The moral future of the U.S. does not rely on religious unanimity, of course. But I believe that for progressive ideas to have any shot of fulfillment, they must be connected to the church, much as they were during the civil-rights movement. (Today, faith organizations still work on humanitarian causes—as I’ve noted repeatedly, immigration and homelessness services are largely provided by Catholic charities—but they tend to perform that work quietly.) However, we have become so lonely, and spend so much time staring at our phones, and it sometimes feels impossible for anything—religion, art, recreation—to avoid being swallowed up by the gospel of personal optimization.journey-inline-newsletterinline-newsletter