Does Civil Religion Need a Crisis?

Stout states that according to his calculations “The only twentieth-century decade with fewer than ten interventions was the “depression decade” of the 1930s, when there were only three minor events suggesting, ironically, that economic bad times are good for Americans at war; they couldn't afford the guns!” (Stout, 278)

Bellah suggests a third trial (after the Rev. War and Civil War) of America’s Civil Religion when he states, “Every president since Roosevelt has been groping toward a new pattern of action in the world, one that would be consonant with our power and our responsibilities.  For Truman and for the period dominated by John Foster Dulles that pattern was seen to be the great Manichaean confrontation of East and West, the confrontation of democracy and ‘the false philosophy of Communism’ that provided the structure of Truman’s inaugural address….” but the pattern shifted by the late 60’s when, “great problems came to be seen as caused not solely by the evil intent of any one group of men,” but rather “‘the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.’” (Bellah 16-17).

Stout critiques Catherine L. Albanese stating that “one [problem in her analysis] is her tendency to bury civil religion prematurely, noting its ‘lessening hold’ in the 1990’s when she wrote the text  burying civil religion prematurely in the 1990’s.”  (Stout 285).  He also states that Albanese “fails to address the causation and the indispensable role that churches played in promoting the ‘religious nationalism’ of civil religion in time of war.” (285-286)

Given that some scholars, such as Albanese, seemed to think that civil religion was dying in the 1990’s (after the fall of the Soviet Union, flourishing tech stocks, etc) and that the sources suggest that churches seem to promote civil religion during times of war, one must ask the question does Civil Religion require a crisis (military, economic, social, etc) in order to exist?  Can churches during times of peace -- albeit there are relatively few time periods fall in this category according to Stout -- promote religious nationalism of civil religion or do they only do so when times are chaotic?