The Trend in Interfaith Marriages

Several recent authors have advanced the thesis that religious segregation is increasing in American society, at least to the extent that religious identification and religious communal ties are replacing ethnic identification and ethnic ties as a basis of societal organization. Whether or not this proposition is valid depends in part on whether religious segregation is defined in terms of cultural or social differentiation. Differences in cultural patterns, beliefs or values are eliminated or reduced through the process of acculturation, while social differentiation, or the presence of separate systems of interaction, is reduced by increased social integration. These two types of differentiation are partially but not completely independent. With reference to religion, the question is whether distinctive religious beliefs and norms may be maintained under conditions of social integration, or, on the other hand, whether differences in religious beliefs, values and practices may be eliminated through acculturation when social differentiation is maintained. Perhaps the best indicator of the extent and trend of religious differentiation is the rate of interfaith marriage.