Faith in politics / A. James Reichley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reichley, James.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and politics--United States--History.

Religion and politics.

Political science--United States.

Political science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (439 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

According to current polls, about 85 percent of Americans identify with some religious faith and more than 40 percent say they attend religious services at least once a week. In recent years, religious observance--and even religious belief--have become important factors influencing voter choice. Active participation in electoral politics by some religious groups has fueled apprehensions that the traditional separation of church and state may be threatened. A. James Reichley explores the questions and conflicting positions surrounding the relations between government and politics in a new book that draws upon his landmark work, Religion in American Public Life. In Faith in Politics, Reichley explores the history of religion in American public life, and considers some practical and philosophic questions affecting future participation by religious groups in the formation of public policy. Reichley begins by examining the various attitudes and points of view of strict separationists, liberal social activists, moderate accommodationists, and direct interventionists. He goes on to discuss the way religion and politics relate to each other through a theoretic structure of seven value systems: monism, absolutism, ecstacism, egoism, collectivism, civil humanism, and transcendent idealism. Further chapters examine the trends and constitutional arrangements that developed during the formative years of the American Republic; the evolution of judicial interpretations of the free exercise and establishment clauses; and the history of church involvement in politics from the early years of the Republic to the 2000 election and the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. A chapter covering events and developments from 1986 to 2002 includes accounts of political activism by the African American church, ideological divisions among Roman Catholics, Jewish

liberalism and commitment to Israel, the rise and decline of the religious right, and political differences.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: The Religious Factor 1 The Problem Defined 2 A Common Medium 4 Religion, Politics, and Human Values 10 A Typology of Value Systems 11 Egoism 13 Collectivism 18 Monism 22 Absolutism 27 Ecstasism 36 Civil Humanism 41 Transcendent Idealism 47 Intentions of the Founders 53 City on a Hill 54 Degrees of Diversity 73 The American Enlightenment 84 A New Nation 94 Interpreting the First Amendment 113 A New Doctrine of Rights 114 The Free Exercise Clause 124 The Establishment Clause 131 Religious Freedom 156 Religion and Political Action, 1790 to 1963 159 A Pluralist Society 161 First Alignment 168 An Immigrant Church 172 The Party of Conscience 178 Religion and the Industrial Age 193 The New Deal Coalition 208 Time of Turmoil, 1964 to 1985 231 The Churches Come to Washington 232 The Religious New Left 243 Mainline Protestants in Crisis 250 Black Activism 265 Catholics in Ferment 268 The Jewish Dilemma 282 Revolt of the Evangelicals 289 Prophetic Realism 303 Faith in Action, 1986 to 2002 309 The African American Church: Challenging Marginality 310 Diverging Catholics 314 Still Liberal Jews 323 Change and Continuity on the Religious Right 329 The Protestant Ethic 336 The Values Election 343 A New Beginning? 345 Religion and Democracy 351 The Moral Foundation of Democracy 352 The Role of Organized Religion 359 "A Religious People" 365.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-8157-7372-2

OCLC:

614737463