This page contains the topics for each week of the course. It lists the reading assignments and poses some discussion questions. Common readings are designate with a symbol. Others are optional.

Contents: 1. Introduction | 2. Conceptualizing | 3. Emotion and Reason | 4. Christian Nation I | 5. Christian Nation II | 6. Democracy
| 7. Scripture and Doctrine | 8. Freedom From | 9. Freedom Of |10. Public Opinion |11. Participation |12. Preference |13. Leaders I |14. Leaders II

1. August 25, Introduction

The 2008 campaign for President of the United States exhibits at least two facets of the relationship between religion and politics. One is the controversy over connections between both major candidates and religious leaders, Senator John McCain with Pastor John Hagee and Senator Barack Obama with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Hagee is founder of Christians United for Israel and the senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Wright is the former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Further, the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has raised issues of how faith shapes values and political action. Additionally, the Religious Right, which has been influential in national campaigns since 2000, is changing or, perhaps, losing some of its clout. Further, These are good places to begin our study.

Read

Hagee
• Moyers, Bill. 2007. "Christians United for Israel," Bill Moyers Journal, PBS, October 7.
  Roth, Zachary. 2008. "The McCain-Hagee Connection," Columbia Journalism Review, March 7.
  Veracifier. 2008. "McCain Can't Quit John Hagee," TPMtv, YouTube, March 5.
  

Wright

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. 2008. "Obama Religion Questions," February 29.
United Church of Christ. 2008. Full Page Ad, New York Times, April 3.

• Moyers, Bill. 2008. "Interview with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr.," Bill Moyers Journal, PBS, April 25.
  Wright, Jeremiah, Jr. 2008. "Faith, Social Justice and Public Service,"April 28.
  Obama, Barack. 2008. "Press Conference on Rev. Wright," April 29.
  Editorial. 2008. "Mr. Obama and Rev. Wright," The New York Times, April 30.
  Dowd, Maureen. 2008. "Praying and Preying," The New York Times, April 30.
  The Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ"What Kind of Prophet," Trinity United Church of Christ.
  Gross, Terry, and Dwight Hopkins. 2008. "Black Liberation Theology: A Historical Perspective," Fresh Air, March 31.
  Roberts, J. Deotis. 2000. Africentric Christianity: A Theological Appraisal for Ministry. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press.
  

Pailn

CNN. 2008. , "Pastor: GOP May be Downplaying Palin's Religious Beliefs," September 9.

Religious Right

• Kirkpatrick, David D. 2006. "Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans," The New York Times, May 15. Martin, Michelle, Harry Jackson, Jr., and Jim Wallis. 2008. "Evangelicals Back Away from Political Affiliation." Faith Matters, Tell Me More, March 14.
  Marshall, Will, E. J. Dionne, Amy Sullivan, and Michael Gerson. 2008. "Is the Religious Right a Spent Political Force?" Progressive Policy Institute, March 26.
  The Compassion Forum at Messiah College, founded by Brethren in Christ Church.
  Warren, Rick. 2008. "Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency."
  Boyer, Peter J. 2008. "Party Faithful: Can the Democrats Get a Foothold on the Religious Vote?" The New Yorker, September 8.

Discuss

1. Has Pastor John Hagee helped or hurt Senator John McCain's presidential campaign? How?
2. Has the Reverend Jeremiah Wright helped or hurt Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign? How?
3. What is the relationship between black liberation theology and black power?
4. What is the "prophetic tradition"?
5. What is the difference between fundamentalists, evangelicals, and mainline?
6. Is the religious right staying the course, changing its focus, or fading away?
7. In the Warren interview did the candidates behave sincerely or did they pander to the religious right?

2. September 1, Conceptualizing Religion and Politics

The political and the religious are names we give to certain kinds of human activity. In our initial meeting we briefly noted the concepts of religion and politics in the works of Clifford Geertz and David Easton. Their approach to these ideas is similar to the ancient Greeks. For example, in his Politics (1252 b30-1253 a3) Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) wrote that man is a political animal, living with others to share the good life. From this idea scholars generally use "politics" as a term to define those activities involved in choosing the way we live together in order to achieve the good life. Plato, Aristotle's teacher, wrote about likely myths of the kosmos, which may be another way of defining religion. Further, Plato combined the religious and political when he taught that a belief in a world that is not merely a product of chance is necessary for a good social order. We shall argue over these conceptualizations and how they relate to one another.

Read

Balmer, Randall. 2002. Protestantism in America. New York: Columbia University Press.

