Description
Explores questions surrounding religion's role in contemporary public life. Illustrates that absolute answers to questions about the complex relationship between religious faith and American democracy often obscure as much as they illuminate. Contributors represent a variety of religious and political perspectives. Dionne is senior fellow in governmental studies at the Brookings Institution and a columnist for the Washington Post . DiIulio is professor of politics, religion, and civil society, and professor of political science, at the University of Pennsylvania; a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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More than two hundred years have passed since the Constitution was written, yet Americans still cannot make up their minds whether religion is primarily private, public, or a combination of the two. This collection of essays explores the unsettled—and often unsettling—question of organized religion's role in contemporary public life. Richard N. Ostling reviews religious belief and practice in the United States in a survey of the ever-changing religious landscape, while Robert J. Blendon and others compare the political, moral, and religious values of the 1960s with those of the 1990s. Patrick Glynn and Alan Wolfe examine different religious responses to the recent presidential scandal, and James Q. Wilson, John J. DiIulio Jr., and Ram Cnaan examine the rise of faith-based social programs, including the shift of private funds to social service providers, the role of black churches in the inner city, and social and community work by urban religious congregations. Additional contributors include Taylor Branch, Kurt Schmoke, Cal Thomas, and Peter Wehner.
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