104 Roger Finke and Rodney Stark
group loyalty, just as high levels of Catholic commitment in Ireland and Quebec both
symbolized and sustained opposition to the English ruling elites in each society. The
same principle applies to Islamic “fundamentalism.” Opposition to political, economic,
and cultural colonialism has found its firmest institutional basis in the mosque. In the
following section, we illustrate this proposition with a more extensive discussion of the
Catholic Church in Quebec.
ILLUSTRATING THE EFFECTS OF REGULATION
Rather than reviewing the extensive research literature addressing the above proposi-
tions, the following section will illustrate how the propositions can be applied to three
very different settings. First, we will turn to the United States, a nation in which the
religious economy has been largely deregulated for over two centuries. Next, we will
turn to Latin America. Here we will review nations where the Roman Catholic Church
held a strong alliance with the state for over four centuries. Our final example will be
Quebec, Canada, where we observe the changes in the Roman Catholic Church as it
relinquishes its role as the mobilizing force against English ruling elites.
The Lively Experiment in America
The prominent historian Sidney Mead (1963: 52) once noted that the “Revolutionary
Epoch is the hinge upon which the history of Christianity in America really turns” and
explained that “religious freedom and separation of church and state” were at the cen-
ter of these changes. Long before Mead made these observations, however, nineteenth-
century European visitors were quick to comment on the sectarianism and religious
vitality resulting from the “voluntary principle” (Powell 1967). Indeed, two of the ear-
liest surveys of American religion,Americaby Philip Schaff (1855/1961) andReligion in
the United States of Americaby Robert Baird (1844/1969), used the voluntary principle to
explain the unusually high level of religious activity and the growing number of sects
in the United States. Although both authors denounced the religious competition and
sectarianism that splintered the unity of God’s kingdom, they acknowledged that the
religious freedoms have “brought gospel influences to bear in every direction” (Baird
1844/1969: 409).
Yet, the growth of organized religion, which captured the attention of Alexis de
Tocqueville (1831/1969), Andrew Reed (1835), and other prominent European visitors,
did not arise overnight. Despite increasing religious toleration and eroding support
for the religious establishments throughout the colonial era, only 17 percent of the
population (including children) were adherents of a church in 1776. This rate doubled
to 34 percent by 1850, but it wasn’t until the early twentieth century that the level of
adherence began to approach contemporary rates – 56 percent in 1926 compared to
62 percent in 1980 (Finke and Stark 1992). Despite the aggressive evangelical outreach
and rapid growth of the Protestant sects, and the effective outreach of the Roman
Catholics and Lutherans to new immigrants, it was well over one hundred years (1906)
after deregulating the American religious economy before churches enrolled 50 percent
of the population.
Although all areas of the United States, including Mormon Utah, now offer a
plethora of religious choices, this was not the case in early America. When looking at