• Schaar, John H. 1991. "Liberty/Authority/Community in the Political Thought of John Winthrop," Political Theory, 19(4 November):493-518.
  Edwards, Jonathan. "Concerning the notion of Liberty, and of moral Agency," On the Freedom of the Will, Part I, Sec. V. pp. 25-28.
  Easton, David. 1955. The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. New York: Knopf.
  Geertz, Clifford. 1966. "Religion as a Cultural System," in M. Banton, ed., Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. London: Tavistock. 1-46.
  Noll, Mark A., and Luke E. Harlow, eds. 2007. Religion and American Politics: From the Colonial Period to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press.
  De Tocqueville. Alexis. [1831] 2000. Democracy in America. Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop, trans., ed., intro. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  Karner, Christian and Alan Aldridge. 2004. "Theorizing Religion in a Globalizing World," International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 18(1-2 December): 5-32.
  Gushee, David P. 2008. The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center. Waco: Baylor University Press.
  Brooks, David. 2008. "The Neural Buddhists" The New York Times, May 13.

Discuss

1. If a person chooses to participate in religion or politics or both, what does one do? What does it mean to engage in politics or to practice a religion?
2. Is there a higher law than doing whatever one desires or whatever the government demands?
3. How does one's religion or the religion of others influence the enforcement of governmental authority and citizen obedience?
4. How does a religion's view of worldliness and other-worldliness affect politics?
5. Is religion inherently reactionary?
6. Are polity and religion separate, symbiotic, or antagonistic?
7. Are persons of conservative religion likely to be politically conservative as well?
8. Why do religious conservatives often reject scientific thought and contemplative political leadership?

3. September 8, Polity and Religion: Emotion and Reason, Religion, Politics, and the Brain

It is often said that religion and politics should not be discussed in polite company. This may be because they stimulate the areas of the brain related to emotion rather than reason. Whether you talk religion or politics or both you may have discovered that reason is not always, if ever, effective.

Read

• Westen, Drew. 2008. The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation. New York: Public Affairs.
  http://www.thepoliticalbrain.com/videos.php?clip=1>Political Brain Video
  
• Gazziniga, Michael. 2005. "The Believing Brain," The Ethical Brain. New York: Dana Press.
  Westen, Drew, Pavel S. Blagov, Keith Harenski, Clint Kilts, and Stephan Hamann. 2006. "Neural Bases of Motivated Reasoning an fMRI Study of Emotional Constraints on Partisan Political Judgment in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election," Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18(11): 1947-1958.
  Hamer, Dean H. 2004. God Gene: How Faith is Hard Wired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday.
  1964 Lyndon Johnson's Daisy Ad.
  1974 Neil Young's "Southern Man" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweethome Alabama." and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "The Ballad of Curtis Loew."
  1992 Willie Horton Ad.
  1992 George Bush's Revolving Door Ad.
  1992 Shaw-Dukakis on Death Penalty during Presidential Debate
  1984. Reagan's "It's Morning Again in America" Ad.
  n.d. Colbert, Stephen."Truthiness," The Colbert Report, Comedy Central.
  2002 Saxby Chambliss Ad Against Max Cleland
  Shea, Christopher. 2006. "Blood on the Tracks," The Boston Globe, August 6.
  2006. Republican National Committee, Bob Corker's ad versus Harold Ford
  2006. Republican National Committee, "Bad Call"
  Gore, Al. 2007. "The Politics of Fear", Assault on Reason. New York: Penguin.
  2008. "Where Angels No Longer Fear to Tread," The Economist, March 19.

Discuss

1. What are the consequences for political science and practical politics, if religion and politics are frequently based on emotion rather than reason?
2. How do religious concepts of good and evil contribute to the evaluation of public policy? Are good and evil entirely subjective or relative, or both?
3. Is politics so full of ambiguity that there can never be absolute right or wrong?
4. What is religion's role in public affairs? Should it abstain from politics, announce moral principles and evaluate policies accordingly, or provide specific recommendations for social problems?
5. How is one's view of the use of force affected by religion and how does it relate to politics?
6. Can religion or the state encourage people to act compassionately? Should they?

4. September 15, The United States, "A Christian Nation"?: Exploration, Settlement, and Founding

Some folks believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that society and government should favor Christianity over other faiths. From the time of Spanish exploration and conquest through the settlements of the Virginia Company and others premodernists spoke in religious terms. Although the Declaration of Independence refers to "nature's God," "Creator," "the Supreme Judge of the World," and "Divine Providence," it does not mention Christianity. Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution is largely a secular document, explicitly denying a "religious test" for national office and prohibiting Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion" or prohibiting "the free exercise thereof." Moreover, when folks invoke the Founders, whom do they mean? Native peoples, explorers, investors, missionaries, settlers, officials, signers of the Declaration of Independence, drafters of the Constitution, ratifiers of the Constitution, drafters of the First Amendment, ratifiers of the First Amendment?

