Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents

Peter Beinart

…Taming the Gods is an admirably learned book. Buruma's writing is spare and careful, and one never feels that he is stretching his material to fit some all-encompassing theory…Ultimately, Buruma's message is that people should respect other faiths while insisting that the faithful not violate democracy's rules of the game. And in the skeptical, informed, affectionate tone he adopts toward the countries he chronicles, his book exemplifies that spirit.
—The New York Times

Publishers Weekly

The place of organized religion in the public square is well-trammeled territory; in this brief volume, journalist and Bard College professor Buruma (Murder in Amsterdam) adds to the discussion with political and cultural analyses from the United States, Europe, and Asia. By examining the history of church/state relations in the U.S. and Europe, the role of religion in the politics of China and Japan, and the growing role of Islam in contemporary Europe, Buruma makes “an attempt to sort out, in different cultures, how democracies have been affected... by these tensions [between religious and secular authorities].” One of his most provocative investigations involves secular, liberal Europeans, some of whom now find common ground with conservatives in their opposition to Islam out of fear that it will roll back the progressive gains of the past decades. Buruma takes issue with theocrats and “strict secularists” alike, using the example of Martin Luther King Jr. to argue instead that “expressions of religious beliefs in politics are legitimate as long as those beliefs inform positions that are subject to reason.” Some readers may have difficulty following the thread of Buruma’s thesis through the dense weave of historical data. (Mar.)

The Complete Review

Buruma's short book is useful as a reminder of how religion has played an influential role in various nations at various times, and how support of Enlightenment values can suddenly evaporate when people are confronted by new circumstances (such as the 'rise' of Islam in some European countries).
— M. A. Orthofer

The National

The Anglo-Dutch journalist Ian Buruma excels at the synthesis of ideas across cultures and continents. . . . Impeccably rational, Buruma offers a persuasive, subtle case for an old-fashioned liberal tolerance, one in which the religious and political spheres are mingled but in which neither exerts a disproportionate force against the other.

Lincoln Journal Star

In this short book by Bard College Professor Ian Buruma the roles of religion and democracy in the contemporary world are thoughtfully examined. . . . The central question he deals with throughout this book is whether democratic values can be protected against religious bodies that claim they, and they alone, possess the truth.
— Charles Stephen

New York Times Book Review

[Buruma] writes intimately about the relationship between politics and faith in Britain, the Netherlands, France, China, Japan and the United States. And beneath every cliché—about American religious fervor, French intolerance or Japanese godlessness—he uncovers ironies that wreak havoc with popular stereotypes. . . . Taming the Gods is an admirably learned book. Buruma's writing is spare and careful, and one never feels that he is stretching his material to fit some all-encompassing theory. . . . Ultimately, Buruma's message is that people should respect other faiths while insisting that the faithful not violate democracy's rules of the game. And in the skeptical, informed, affectionate tone he adopts toward the countries he chronicles, his book exemplifies that spirit.
— Peter Beinart

Times Literary Supplement

Ian Buruma's study of the relationship between religion and democracy in America, Asia and Europe does not allude to Todorov's magisterial work . . . but it deserves a place next to Todorov on the bookshelf. . . . Buruma seeks to chart a path through the swamps and thickets of competing religious values and cultural identities. . . . This is a useful contribution to what is becoming one of Europe's most urgent debates.
— Malise Ruthven

Washington Post

A new book by the insightful and eclectic writer Ian Buruma delves into the complicated part that religions play both in the turbulence and in reactions to it. . . . It's a fun book that skips from Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry to Tocqueville, from Spinoza to Matteo Ricci, an early Jesuit missionary to China, and from Thomas Jefferson to Salman Rushdie.
— Katherine Marshall

Booklist

Because of Buruma's clarity and temperance, [Taming the Gods is] a most informative primer on systems of church-state rapprochement in the modern era.
— Ray Olson

BookForum

A contrary history, which depicts the long struggle between faith and liberty issuing finally into a shared civic religion more elevated and esteemed than those based on terrestrial convictions alone.
— David Wallace-Wells

American Prospect

Buruma's cosmopolitan and historical perspective and his sense of complexity distinguish Taming the Gods from much other writing on religion and politics. . . . Concrete detail, historical perspective, and practical wisdom. His major target turns out not to be the irrationality of religion but the irrationality of the political and social debate, especially in Europe, surrounding religion. The word that sums up his concern in his concluding essay is 'hysteria'—not a god or goddess but more than anything else what his book is attempting to tame.
— Peter Steinfels

