Waubonsee Community College

Religion and politics in the United States, Kenneth D. Wald, University of Florida, Allison Calhoun-Brown, Georgia State University

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 341-404) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Religion and politics in the United States

bibliography

1005795774

Kenneth D. Wald, University of Florida, Allison Calhoun-Brown, Georgia State University

Religion and Politics in the United States has been fully updated with material from current scholarship to cover recent American politics and elections. Using an evidenced-based, social-scientific approach to religion this text shows how religion plays a fascinating and crucial part in our nation's political process and in our culture at large

A secular society? -- The Puzzle of Religious Vitality -- The Persistence of Religion -- Stability or Change? -- Possible Explanations -- Why the United States? -- Religion in the American context -- Understanding Religion -- Patterns of Religious Affiliation -- Basic Political Tendencies -- Conclusion -- Religion and American political culture -- The Puritan Imprint on Colonial Thought -- Covenant Theology and the Right to Revolt -- Puritanism and Democracy : A Qualification -- "Total Depravity" and Institutional Restraint -- One Nation under God : A Civil Religion -- Civil Religion as a Double-Edged Sword -- One of Many Influences -- Religion and the state -- The Genesis of Church-State Conflict -- Overview of Church-State Relations -- How Far Can Government Go? -- The Judicial Record -- The Separationist Era (1940's-1970's) -- The Accommodationist Era -- The Politics of Church-State Relations -- The Constitutional Revolution in Perspective -- The Cutting Edge -- Mobilizing religious interests -- Studying Religious Interests -- Establishing Motive -- Establishing Means -- Conclusion -- Religion and political action -- Religious Cultural Environment -- Institutional Contexts -- Partisan Political Alignments -- Influential Allies -- Policy Domain -- Conclusion -- Religion and public opinion -- Economic Liberalism -- Moral-Cultural Issues -- Social Justice -- Foreign Policy -- What Culture War? -- Religion and conservative political mobilization -- The Political Background -- Roots of the "New Christian Right" -- Building a National Movement -- Evangelical Political Action -- Organizational Transformation: The Second Generation -- Theories of Evangelical Mobilization -- The Impact of the Christian Right -- The Consequences for Public Policy -- Good Times? The Christian Right and the Bush Administration -- Assessing the Christian Right -- Strategic Realities – Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints -- Conclusion -- Religion and centrist political mobilization -- Catholicism: Conflicting Political Impulses -- The Conservative Political Heritage -- The Transformation of Catholic Attitudes -- Abortion: The Catholic Response -- Is Abortion a Catholic Issue? -- The Political Traditions of Mainline Protestants -- Mainline Activism: Sources and Reactions -- Religion and liberal political mobilization -- African American Protestants -- Latino Catholics and Protestants -- Muslim Americans -- American Jews -- Other Faith Traditions – Religious Notes -- Conclusion -- The struggle for minority rights : gender and sexuality -- Women, Religion, and Politics -- Sexuality -- Religion and sexuality -- Conclusion -- Religion and American political life -- The Case against Religious Influence in Politics – Magnitude of Threats Posed by Religious Extremism -- What Does Social Science Have to Say? -- Assessing the Evidence -- The Case for Religion in Politics – Does Religion Mitigate Threats to Freedom? -- Religion in Public Conversation