Read

• Wills, Garry. 2007. "Puritans" and "The Deists," Chs. 1-4 and 9, Head and Heart: American Christianities New York: Penguin Press.
  Winthrop, John. 1630. "A Model of Christian Charity," The Journal of John Winthrop. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  _____. 1645 [1853]. "Little Speech on Liberty" The History of New England, from 1630 to 1649. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 2:228-30.
  Machand, Roland. n.d. "The Antinomian Controversy," A History Teacher's Bag of Tricks, UC Davis.
  Washington, George. 1789. "Thanksgiving Proclamation." Library of Congress.
  1796. Article 11, Treaty of Peace with Tripoli November 4. Waldman, Steven. n.d. "Separating 'Diamonds' from the 'Dunghill': The Fascinating History of the 'Jefferson Bible'," Beliefnet.com.
  Jefferson, Thomas. 1819. The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (Extracted Textually from the Gospels Greek, Latin, French, and English).
  Library of Congress. n.d. "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic."
  Hutson James. 2001. "James Madison and the Social Utility of Religion: Risks vs. Rewards," James Madison: Philosopher and Practitioner of Liberal Democracy. Washington: Library of Congress.
  Story, Joseph. 1833. "Church and State and the Bill of Rights," Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Boston: Milliard, Gray, pp. iii-viii, 693-703.
  Hatch, Nathan. 1977. The Sacred Cause of Liberty: Republican Thought and the Millennium in Revolutionary New England. New Haven: Yale University Press. Grey, Thomas C. 1984. “The Constitution as Scripture,” Stanford Law Review 37: 1-25.

Discuss

1. Was the United State founded as a Christian nation?
2. What was the Puritan view of human nature and how has it affected American politics?
3. How was the faith of many early immigrants reconciled with a secular Constitution?
4. Is the literal reading of scripture related to a strict construction of the Constitution?
5. Are piety, religion, and morality intimately connected with the well-being of the state, and indispensable to the administration of civil justice (Story 1833, 1865)?

5. September 22, The United States, "A Christian Nation"?: Diversity

Regardless of whether the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation, the question may be raised whether it still is or should be one. For example, a person might argue that the U.S. was not founded as a Christian nation and that there is so much religious diversity today that it cannot be called a Christian nation, but it should be one. Others claim that America once was a Christian nation but has lost its way, that false religions or secularism are leading it astray. Alternatively, one might ask whether American politics have been motivated by virtue and resulted in it.

Read

• Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2008. U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, February.
  Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2008. "Portrait of American Catholics on Eve of Pope Benedict's Visit." March 27.
  Bellah, Robert. 1967. "Civil Religion in America," Daedalus. 96(1 Winter):1-21.
  2001. "Congress Sings 'God Bless America,'" YouTube, September 11.
  Eck, Diana L. 2002. A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.
  Fleming, Jim. 2008. "East Meets West: Encountering Islam," To the Best of Our Knowledge, August 23.
  Haynes, Charles C., and Oliver Thomas. n.d. Chapter 11, "Student Religious Practices," Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center.
  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2007. Transcendentalism.
  Gehrig, Gail. 1981."The American Civil Religion Debate: A Source of Theory Construction" Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 20(1 March): 51-63.
  Dominionism
  DiIulio, John J., Jr. 2007. Godly Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  Byassee, Jason. 2007. "Africentric Church: A Visit to Chicago's Trinity UCC, The Christian Century, May 29.
  Dawkins, Richard. 2008. "An Argument for Atheism," Fresh Air, NPR, March 7.
  Collins, Francis. 2008. "A Scientist's Case for God," Fresh Air, NPR, March 7.
  Dubash, Tenaz. 2007. "Crisis in Faith: Zoroastrians Today," myspacetv.com.

Discuss

1. Can Americans have a vital religious life if the United States is not a Christian nation? If it is a Christian nation?
2. How did Puritanism lead to Unitarianism and Transcendentalism?
3. How did numerous religions originate in America? Do they differ politically from other religions?
4. How do faithful liberals and faithful conservatives differ in the way they use scripture and their religious values to affect public affairs?
5. Is religion necessary, desirable, or undesirable for a republican form of government?
6. Should religion be protected from government or government protected from religion?

6. September 29, Democracy and Religion

Stephen Carter and Father John Neuhaus, among others, have argued that the United States suffers from failing to allow persons to express political preferences based on their religious faith. They claim politics is diminished in two ways. First, the public is deprived of hearing sincere and, often, strongly held positions on important issues. Second, those who are excluded from the debate feel mistreated, and even abused, by the political sphere. On the other hand, many democratic theorists argue that political discourse must be conducted rationally, that positions based on faith, by definition, are not rational and do not belong in secular politics.

Read

• Helfrich, Gretchen with Sally Gordon, Paul Weithman, and Sam Fleischaker. 2002. "Faith and Citizenship," Odyssey. October 28.
  
