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Abstract
Recent research in the social scientific study of religion has drawn attention to how distinct religious identities and cultures have supported nationalist impulses and fueled political polarization across a variety of national contexts. This growing body of literature makes it clear that religious ideals and identities can be used to frame issues, draw boundaries, and drive a wedge down the middle of the political landscape. What is less frequently analyzed are the various ways that religion can provide resources to depolarize society. This article identifies the various resources that religion can offer for depolarization, and calls for future research aimed not only at better understanding the extent and nature of religion's deployment of these resources, but also their effectiveness in countering the polarizing dynamics in contemporary society.

Data for examining the effect of clergy mobilization strategies on grassroots activism in inner-city churches were gathered from participant observation at St. Sabina Catholic Church, on Chicago's South Side, where Rev. Michael Pfleger uses Sunday sermons to promote participation in weekly antidrug marches. It is maintained that "Father Mike" redefines church membership to include the marches, & strengthens his parishioners' sense of political effectiveness by linking march participation with the congregation's values & identity. Parishioners with the most exposure to sermons had higher levels of political efficacy, were more likely to believe church membership involves participation in ministries, & tended to place a religious interpretation on the marches. The findings suggest that clergy are most apt to succeed at political mobilization when they utilize wide frames that have the potential to resonate with diverse audiences. By calling the antidrug marches both "marches to take back the streets" & "Friday night ministry walks," Father Mike realized a greater turnout than if the plea had been framed in strictly political or strictly religious terms. 4 Tables. J. Lindroth

Data for examining the effect of clergy mobilization strategies on grassroots activism in inner-city churches were gathered from participant observation at St. Sabina Catholic Church, on Chicago's South Side, where Rev. Michael Pfleger uses Sunday sermons to promote participation in weekly antidrug marches. It is maintained that "Father Mike" redefines church membership to include the marches, & strengthens his parishioners' sense of political effectiveness by linking march participation with the congregation's values & identity. Parishioners with the most exposure to sermons had higher levels of political efficacy, were more likely to believe church membership involves participation in ministries, & tended to place a religious interpretation on the marches. The findings suggest that clergy are most apt to succeed at political mobilization when they utilize wide frames that have the potential to resonate with diverse audiences. By calling the antidrug marches both "marches to take back the streets" & "Friday night ministry walks," Father Mike realized a greater turnout than if the plea had been framed in strictly political or strictly religious terms. 4 Tables. J. Lindroth

In this exploratory study, we examine the production of an organizational LGBT religious identity utilizing the case of DignityUSA. To this end, we engage in two interconnected analyses. First, we revisit and verify the findings of Loseke and Cavendish (2001) concerning the production of what they called a "Dignified Self," which LGBT Catholics may use to integrate their religious-sexual-gender identities. Then, we expand on their analyses of DignityUSA in the late 1990's to outline the ways DignityUSA constructs an organizational identity their members may draw upon to construct the Dignified Self and integrate their sexual/gender and religious identities. In so doing, our analyses speak both to (1) Loseke and Cavendish's (2001) call to explore whether their findings from three years of newsletters held over time; and (2) calls over the past two decades for LGBT religious studies to expand beyond individual LGBT religious-sexual-gender identity integration to ascertain the construction of the organizational identities LGBT people draw upon to accomplish individual and interpersonal identity integration.

The relationship of attitudes toward abortion to attitudes toward sexual permissiveness, inappropriate female behavior, & Catholic boundary maintenance mechanisms was examined through survey of 2,667 registered Catholic parishoners from 1,099 parishes across the US. Attitudes toward abortion were found to be strongly connected to attitudes about the expression of sexuality & less strongly connected to attitudes about women's autonomy. Attitudes toward abortion were only weakly connected to attitudes about Catholic boundary maintenance, but its influence on abortion attitudes matched the impact of other influential variables, eg, religious orientation, generational cohort, & gender. The role of symbolic politics in shaping Catholics' attitudes toward abortion is discussed. 1 Table, 38 References. Adapted from the source document.