Tablet Magazine

[Taming the Gods] argues that the intrusion of religion into politics threatens democracy in the U.S., in Europe, and—more surprisingly—in China and Japan.
— Josh Lambert

Harper's Magazine

Buruma examines the role that religion plays in the modern state, a subject that has been so belabored . . . that it requires all of Buruma's essayistic skill to condense these debates into a compact work. That he succeeds says much about his talent for unwinding complex topics, as well as for approaching overly familiar discussions in unfamiliar new ways. . . . Buruma's comparative approach demonstrates, in the kind of sober voice that is all too often drummed out by political hysteria, that it is in the interest of both politics and religion to keep to their respective realms.
— Ben Moser

Literary Review

In a debate driven by raucous emotion . . . Buruma's is the quiet voice of reason. . . . If there is a lesson that emerges from Buruma's inquiry, it is that there are many ways of integrating religion into society.
— John Gray

Guardian

Buruma's elegant short book considers 'Religion and Democracy on Three Continents' (US, Europe, Asia) and ranges from America's first evangelical 'great awakening' in the 18th century to Mao's boasts of burying thousands of scholars and the 'rush hour of the gods' in postwar Japan. Voltaire, De Tocqueville, Hume and Spinoza are set talking among themselves, watched over by the book's éminence grise, Confucius.
— Steven Poole

Australian

In a measured and balanced way, [Ian Buruma] lays out the history and philosophy behind the big debates about religion: separation of church and state, compatibility of religion and democracy, the advent of militant fundamentalism and violence inspired by religion. Without glossing over the complexity of these crucial questions, he makes it all accessible to a lay reader. . . . The strengths of this book are its clear analysis of the messy melange that makes up an open democratic society, its diagnosis of underlying insecurities fuelling heated debate and its even-handed arguments on how to best harness competing forces productively.
— Peter Kirkwood

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Taming the Gods is an elegant, essay-length book that begins with a spirited look at Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry and concludes with an insight from Confucius. In between, the author swivels his lens from the United States, to Japan and China, and finally back to Europe. . . . [B]asically tough and lucid in an arena that could do with a good deal more thought—and a lot less cant.
— Karen Long

Globe and Mail

Buruma is that rare bird equally at home not only in Europe and America, but also in East and West. He devotes a chapter to Europe and America, one to China and Japan, and a third to Europe again, but this time focused on its confrontation with Islam. Throughout all, Buruma sounds a recurrent note. It is the toxicity of blending religion and politics, whether when religion usurps the mantle of politics or politics usurps that of religion. . . . [C]oncise and fascinating.
— Clifford Orwin

Spectator

We would do well to ask ourselves the kind of fundamental questions posed by [Buruma's] erudite and thought-provoking book.
— Jonathan Sumption

New Statesman

Buruma has an enjoyable style and deserves credit for venturing into choppy waters where efforts are made to accommodate apparently contradictory beliefs, rather than sailing on the beguilingly calm seas of fundamentalist principle.
— Sholto Byrnes

South China Morning Post

This is terrain littered with stereotypes and cross-Atlantic sneers: European scoffs at militant American Christianity, US retorts at militant Euro secularism, and clash-of-civilisation auguries. Buruma keeps the temperature refreshingly cool. With no axe to grind, the writer—who was raised outside the church by Dutch liberal parents—keeps his insights rooted in political philosophy, history and the Enlightenment thinkers.

3 AM Magazine

Taming the Gods is a story, an intellectual journey, full of erudition and economy, a pleasant and interesting read. Yet it is also a careful negotiation around several unwritten assumptions.
— Max Dunbar

Cultural Wars

Taming the Gods goes beneath the superficial counterpositions of today's religion debates—religion versus secularism, multiculturalism versus intolerance—to identify some more interesting dynamics at work. Perhaps most usefully, Buruma shows that ideological disorientation within Western culture is at least as important as tensions between West and East, or even 'secular liberalism' and radical Islam.
— Dolan Cummings