• Reichley, A. James. 1986. "Democracy and Religion," PS, 19(Autumn 4): 801-806.
  
• Hudson, Winthrop S. 1953. "Theological Connections and Democratic Government." Theology Today, 10(2):230-239.
  Buckley, William F. 1951. God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of Academic Freedom. Chicago: Regnery.
  
• Kattenmaker, Tom. 2008. "Opinion: Is God Silenced on College Campuses? USA Today.
  Prothro, James W. and Charles M. Grigg. 1960. "Fundamental Principles of Democracy: Bases of Agreement and Disagreement," The Journal of Politics, 22(2 May):276-294.
  Neuhaus, Fr. Richard John. 1986. The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
  Carter, Stephen L. 1993. Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion. New York: Basic Books.
  Heclo, Hugh, and Wilfred McClay. 2003. Religion Returns to the Public Square: Faith and Policy in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  Cipolla, Benedicta. 2007. "Reinhold Niebuhr and the Political Moment," Religion & Ethics Newsletter, September 7.
  
• Kim, Myunghee. 2008. "Spiritual Values, Religious Practices, and Democratic Attitudes," Politics and Religion,Politics and Religion, 1:216-236.
  Eisenstein, Marie A. 2008. Religion and the Politics of Tolerance: How Christianity Builds Democracy Waco: Baylor University Press.

Discuss

1. Is religion a vital source of morality?
2. Is morality necessary for democracy?
3. Do sectarian doctrines nourish discrimination?
4. What does Niebuhr mean by "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary"?
5. Why do some folks believe their values based on faith have been trivialized and their political opinions marginalized?
6. Why do many conservatives with strong faith feel they have been mistreated, and some are resentful and seek vengeance?
7. Why do some liberals fear that some persons of faith are politically too powerful?
8. Why do some liberals and conservatives dismiss the religious authenticity of others?
9. Is religious scripture a guidebook for public policy?
10. How are humility and openness in the search for desirable public policy reconciled with the notions of chosenness and good versus evil?

7. October 6, Elements of Scriptures and Doctrines in Political Discourse

Religious narratives and religious allusions permeate American political rhetoric. "God talk" and references to nontheist religions are part of political debate in the United States. We shall evaluate the use and misuse of some of the following words and phases: faith, divine creation, holiness, dominion, temptation, sin, prophecy, compassion, sacrifice, repentance, redemption, covenant, persecution, good and evil, right and wrong, judgment, salvation, intercession, atonement, grace, love, mercy, justice, peace, joy, comfort, unity, transcendence, purity, orthodoxy, scripture, doctrine, jihad, heresy, infidel, abundant life, eternal life, praise, duty, devotion, eschatology, antinomianism, and charisma.

Read

Sacred Texts
The Tanakh
The Talmud
The Book of Mormon
The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Prothero, Stephen. 2007. "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't" Religion & Ethics Newsletter, PBS, May 18.
American Presidency Project
American Rhetoric
Bills, Resolutions, and Debates in Congress
Current Presidential News, Press Briefings, Proclamations, and Executive Orders
Wooley, John and Gerhad Peters. n.d. The American Presidency Project
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
Hadden, Jeffrey K. 1993. "The Rise and Fall of American Televangelism" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 527(May): 113-130.
Blake, Mariah. 2005. "Stations of the Cross: How Evangelical Christians are Creating an Alternative Universe of Faith-Based News," Columbia Journalism Review, 44(1 May/June): 32-39.

• Wills, Gary, et al. 2007. "Between Belief and Unbelief" To the Best of Our Knowledge.
  America
  Christian Broadcast Network
  2007. "God's Warriors," CNN Documentary.
  The Christian Century
  Christian Science Monitor
  Christianity Today
  Commentary
  First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life
  HAF News
  Al-Ittihaad
  National Catholic Reporter
  Shambhala Sun
  Tikkun
  Washington Times
  National Religious Broadcasters
  Lincoln, Abraham. 1865. "Second Inaugural Address."
  Bryan, William Jennings. 1896. "Cross of Gold." Chicago, Democratic National Convention.
  
• Fletcher, George P. 1999. "In God's Image: The Religious Imperative of Equality Under Law," Columbia Law Review, 99(6 October): 1613-1620.
  Berlinerblau, Jacques. 2007. The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today's Presidential Politics. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Discuss

1. How are allusions to scripture and doctrine used in political discourse?
2. Do allusions contribute positively or negatively to democratic debate?
3. Does discourse distinguish among different interpretations of scriptures and between scriptures and doctrines? Does it matter?

8. October 13, Religious Freedom: Freedom from Religion

Although the U.S. Constitution does not demand a complete separation of church and state, Article VI and the First Amendment do speak to the issue of entanglement between religion and politics.

