CHAPTER TWO NO OTHER GODS You shall have no other gods before me. “I believe in God. I’m not a religious fanatic. I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilaism. Just my own little voice.” Such was the response of Sheila Larson, a typical American interviewed by Robert Bellah and his colleagues.1 Bellah and his team contrast the communal, confessional faith of the New England Puritans with the individualistic and subjective diversity of contemporary