We have earlier alluded to the importance of social networks and the role that regular attendance at religious services makes in facilitating those networks. Those findings are echoed in Figures 11 and 12 which show levels of community engagement by frequency of attendance at religious services and by whether respondents reported that they spend a lot of time communicating with friends via electronic devices. Results are consistent in both cases. People who are more connected to others are more engaged in their communities. These findings persisted despite controls for level of education.

Results shown here are consistent with on-going research by Robert Putnam and David Campbell, who outlined their preliminary findings at a recent conference hosted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.[24] Putnam and Campbell’s work underscores the importance of participation in religious institutions. They find, as a general matter, that those who are involved in religious communities are “…three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes….” They also say that their data shows “…that religious people are just “nicer”: they carry packages for people, don’t mind folks cutting ahead in line and give money to panhandlers.”[25]

Putnam and Campbell argue that it is not theology, per se, that drives engagement. It is, instead, “…the relationships people make in their churches, mosques, synagogues and temples that draw them into community activism.” As Putnam was quoted as observing, “It is not faith that accounts for this; it’s faith communities.”[26] The data shown in Figure 11 is certainly consistent with the notion that faith communities comprise an important part of the picture of civic engagement in Florida’s communities. The data in Figure 12 suggests, more generally, that when citizens find ways or settings to connect to one another in meaningful ways, one end result is a higher level of engagement in the community.