RobertPutnam, author of "Bowling Alone, " a best-selling book that looked at the decline of social and civic life in America, says bridge and bridge lunches were once part of the glue of communities.
Still others claim national service is needed because civic involvement in America is in long-term decline (as evidence, they cite falling voter turnout and Robert Putnam's argument that Americans are joining community organisations less than they used to).
It is not only a series of popes but also a number of prominent secular thinkers who believe that the birth-control pill has been one of the major milestones in human history a diverse group that runs from public intellectuals of a previous generation like Walter Lippmann to such contemporary scholars as Francis Fukuyama and RobertPutnam.