Religion, Humility, and Democracy in a Divided America PDF Download

Author: Ruth Braunstein
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1789739519
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Strong religious convictions motivate citizens to engage in American public life, and are viewed as a source of closed-mindedness and a driver of political polarization. This book combines theoretical reflections on this tension, empirical studies examine how a range of religious actors balance conviction with humility in their political work.

Author: David W. Marshall
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 9781631292699
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
History is a powerful tool we can use to study the past, as well as its sometimes complex relationship with the present. To understand our nation's history is to also know its relevancy to today's current events. Over the centuries, the United States of America has been marked by divisions of race, class, religion, culture, and politics, and by taking a look into our past, we can discover the root causes behind the polarization that has defined our modern-day culture. In God Bless Our Divided America: Unity, Politics, and History from a Biblical Perspective, author David Marshall explores the combination of history, the principle of unity, and politics from a scriptural viewpoint. Marshall's profoundly timely teaching will open your eyes to the ways in which history is repeating itself, as well as how the divisive sins and consequences which were commonplace in the past are also occurring today. Throughout the book, you'll gain insight into powerful legacies that counter these consequences, as well as the character and conscience that these legacies use to reshape our nation with unity. Meet historical men and women who chose to step forward and follow the weight of their conscience, taking a stand against social injustice. You'll learn that despite the judgement from society, God can use anyone as His servant--including you. With the simple response of "Thy will be done," you can do your part to help transform this great nation. For patriotic believers who have a passion for restoring unity in the body of Christ, God Bless Our Divided America will bolster you with the hope for a blessed future for this country. David Marshall works as a strong advocate for social justice and racial and religious reconciliation. He resides in Bowie, Maryland.

Author: Emilio Gentile
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313353379
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
In God's Democracy, Emilio Gentile argues that the presidency of George W. Bush sought to alter the way religion functions in American political life. Prior to the events of 9/11, the national government operated under a civil religious regime that placed a sacred umbrella over the entire country and its leading political figures. American civil religion was not only an inclusive faith, but one that provided ample room for citizens with different politics and different world views. But in the wake of 9/11, President Bush used religion to differentiate Americans on partisan lines. Relying heavily on his evangelical Christian base, he attempted to substitute for the inclusivism of the traditional American civil religion an exclusivist political religion in which Democrats were portrayed as hostile to religious values and incapable of dealing with the country's foreign enemies. This book provides the historical context for this attempted transformation, and shows in a detailed way how the Bush administration pursued it. Gentile concludes by posing the question of whether this radical shift in the way Americans understand themselves religiously will prove permanent. Unlike other works that strive to show how religion has generally come to be treated in American politics, this new book looks more squarely at the Bush Administration and its attempt to shut out Democrats from the political process by invoking religious language and ideals. He goes on to consider the political exclusivism and whether or not it will persist beyond Bush's tenure.

Author: Bill Haslam
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1400224438
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Two-term governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam reveals how faith--too often divisive and contentious--can be a redemptive and unifying presence in the public square. As a former mayor and governor, Bill Haslam has long been at the center of politics and policy on local, state, and federal levels. And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends. Faithful Presence calls for a different way. Drawing upon his years of public service, Haslam casts a remarkable vision for the redemptive role of faith in politics while examining some of the most complex issues of our time, including: partisanship in our divided era; the most essential character trait for a public servant; how we cannot escape "legislating morality"; the answer to perpetual outrage; and how to think about the separation of church and state. For Christians ready to be salt and light, as well as for those of a different faith or no faith at all, Faithful Presence argues that faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square--as it must be, if our nation is to flourish.

Author: Noah Feldman
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374281319
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
In view of the expanding religious diversity within American society, this study addresses the church-state conflict that threatens the nation's unity and offers solutions for reconciling the problem.

Author: Amanda Porterfield
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226675122
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Americans have long acknowledged a deep connection between evangelical religion and democracy in the early days of the republic. This is a widely accepted narrative that is maintained as a matter of fact and tradition—and in spite of evangelicalism’s more authoritarian and reactionary aspects. In Conceived in Doubt, Amanda Porterfield challenges this standard interpretation of evangelicalism’s relation to democracy and describes the intertwined relationship between religion and partisan politics that emerged in the formative era of the early republic. In the 1790s, religious doubt became common in the young republic as the culture shifted from mere skepticism toward darker expressions of suspicion and fear. But by the end of that decade, Porterfield shows, economic instability, disruption of traditional forms of community, rampant ambition, and greed for land worked to undermine heady optimism about American political and religious independence. Evangelicals managed and manipulated doubt, reaching out to disenfranchised citizens as well as to those seeking political influence, blaming religious skeptics for immorality and social distress, and demanding affirmation of biblical authority as the foundation of the new American national identity. As the fledgling nation took shape, evangelicals organized aggressively, exploiting the fissures of partisan politics by offering a coherent hierarchy in which God was king and governance righteous. By laying out this narrative, Porterfield demolishes the idea that evangelical growth in the early republic was the cheerful product of enthusiasm for democracy, and she creates for us a very different narrative of influence and ideals in the young republic.

Author: Robert Audi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197682669
Category : Church and state
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
Is This God's Country? presents an exploration by noted philosopher Robert Audi on the tensions between church and state in the democratic United States. He investigates how and why America separates church and state, and whether this separation benefits both religious and secular citizens. Audi then proposes standards for discussing and resolving church-state issues in education, business, and medicine, using a multitude of examples. He addresses the question whether America can be Christian--or religious at all--in a way that still integrates religious liberty with democratic law-making, and expands the common ground we would need in order to overcome the cultural fragmentation that besets America.

Author: Ray Suarez
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061856428
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Not since the Civil War has the United States been so polarized, politically and ideologically. At the heart of this fracture is a fascinating, paradoxical marriage between our country's politics and religions. In The Holy Vote, Ray Suarez explores the advent of this polarization and how it is profoundly changing the way we live our lives. With hands-on reporting, Suarez explores the attitudes and beliefs of the people behind the voting numbers and how the political divide is manifesting itself across the country. The reader will come to a greater understanding of what Americans believe, and how this belief structure fuels the debates that dominate the issues on our evening news broadcasts.

Author: Hugh Heclo
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674032306
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Hugh Heclo proposes that Christianity, not religion in general, has been important for American democracy. Responding to his challenging argument, Mary Jo Bane, Michael Kazin, and Alan Wolfe criticize, qualify, and amend it. The result is a lively debate about a momentous tension in American public life.

Author: Dr. Amy E. Black
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 0802483283
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Politics isn’t a four-letter word. Everyone’s been at that dinner party. The conversation takes a political turn. The arguments start, the atmosphere grows tense, and all that remains is a hopeless stalemate and an awkward silence. Makes you wonder . . . is thoughtful and productive dialogue about politics even possible? In Honoring God in the Red or Blue, Dr. Amy Black addresses the debaters as well as those intimidated or annoyed by the debaters; political junkies and the contented uninvolved. She explains the purposes and limitations of our system and helps readers create realistic expectations for government. While God’s truth is perfect, human application of it is not, a reality that shouldn’t deter us from engaging in debate and staying informed. Rather, it should challenge us to raise our standards for how we speak about the issues—and those in office. It’s time to approach political divides with an extra measure of grace. Success begins with seeking God’s honor first and foremost, regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum. Don’t limit yourself to chatting about the weather.