Catholic Neighborhoods
The same Atlantic article mentioned previously notes as an aside that Catholics are likelier to attend mass if they live in a heavily Catholic neighborhood, and that such neighborhoods have better economic and social indicators, including higher income and education levels and lower divorce rates.
That's interesting. If Catholics hang out with Catholics, those Catholics are likely to exhibit the traits our society wants: stability, education, and money. The same would presumably go for Lutherans with Lutherans, Methodists with Methodists, Muslims with Muslims, etc.
What does that say about our culture's obsession with diversity? If people who share a good characteristic hang out with others who share that same characteristic, those fellows are more likely to be good members of society. Why, then, do we try to tear apart such enclaves? The federal highway project of the 1950s and 1960s demolished many ethnic neighborhoods where people shared the same religious beliefs. Desegregation of schools put blacks and whites together even though they have different religious practices (such a factor wasn't even considered). In many parts of the country, public schools are crushing parochial schools out of existence. The value of "diversity" even trumps out the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection guarantee at public universities, as we learned in the recent Supreme Court case involving the University of Michigan. Is diversity really a good thing?
Quite frankly, I think diversity cuts against human nature. People want to hang out with others like themselves. Catholics like to hang out with Catholics and Muslims with Muslims. We should respect it, but we don't. We worship the God of Diversity and are inclined to believe that every bonding among people of similar traits is wrong. We think it leads to prejudice and a lack of tolerance of others.
It really doesn't. Sure, the circles of similarity can be quite narrow, thereby leading to suspicion of others outside the circle. Thing is, people also have a tendency to hang out with others like themselves in all sorts of areas, not just religion. A Catholic likes to hang out with Catholics, yes, but if he's a man, he will like hanging out with other men, even if the others aren't Catholic. If he's a sports fan, he'll like hanging out with other sports fans, regardless of religion or gender. If he's a conservative, he'll like hanging out with other conservatives--regardless of whether they're male or female, Catholic or Methodist, or Detroit Lions or Chicago Bears fans.
Life, in other words, brings its own levels of diversity. Diversity doesn't need to be forced or championed. It'll happen on its own. And if left to happen on its own, it won't crush that other good thing: solidarity among people of similar characteristics.
