Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy

by Jonathan Rauch

Overview

Why the crisis of Christianity has become a crisis for democracy
 
“Concise and elegant. . . . Rauch applies careful research and incisive prose to examine, diagnose, and prescribe a cure for the maladies afflicting contemporary religious-political dynamics.”—Michael M. Rosen, Commentary
 
What happens to American democracy if Christianity is no longer able, or no longer willing, to perform the functions on which our constitutional order depends? In this provocative book, the award-winning journalist Jonathan Rauch—a lifelong atheist—reckons candidly with both the shortcomings of secularism and the corrosion of Christianity.
 
Thin Christianity, as Rauch calls the mainline church, has been unable to inspire and retain believers. Worse, a Church of Fear has distorted white evangelicalism in ways that violate the tenets of both Jesus and James Madison. What to do? For answers, Rauch looks to a new generation of religious thinkers, as well as to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has placed the Constitution at the heart of its spiritual teachings.
 
In this timely critique Rauch addresses secular Americans who think Christianity can be abandoned, and Christian Americans who blame secular culture for their grievances. The two must work together, he argues, to confront our present crisis. He calls on Christians to recommit to the teachings of their faith that align with Madison, not MAGA, and to understand that liberal democracy, far from being oppressive, is uniquely protective of religious freedom. At the same time, he calls on secular liberals to understand that healthy religious institutions are crucial to the survival of the liberal state.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300288681
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	02/10/2026
Series:	Politics and Culture
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He is the recipient of a National Magazine Award. His books include The Constitution of Knowledge, The Happiness Curve, and Gay Marriage. He lives in northern Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

Rauch, a journalist and, notably, an atheist, makes the compelling argument that, in the era of MAGA evangelicals and declining church attendance, healthy religious institutions are vital to a functioning liberal democracy.”—New York Times Book Review

“A cogent argument for reframing Christianity as an ally and not an enemy of secular society.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Stimulating. . . . Intriguing.”—Publishers Weekly

“Concise and elegant. . . . Rauch applies careful research and incisive prose to examine, diagnose, and prescribe a cure for the maladies afflicting contemporary religious-political dynamics.”—Michael M. Rosen, Commentary

“A nuanced and honest addition to contemporary conversation around secularization, civic discord, and the social benefits of church. Rauch is rare in his ability to discuss complex questions in clean, accessible prose. . . . This book is exemplary precisely because Rauch doesn’t try to claim cultural Christianity for himself.”—Bonnie Kristian, Christianity Today

“As a Christian, I’m impressed with Rauch’s honesty about faith, both his critiques and his admiration for the faith he doesn’t share but still wishes to succeed. One wouldn’t expect an avowed atheist to produce a forceful and eloquent case for the importance of Christianity in American democracy, but that’s precisely what Rauch gives us. His plea for Christians to play the role that America needs is one every faith leader should study and heed.”—Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox

“Cross Purposes provides an insightful account of the way that a part of American Christianity has evolved in recent years in ways that have replaced its spiritual message with conservative politics, and how that harms our democracy. Invaluable reading to understand the present moment.”—Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and Its Discontents

“Calling those on the Left and the Right to heed our better angels, Jonathan Rauch sidesteps polarizing rhetoric and zero-sum politics to cast a compelling vision for a generous pluralism. A timely book for a divided nation.”—Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

From the Publisher

2024-11-09
A call for American Christianity to be an essential component of liberal democracy.

Although Rauch, gay and Jewish, frequently notes that he may be an unlikely dispenser of advice to churchly Christians, he observes that American Christianity is in a historical state of crisis: fewer and fewer people identify as Christians, while church attendance is sharply down. This has reverberations in secular society, Rauch holds, because the Founders, while allowing that “religion’s job is not tosupport republican government,” held that religion “teaches virtue and thereby makes Americans more governable,” an entwinement of public governance and public morality. Religion writ large, Rauch holds, still has this role to play, addressing questions of the here and now while pondering the larger issues: Why is there death? Why does evil exist in the world, especially if there is a loving God? Rauch hastens to add that liberal democracy is not strictly dependent on the religious—as witness the secular societies of Japan and Scandinavia—but ideally, in a heterogenous society such as America’s, religion is an important provider of “cultural and spiritual infrastructure.” Of course, he adds, the militant arm of nationalist Christianity fails in this task, presuming that negotiated democratic agreements are immaterial when God and earthly preachers are issuing the commands. “Absolutely nothing about secular liberalism required white evangelicals to embrace the likes of Donald Trump,” Rauch argues, yet there we are, surrounded by what he calls “Sharp Christianity,” adding that it is “literally a Church of Fear.” Interestingly, Rauch looks to Mormonism as a model for negotiating moral stances by way of compromise, “a conciliatory approach [that] is conspicuously countercultural in the conservative religion world,” especially in its support of LGBTQ+ rights and other progressive social causes.

A cogent argument for reframing Christianity as an ally and not an enemy of secular society.

Kirkus Reviews