America's Religious Wars: The Embattled Heart of Our Public Life (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300213867)

How American conflicts about religion have always symbolized our foundational political values

When Americans fight about "religion," we are also fighting about our conflicting identities, interests, and commitments. Religion-talk has been a ready vehicle for these conflicts because it is built on enduring contradictions within our core political values. The Constitution treats religion as something to be confined behind a wall, but in public communications, the Framers treated religion as the foundation of the American republic. Ever since, Americans have translated disagreements on many other issues into an endless debate about the role of religion in our public life.

Built around a set of compelling narratives--George Washington's battle with Quaker pacifists; the fight of Mormons and Catholics for equality with Protestants; Teddy Roosevelt's concept of land versus the Lakota's concept; the creation-evolution controversy; and the struggle over sexuality--this book shows how religion, throughout American history, has symbolized, but never resolved, our deepest political questions.

Author: Kathleen M. Sands
ISBN-10: 0300213867
ISBN-13: 9780300213867
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/04/2019
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 06/14/2019 pg. 1
Choice 01/01/2020