s it was in the medieval village
community of Europe. Whatever attitude one may take toward their
religious beliefs, all impartial observers are agreed that the Mormons
have established the strongest agricultural communities and that they
have discovered and applied to a high degree some of the most
fundamental principles of social organization. Concerning them Dr.
Wilson says:

"These exceptional farmers are organized in the interest of
agriculture. The Mormons represent this organization in the
highest degree. Perhaps no other so large or so powerful a
body of united farmers is found in the whole country. They
have approached the economic questions of farming with
determination to till the soil. They distrust city life and
condemn it. They teach their children and they discipline
themselves to love the country, to appreciate its
advantages and to recognize that their own welfare is bound
up in their success as farmers, and in the continuance of
their farming communities. This agricultural organization
centers in their country churches. They have turned the
force of religion into a community making power, and from
the highest to the lowest of their church officers the
Mormon people are devoted to agriculture as a mode of
living."[51]

But although large numbers of communities throughout the United States
were settled by people of one religious faith, and thus had the
strongest bond of community, yet large areas were settled by scattered
homesteaders belonging to different sects, and as time went on,
newcomers came into the older communities and established churches of
various denominations, so that throughout most of the country the
churches have come to have more of a divisive than a unifying influence
on community life.

In our discussion of the religious life of the rural community we shall
confine our attention to the protestant churches, because most of our
rural people are protestants. It is true that in some sections, such as
Louisiana and southern Maryland, and in many sections recently settled
by Europeans, the people are mostly Roman Catholics; but in general the
catholic church is strongest in the cities and towns and does not have
strong rural parishes throughout the country. Throughout most of the
United States the Methodist, Episcopal and Baptist denominations have by
far the largest number of churches and