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Religion and politics in the United States / Kenneth D. Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown.

LIBRA BL2525 .W35 2014
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Wald, Kenneth D., author.
Calhoun-Brown, Allison, 1966- author.
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Religion and politics--United States--History--21st century.
Religion and politics.
History.
United States--Religion--1960-.
United States.
Religion.
United States--Politics and government--2001-2009.
Politics and government.
Physical Description:
xiii, 481 pages ; 23 cm
Edition:
Seventh edition.
Place of Publication:
Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2014]
Summary:
From marriage equality to gun control to immigration reform and the threat of war, religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation's political process and in our culture at large. Now in its seventh edition, Religion and Politics in the United States includes analyses of the nation's most pressing political matters regarding religious freedom and the ways in which that essential constitutional freedom situates itself within modern America. This book also explores the ways in which religion has affected the orientation of partisan politics in the United States. Through a detailed review of the political attitudes and behaviors of major religious and minority faith traditions, the authors establish that religion continues to be a major part of the American cultural and political milieu, while also explaining that religion must interact with many other factors in order to influence political outcomes in the United States. Book jacket.
Contents:
1 A Secular Society? 1
The Puzzle of Religious Vitality 4
The Persistence of Religion 9
Stability or Change? 14
Possible Explanations 18
Why the United States? 20
2 Religion in the American Context 23
Understanding Religion 24
Patterns of Religious Affiliation 26
Basic Political Tendencies 32
Conclusion 37
3 Religion and American Political Culture 39
The Puritan Imprint on Colonial Thought 40
Covenant Theology and the Right to Revolt 43
Puritanism and Democracy: A Qualification 46
"Total Depravity" and Institutional Restraint 48
One Nation under God: A Civil Religion 54
Civil Religion as a Double-Edged Sword 60
One of Many Influences 62
4 Religion and the State 55
The Genesis of Church-State Conflict 66
Overview of Church-State Relations 69
How Far Can Government Go? 75
The Judicial Record 80
The Separationist Era (1940s-1970s) 88
The Accomodationist Era 95
The Politics of Church-State Relations 100
The Constitutional Revolution in Perspective 104
The Cutting Edge 105
5 Mobilizing Religious Interests 109
Studying Religious Interests 111
Establishing Motive 113
Establishing Means 129
Conclusion 141
6 Religion and Political Action 143
Religious Cultural Environment 145
Institutional Contexts 149
Partisan Political Alignments 155
Influential Allies 158
Policy Domain 165
Conclusion 181
7 Religion and Public Opinion 183
Economic Liberalism 185
Moral-Cultural Issues 188
Social Justice 196
Foreign Policy 200
What Culture War? 202
8 The Political Mobilization of Evangelical Protestants 207
The Political Background 208
Roots of the "New Christian Right" 212
Building a National Movement 215
Evangelical Political Action 216
Organizational Transformation: The Second Generation 218
Theories of Evangelical Mobilization 221
The Impact of the Christian Right 227
The Consequences for Public Policy 228
Good Times? The Christian Right and the Bush Administration 229
Assessing the Christian Right 230
Strategic Realities 234
Conclusion 239
9 Continuity and Change in the Religious Center 241
Catholicism: Conflicting Political Impulses 243
The Conservative Political Heritage 244
The Transformation of Catholic Attitudes 247
Abortion: The Catholic Response 252
Is Abortion a Catholic Issue? 255
The Political Traditions of Mainline Protestants 263
Mainline Activism: Sources and Reactions 267
American Jews 270
10 Religion and the Politics of Ethnic and Religious Minorities 279
African American Protestants 280
Latino Catholics and Protestants 291
Muslim Americans 297
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 305
Other Faith Traditions 311
Conclusion 314
11 The Other Minorities 315
Women, Religion, and Politics 318
Homosexuals 331
Religion and Homosexuality 333
Conclusion 349
12 Religion and American Political Life 351
The Case against Religious Influence in Politics 352
Assessing the Evidence 358
The Case for Religion in Politics 364
Religion in Public Conversation 373.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9781442225534
144222553X
9781442225541
1442225548
OCLC:
865452340

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