First, as the title of a key
chapter puts it, the American example
shows that religion can «Make Use of Democratic Instincts» in a manner mutually beneficial to itself and democracy; second, sustainable democracy needs religion, which means we can expect democratic peoples to remain attached to its continuance or at least potentially receptive to its revival (cf. II, 2.17, # s 17 - 20); third, democratic times, because they are enlightened times, tend to be ones of increasing doubts about religion; fourth, the relevant religion for America and Europe, Christianity, will be tugged against and perhaps eroded by powerful and ongoing democratic currents toward liberationist and materialist mores; and
fifth, religion's authority in democratic society will always rest upon common opinion.