Read Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
Williams, Roger. 1644. "The Bloody Tenent of Persecution."
Madison, James. 1785. "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments."
Jefferson, Thomas. 1779. Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.

• Jefferson, Thomas. 1802. Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.
  Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township, 330 U.S. 1 (1947).
  Kreshik v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 363 U.S. 226 (1960).
  Engle v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962).
  Epperson v. Arkansas 393 U.S. 97 (1968).
  Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984).
  Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985).
  Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989).
  Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992).
  Capitol Square Review Bd. v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753 (1995).
  Cutter v. Wilkinson, 544 U.S. 709 (2005).
  Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005).
  McCreary v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844 (2005).
  Goodstein, Laurie. 2006. "Disowning Conservative Politics is Costly for an Evangelical Pastor," The New York Times, July 30.
  Jelen, Ted. 2000. "Religious Priorities and Attitudes toward Church and State" Review of Religious Research 42(1 September): 87-95.
  Feldman, Noah. 2005. Divided by God: America's Church-State Problem--and What We Should Do About It. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
  Guth, James. 2007. "Political Religion and Church-State Issues," Paper presented to Oxford Round Table on The Separation of Church and State: The Decline and Fall? July 22-27.
  Lunder, Erika, and L. Paige Whitaker. 2008. "Churches and Campaign Activity: Analysis under Tax and Campaign Finance Laws," Congressional Research Service, April 14.

Discuss

1. Is a litmus test for judges on the question of whether the Constitution guarantees a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy a "religious test" for public office?
2. Should government provide support "for any religion in particular or for religion generally" (Madison 1785)?
3. Does a government benefit to a child attending a religious school also benefit the school's religion?
4. Is the teaching of evolution in public schools the establishment of secular religion?
5. Is a display of religious symbols or texts on public property always a government endorsement of that religion?
6. Should a non-denominational prayer be part of a public school ceremony if the prayer is given by a student rather than a school employee?
7. Can a religious fundamentalist support the Establishment Clause?
8. Should government judge the "truth" of a religion?
9. Should the government allow or prohibit a Wicca pentacle on grave markers in a Veterans Cemetery?

9. October 20, Religious Freedom: Freedom of Religion

Read

• Emenhiser, JeDon. 1999. "The G-O Road Controversy." Humboldt State University.
  Bhavana Society, 2008. "Power Line Issue."
  Perkins, Nancy, and Brian West. 2008. "First Look inside YFZ Ranch of Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints," Deseret News, April 13.
  Berlinerblau, Jacques. 2005. The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  Robbins, Thomas. 1981. "Church, State and Cult" Sociological Analysis 42(3 Autumn): 209-225.
  Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878).
  Blumenthal, Ralph. 2008. "Court Says Texas Illegally Seized Sect's Children," May 23.
  West Virginia State Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).
  U.S. v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965).
  Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972).
  Bob Jones University v. U.S., 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
  Cardinal Ratzinger, Jospeh. 1986. "Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation," Rome: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
  Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York v. Village of Stratton, 536 U.S. 150 (2002)
  U.S. 105th Congress. 1997. H. J. Res. 78
  Irwin, Lee. 2000. "Freedom, Law, and Prophecy," Native American Spirituality: A Critical Reader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
  Church of Lukumi Babaluaye v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993).
  Angelica v. Voith, 816 N.Y.S. 2d 635 (2006).
  Fisher, Louis. 2004. Religious Liberty in America: Political Safeguards. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
  Roosevelt, Kermit, III. 2006. "Branches Behaving Badly: Whom Do You Trust?" The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 229-236.
  

Discuss

1. Is the ballot box sufficient protection against government requiring persons to support religious practices they do not believe or from interfering with persons practicing their own faith?
2. Should the state, a religion, or some other association determine family structure?
3. Should persons be able to commit crimes by claiming they are practicing their religion?
4. Does the government discriminate against others, when it allows persons to disobey laws on the basis of their religion?
5. What is the difference between prohibiting a religious practice on principle or on policy grounds?
6. Since religion is highly personal and subjective, can a government operate any program if a person claims that such a program prohibits the free exercise of his or her religion?
7. Is a believer's conclusion that government action impacts adversely upon his belief system sufficient to trigger constitutional protection?
8. What happens when the power of Congress to manage public lands conflicts with the right of someone to exercise his or her religion?
9. Should the Supreme Court weigh the harm that a government program might have on the freedom to exercise a religion with the centrality of the religious practice involved?
10. Are you aware of any current government activity that infringes upon anyone’s religious freedom? Is there any danger that government could, in the future, prevent a person from freely exercising his or her religion?
11. Should the Constitution be changed to give the majority more power, or to protect more rights of minorities? Or is the balance between power and rights about right?

