant parents and grandparents. Even though third-generation Armenian-Americans may identify with their roots, they are reluctant to participate as often as their parents' generation in the Armenian world, sacred or secular.
