Building Cultures of Trust

<DIV>American society is experiencing a profound crisis of trust from government to mass media to educational and religious institutions. And - whether we realize it or not - this crisis affects us all. <br><br>In Building Cultures of Trust Martin Marty proposes ways of improving the conditions for trust at what might be called the grass roots level. He suggests that it makes a difference if citizens put energy into inventing developing and encouraging cultures of trust in all areas of life - families schools neighborhoods workplaces churches and more. Marty believes that such efforts at trust-building will do more than trickle up to larger areas of society; it will become a slow spreading of habits of honesty inspiring trust on a culture-changing scale. <br><br>Far from naïve Marty realizes that the reality of human nature tends towards trust-breaking not trust-building. All the more reason he argues to develop strategies to bring about improvements one small step at a time.</DIV>