Journalists, historians, sociologists and religious leaders are all agreed that the American churches are badly split. The division is partly theological, but it recognizes no traditional bounds of denomination, afflicting Roman Catholics as much as the various Protestants. The thesis of Dean Kelley's Why Conservative Churches Are Crowing, (New York, 1972) is suggested by the title he himself had chosen for the book: “Why Strict Churches Are Strong.” Churches that are ecumenical in spirit and open to the wider world do not prosper like those that are highly authoritarian and exclusivistic. Strict authoritarianism responds to the desire for secure foundations in a badly shaken culture.