10. October 27, Political Behavior: Forming Public Opinion

Religion affects values and values affect public opinion and political behavior. How this occurs and the extent to which it occurs deserve our attention. One of the major influences of religion on American opinion has been the notion that the United States is a nation chosen by God, that Americans are God's favored people. Some scholars contend this belief stimulated ethnocentrism, western expansion, international adventures, and imperialism, that it endowed America, correctly or incorrectly, with a superiority complex. Others see it as providing an example to other nations or as a beacon attracting immigrants to enrich American culture.

Read

Steering Committee. 2008. "An Evangelical Manifesto: A Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment," Washington, D. C., May 7.


• Neiman, Susan. 2008. "Introduction," Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grownup Idealists. New York: Harcourt
  
• Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2008. "Chapter 2, Social and Political Views," U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, June.
  Lipset, Seymour Martin. 2000. "Still the Exceptional Nation?" The Wilson Quarterly, 24(1 Winter):31-45.
  Cohen, Geoffrey L. 2003. "Party over Policy: The Dominating Impact of Group Influence on Political Beliefs," Journal of Personality & Social Psychology. 85(5): 808-822.
  Kohut, Andrew, John C., Green, Scott Keeter, and Robert C. Toth. 2000. The Diminishing Divide: Religion's Changing Role in American Politics. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. ebook.
  Niagra Creed
  Reich, Robert. 2004. "The Right-Wing Revolution," New Statesman, 133:70-72, September 27.
  Institute of Politics, Harvard University. 2008. "Better Understanding Moderates Through a Look at Religion," 14th Biannual Youth Survey on Politics and Public Service, April.

Discuss

1. To what extent do religious values affect American public opinion?
2. How do religious values affect politics?
3. What are the political consequences of belief in chosenness and exceptionalism, arrogance and hubris or obligation for exemplary behavior?
4. Is consistency an element of public opinion, or is it likely that a person with a pro-life position on abortion has an anit-life position on war, the death penalty, aid to the poor, and human rights?

11. November 3, Political Behavior: Electoral Participation

Read

• Wilcox, Clyde, and Carin Robinson. 2007. "Prayers, Parties, and Preachers: The Evolving Nature of Political and Religious Mobilization" in Matthew Wilson, ed. From Pews to Polling Places: Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.
  Corwin E. Smidt, Kevin R. den Dulk, James M. Penning, Stephen V. Monsma, and Douglas L. Koopman, eds. 2008. Pews, Prayers, and Participation: Religion and Civic Responsibility in America. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.
  
• Smidt, Corwin E., ed. 2008. "Religion and the 2008 Election: A Pre-Election Analysis," Grand Rapids, MI: The Henry Institute, Calvin College.
  Campbell, David E. 2004. "Acts of Faith: Churches and Political Engagement" Political Behavior 26(2 June): 155-180.
  Marsden, George M. 2006. "Fundamentalism as a Political Phenomenon," Fundamentalism and American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
  Pp. 206-211.

Discuss

1. Generally, how is religiosity linked to political participation?
2. Which faiths are more likely to encourage political participation? Why?
3. Which faiths are more likely to discourage participation? Why?

12. November 10, Political Behavior: Electoral Preference

Read

• Henriot, Peter J. 1966. "The Coincidence of Political and Religious Attitudes" Review of Religious Research 8(1 Autumn):50-58.
  Pearson, Christopher. 2008. "On a Swing and a Prayer," The Australian, March 8.
  Conan, Neal. 2004. "Religion and Politics" Talk of the Nation. NPR, June 29.
  Hacker, Hans J. 2007. The Culture of Conservative Christian Litigation. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
  Hammond, Phillip E., and James Davison Hunter, 1984. "On Maintaining Plausibility: The Worldview of Evangelical College Students," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 23(3 September): 221-38.
  Mockabee, Stephen T. 2006. "A Question of Authority: Religion and Cultural Conflict in the 2004 Election" Original manuscript.
  Texas Republican Party. 2006. "Platform."
  Green, John C. 2007. The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections. New York: Praeger.
  Pew Forum. 2007. Religion and Politics '08.
  Lerner, Michael. 2007. Left Hand of God: Healing America's Political and Spiritual Crisis. New York: HarperOne. Sekulow, Jay Alan. 2007. Witnessing their Faith: Religious Influences on Supreme Court Justices and Their Opinions. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
  Sojourners. 2007. "Faith Politics" June 4 (Wallis interviews Edwards, Obama, and Clinton).

Discuss

1. To what degree do persons of one faith have political preferences different from persons of other faiths? Why?

13, November 17, The Role of Religious Leaders and Organizations in Political Movements and Issues: From Discovery to Mid-20th Century.

