Review: United States: American Religious Groups View Foreign Policy
| Published date | 01 December 1974 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207402900425 |
| Date | 01 December 1974 |
| Author | R.D. Accinelli |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS/UNITED
STATES
675
between
government
and
historian,
for
additional
government
financ-
ing
of
scholarship,
and
an
acceleration
of
the
declassification
process
to
facilitate
the
historical
contribution
is
something
of
a
cry
in
the
wilderness.
May's
book
in
fact
demonstrates
what
he
sets
out
to
counteract:
the
probability
that,
confronted
by
ideological,
political,
and
personal considerations,
policy-makers will
continue
to
abuse
his-
tory.
After
all,
Kennedy
did
have his
Schlesingerl
Stephen
J.
Randall/McGill
University
AMERICAN
RELIGIOUS
GROUPS
VIEW
FOREIGN
POLICY
Trends
in Rank-and-File
Opinion,
1937-1969
Alfred
0. Hero,
Jr
Durham,
NC:
Duke
University
Press,
1973,
xii,
552pp,
$9.75
The
author
of
numerous
books
and
articles
dealing
with public
opinion
and
foreign
affairs,
Alfred
0.
Hero,
Jr,
has in
this
study
examined
how
American
Protestants,
Catholics,
and
Jews
compared
with
one
another
in
their
reactions to
issues
of
foreign
policy
from
1937
to
the
late
i96os.
The
comparison
is
based
on
an
analysis
of
the
extensive
body of
national
opinion
survey
data
gathered
since
the
mid-193os
by
various
polling
organizations.
Although
mindful
of
the
limitations
of
this
data
and
of the
difficulty
in
interpreting
it,
Hero
regards
it
as
sufficiently
ample
and
reliable
for
comparative
analysis.
The
book
has
four
sections
and
an
appendix
of
well
over
two
hundred
pages
containing
statistical
tables
used
in
the
study.
The
first
section
consists
of
a
brief
survey
of
differences
on
foreign
policy
between
the
three
major
religious
groups
from
about
1937
to
United
States
entry
into
the world
war;
the
second
carries
the
survey
forward,
in
more
detailed
fashion,
to
the
late
196os;
the
third
considers
the
relevance
of
demographic
factors
to
differences
in
attitude
on
inter-
national
questions;
and
the
final
section
offers
an
interpretation
of
the
study's
findings
as
well
as
the
author's
recommendations
as
to
how
the
churches
might
'improve
understanding
among
their
members
of
the
ethical
dimensions
of
international
affairs
and
u.s.
foreign
policy.'
Among
Hero's
conclusions a
number
are
especially
noteworthy.
It
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