Divided by God
America's Church-State Problem--and What We Should Do About It
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A Timely Exploration of the Profound Conflict Between Religion and Politics in America
Even before George W. Bush gained reelection by wooing religiously devout "values voters," it was clear that the relationship between church and state in the United States had reached a crisis point. In Divided by God, Noah Feldman shows that this crisis is as old as the nation itself—and offers a compelling look at how it might be resolved.
In today's religiously diverse society, the implications of the paradox between increasing religious commitment and political involvement are more pressing than ever. Feldman makes clear that throughout our nation's history, diversity has forced us to redraw the lines in the church-state divide. With vivid, dramatic chapters, he describes how conflicts over the Bible, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the teaching of evolution have been resolved through appeals to shared values of liberty, equality, and freedom of conscience.
Proposing a brilliant solution to our current crisis that honors religious diversity while respecting the long-held conviction that religion and state should remain separate, Divided by God speaks to today's headlines even as it tells the story of a long-running conflict that has shaped the American identity. A must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of religion and politics in the United States.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Feldman, a legal rising star and author of After Jihad (a look at democracy and Islam), turns his attention to America's battle over law and religious values in this lucid and careful study. Those Feldman calls "legal secularists" want the state wholly cleansed of religion, while "values evangelicals" want American government to endorse the Christianity on which they say its authority rests. Feldman thinks both positions too narrow for America's tastes and needs. Much of his volume shows how those needs have changed. James Madison and his friends, Feldman writes, hoped to "protect religion from government, not the other way round." Debates in the 19th century focused on public schools, whose culture of "nonsectarian Christianity" (really Protestantism) created dilemmas for Catholics, and in the 20th century faced challenges from secularists and evangelicals the former won in the courts until very recently; the latter, often enough, won public opinion. Feldman proposes a compromise: that government " greater space for public manifestations of religion" while preventing government from linking itself with "religious institutions" (by funding them, for example). The "values" controversy, as Feldman shows, concerns electoral clout, not just legal reasoning. His patient historical chapters will leave readers on all sides far more informed as matters like stem-cell research and the Supreme Court's forthcoming 10 Commandments decision take the headlines.
Customer Reviews
Misses the Mark
Once religion influences government, those beliefs become enshrined in law and favor one set of beliefs over another. It's a self-reinforcing circular pattern where religion ultimately writes the rules. In order to prevent government from influencing or establishing religion, religion must be prevented from influencing government. Get it?