Politics, Religion, and the Common Good

The future of America, in many ways, depends upon an understanding of the proper role of religion in our shared life as a republic. Discussions and debates on the topic have too often generated noise, platitudes, stereotypes, name-calling, and the distortion of vitally important issues, instead of constructive conversation among citizens--until now.

Of all the voices commenting about American religion today, none is more credible or better known than that of historian Martin E. Marty. A respected scholar, author, editor, and media commentator, he has-perhaps better than anyone else in the field-a deep grasp on the complex issues surrounding public religion.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Tools for Moving from Argument to Conversation.

1. Handle with Care: The Case Against Public Religion.

2. Worth the Risk: Public Religion and the Common Good.

3. The Individual Citizen, Formed and Mobilized by Faith.

4. The Declining Political Power of Traditional Institutions.

5. The Flourishing of Religious Special Interest Groups.

6. An Invitation to All Religious People: Join the Political Conversation.

Notes.

References.

The Author.

About the Public Religion Project.

Index.

MARTIN E. MARTY is the author of more than fifty books, including the five-volume The Fundamentalisms Project and the three-volume Modern American Religion. He is professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he received his Ph.D. and taught for thirty-five years. An ordained minister, he is senior editor of the weekly Christian Century, a frequent media commentator on American religion, and the recipient of sixty-four honorary degrees. In this insightful book, Marty covers a wealth of vital issues about the state of the politics and religion, including: the case often made against public religion; how public religion affects the common good; the ways in which the individual citizen is formed by faith; the declining political power of traditional institutions; the flourishing of religious special interest groups; and how to move questions of public religion from argument to conversation.