Religious leaders and organizations influenced the European Discovery and Exploration of America, its Indian Policy and Settlement, Independence, Communitarian Societies, Transcendentalism, Slavery, Abolition, Reconstruction, Capitalism, Manifest Destiny and Imperialism, War, Welfare, Temperance, and Prohibition, Suffrage, Evolution, Child Welfare, Wages, Hours, Working Conditions, and Sunday Closing.

Read

Miller, Timothy. n.d. "Religious Movements in the United States: An Informal Introduction," The New Religious Movements Homepage. The University of Virginia.
McLaughlin, William G. 1973. "The Role of Religion in the Revolution" in Stephen G. Kurtz and James H. Hutson, eds. Essays on the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina.
Wilson, John F. 1993. "Religion and Revolution in American History" Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 23(3 Winter): 597-613.

• Freehling, William W. 1972. "The Founding Fathers and Slavery," The American Historical Review, 77 (1 February):81-93.
  Communitarian Societies
  Shakers (1794)>
  Harmonists (1814)
  Zoarites (1817)
  Amana (1844)
  Oneida (1848)
  Icarians (1849)
  Aurora (1852)
  Mt. Carmel (1935)
  Bickman, Martin. n.d. "An Overview of American Transcendentalism," American Transcendental Web.
  Carnegie, Andrew. 1889. "Wealth," North American Review, 391:661-786.
  Haynes, Stephen R. 2002. Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery. New York: Oxford University Press.
  Miller, Robert Moats. 1956. "A Note on the Relationship between Protestant Churches and the Revised Ku Klux Klan" The Journal of Southern History, 22(3 August): 355-368.
  Clymer, Kenton J. 1980. "Religion and American Imperialism: Methodist Missionaries in the Philippine Islands, 1899-1913"The Pacific Historical Review, 49:(1 Februrary): 29-50.
  Scofield Reference Bible
  Conwell, Russell H. 1915. "Acres of Diamonds." New York: Harper & Brothers.
  Weber, Max. 1948. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner's.
  Rauschenbusch, Walter. 1908. "The Social Gospel," Christianity and the Social Crisis. New York: Macmillan.
  Day, Dorothy. 1947. "Reflections on Work" Catholic Worker. March.
  Sturm, Susan P. "Creationism, Censorship, and Academic Freedom," Science, Technology, & Human Values 70(40 Summer): 54-56.
  
  Merrill, John L. 1988. "The Bible and the American Temperance Movement: Text, Context, and Pretext" The Harvard Theological Review 81(2 April): 145-170.
  Kirley, Evelyn A. 1990. "This Work Is God's Cause: Religion in the Southern Woman Suffrage Movement, 1880-1920" Church History 59(4 December): 507-522.
  Bainton, Roland. 1960. Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace.
  Wells, Ronald A. 1982. The Wars of America. Grand Rapids:
  Allen, Greg. 2008. "Bill Let's Fla. Schools Teach Evolution Alternative," Morning Edition, NPR, April 29.

Discuss

1. To what degree have religious leaders and organizations supported or opposed those movements and issues that you favor?
2. In your opinion is religious influence in politics good or bad? Why?

November 24, Thanksgiving Break


14. December 1, The Role of Religious Leaders and Organizations in Political Movements and Issues.

Religious leaders and organizations have been involved in numerous political movements and issues, such as Race, Civil Rights, School Prayer, Home Schooling, Contraception, Sex Education, Feminism, Abortion, Selection of Judges, Medical Research, Zionism and Aid to Israel, Marriage and Family, Death with Dignity, Bible Classes in Public Schools, School Vouchers, Hunger and Poverty, Faith-Based Initiatives, Climate Change.

Read

• Flesher, LeeAnn Snow. 2006. Left Behind? The Facts behind the Fiction. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press.
  Boyer, Paul. 1993. When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  Frykholm, Amy Johnson. 2004. Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America.
  Ayotallah Khamenei. 1987. Human Rights in Islam. Tehran: Islamic Propagation Organization.
  2008. "Gay Marriage," Issues, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
  Berrigan, Daniel. 2000. "An Evening with Daniel Berrigan." AGNI Online.
  Goodman, Amy. 2003. "Poet, Author, Priest, Activist Dan Berrigan Remembers His Brother Phil" Democracy Now, October 3.
  Mansfield, Stephen. 2003. The Faith of George W. Bush. New York: Penguin.
  King, Martin Luther. 1956. "Paul's Letter to American Christians" A Knock at Midnight. MLK Papers Project.
  Harris, Frederick C. 1999. "Blessed Assurance" Something Within: Religion in African American Political Activism. New York: Oxford University Press.
  Ku Klux Klan
  Anti-Defamation League
  Christian Identity Movement
  Kelley, Dean M. 1972. Why Conservative Churches are Growing: A Study in Sociology of Religion. New York: Harper & Row. BT738 K38.
  Bottum, Joseph. 2008. "The Death of Protestant America: A Political Theory of the Protestant Mainline," First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion & Public Life, Aug/Sep (185): 23-33.
  Kissling, Frances. 1986. "Religion and Reproductive Freedom: Towards a Feminist Ethic of Rights and Responsibility" Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 9(1): 13-16.
  Jelen Ted G., and Clyde Wilcox. 2003. "Causes and Consequences of Public Attitudes toward Abortion: A Review and Research Agenda" Political Research Quarterly, 56(4 December): 489-500.
  Burke, Daniel. 2008. "Archbishop says Kansas governor must decide Communion issue" Regional News Service, May 13.
  Liberty Sundays
  Regent University
  Tipton, Steven M., and John Wite, Jr., eds. 2005. Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Society in American Life. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.
  Promise Keepers
  Focus on the Family
  Family Research Council
  
• Sullivan, Kathleen M. 2003. "The New Religion and the Constitution" Harvard Law Review 116(5 March): 1397-1421.
  Krannawitter, Thomas L., and Daniel C. Palm. 2007. A Nation under God? The ACLU and Religion in American Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
  Hamil-Luker, Jenifer, and Christian Smith. 1998. "Religious Authority and Public Opinion on the Right to Die" Sociology of Religion, 59(4 Winter): 373-391.
  Sandel, Michael J. 2005. "Is There a Right to Assisted Suicide?" Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  Sandel, Michael J. 2005. 'Embryo Ethics: The Moral Logic of Stem Cell Research" Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  Somerville, Margaret. 2004. "Birth, Death, and Technoscience: Searching for Values at the Margins of Life" Douglas Farrow, ed. Recognizing Religion in a Secular Society: Essays in Pluralism, Religion, and Public Policy. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ebrary.
  Green Ronald M., and Nigel Cameron. n.d. "Stem Cell Smackdown," Beliefnet.
  Wald, Kenneth D., James W. Button, and Barbara A. Rienzo. 1996. "The Politics of Gay Rights in American Communities: Explaining Antidiscrimination Ordinances and Policies" American Journal of Political Science, 40(4 November 1996): 1152-1178.
  
• Field Research Corporation. 2007. "The Field Poll," #2223, March 8.
  CBS. 2008. "The Public's View on Same Sex Marriage,"> News Poll, June 15.
  DiCamillo, Mark and Mervin Field. 2008. "By a 52% to 42% Margin Voters Appear Ready to Vote No on Proposition 8," The Field Poll, #2278, July 18.
  
• Falwell, Jerry. 2007. "The Myth of Global Warming," Sermon, Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va., February 25.
  Evangelical Climate Initiative. 2006. "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action." February 8.
  National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools
  Thompson, Amy Dodd. 2008. "Council's Lession on Bible Bible Criticized." Denton Record-Chronicle, May 27.
  Bush, George W. 2004. "Remarks to Faith-Based and Community Leaders in New Orleans, Louisiana," January 15.
  Wuthnow, Robert. 1994. "What Religious People Think about the Poor" Christian Century, 111(25): 812-816, September 7.
  World Evangelical Alliance. 2007. Micah Challenge International
  Roosdoony, R. J. Law and Liberty. The Forerunner.
  Schaeffer, Francis. 1982. A Christian Manifesto. People for Life.
  Maarsden, George. 2006. "World War I, Premillennialism, and American Fundamentalism: 1917-1918," Fundamentalism and American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. Hagee, John. 2007. "United for Israel." Christian Zionism.
  Presbyterian Church (USA). n.d. "Christian Zionism."
  Holy Land Ecumenical Foundation. n.d. "Challenging Christian Zionism"
  Carter, Jimmy 2006. Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. New York: Simon & Schuster.
  Finklestein, Norman. 2005. "Conclusion," Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History.
  Meerscheimer, John, and Stephen Walt. 2006. "The Israel Lobby" London Review of Books 28(6 March).
  Cohen, Eliot A. 2006. "Yes, It's Anti-Semitic" 22(2 Spring):6, Newsletter of the Religion and Politics Section.
  United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "Voices of Antisemitism."
  The Network of Spiritual Progressives
  Di Camillo, Mark and Mervin Field. 2008. "Growing Trend in Support of Allowing Same-Sex Marriage in California," Field Poll, May 28.
  The Pew Forum. 2008. "Religious Groups' Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage," The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, May 20.
  Simon, Arthur. 1995. Bread for the World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Discuss

1. What is the scriptural basis of the "Left Behind" series?
2. What are the political implications of Premillennial Dispensationalism?
3. Does a biblical promise trump historical residence?
4. Who are the Christian Zionists?
5. Where is the line between legitimate criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and anti-semitism?

15. December 8, Individual Consultations

Tuesday, December 16, Final Examination, 1240-1430.

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