Newark Star-Ledger

Buruma's professional and personal background makes him an apt observer of religion's impact on the politics of the countries on these diverse continents. . . . Though Buruma's book deals with concepts that are deeply held and controversial, he handles them academically, avoiding stuffy, antagonistic interrogatives.
— Jonathan D. Fitzgerald

Jerusalem Post

[E]rudite and elegantly written. . . . Buruma does make a compelling case.
— Glenn C. Altschuler

Survival

The virtue of Taming the Gods is that it leaves all avenues open, seeking to inform the reader while avoiding firm conclusions on an issue that is intrinsically complex, and still in flux.
— Gilles Andréani

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

[Buruma's] illustrative examples and cross-cultural linkages in the emerging religious and political contexts in seven countries, along with the book's brevity and excellent flow of its prose, mean that a reader will be duely rewarded for time invested interacting with Buruma's latest English-language monograph.
— Christopher Hrynkow

Newark Star Ledger

Buruma's professional and personal background makes him an apt observer of religion's impact on the politics of the countries on these diverse continents. . . . Though Buruma's book deals with concepts that are deeply held and controversial, he handles them academically, avoiding stuffy, antagonistic interrogatives.
— Jonathan D. Fitzgerald

Globe & Mail

Buruma is that rare bird equally at home not only in Europe and America, but also in East and West. He devotes a chapter to Europe and America, one to China and Japan, and a third to Europe again, but this time focused on its confrontation with Islam. Throughout all, Buruma sounds a recurrent note. It is the toxicity of blending religion and politics, whether when religion usurps the mantle of politics or politics usurps that of religion. . . . [C]oncise and fascinating.
— Clifford Orwin

New York Times Book Review - Peter Beinart

[Buruma] writes intimately about the relationship between politics and faith in Britain, the Netherlands, France, China, Japan and the United States. And beneath every cliché—about American religious fervor, French intolerance or Japanese godlessness—he uncovers ironies that wreak havoc with popular stereotypes. . . . Taming the Gods is an admirably learned book. Buruma's writing is spare and careful, and one never feels that he is stretching his material to fit some all-encompassing theory. . . . Ultimately, Buruma's message is that people should respect other faiths while insisting that the faithful not violate democracy's rules of the game. And in the skeptical, informed, affectionate tone he adopts toward the countries he chronicles, his book exemplifies that spirit.

Times Literary Supplement - Malise Ruthven

Ian Buruma's study of the relationship between religion and democracy in America, Asia and Europe does not allude to Todorov's magisterial work . . . but it deserves a place next to Todorov on the bookshelf. . . . Buruma seeks to chart a path through the swamps and thickets of competing religious values and cultural identities. . . . This is a useful contribution to what is becoming one of Europe's most urgent debates.

Harper's Magazine - Ben Moser

Buruma examines the role that religion plays in the modern state, a subject that has been so belabored . . . that it requires all of Buruma's essayistic skill to condense these debates into a compact work. That he succeeds says much about his talent for unwinding complex topics, as well as for approaching overly familiar discussions in unfamiliar new ways. . . . Buruma's comparative approach demonstrates, in the kind of sober voice that is all too often drummed out by political hysteria, that it is in the interest of both politics and religion to keep to their respective realms.

Washington Post - Katherine Marshall

A new book by the insightful and eclectic writer Ian Buruma delves into the complicated part that religions play both in the turbulence and in reactions to it. . . . It's a fun book that skips from Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry to Tocqueville, from Spinoza to Matteo Ricci, an early Jesuit missionary to China, and from Thomas Jefferson to Salman Rushdie.

Booklist - Ray Olson

Because of Buruma's clarity and temperance, [Taming the Gods is] a most informative primer on systems of church-state rapprochement in the modern era.

BookForum - David Wallace-Wells

A contrary history, which depicts the long struggle between faith and liberty issuing finally into a shared civic religion more elevated and esteemed than those based on terrestrial convictions alone.

American Prospect - Peter Steinfels

Buruma's cosmopolitan and historical perspective and his sense of complexity distinguish Taming the Gods from much other writing on religion and politics. . . . Concrete detail, historical perspective, and practical wisdom. His major target turns out not to be the irrationality of religion but the irrationality of the political and social debate, especially in Europe, surrounding religion. The word that sums up his concern in his concluding essay is 'hysteria'—not a god or goddess but more than anything else what his book is attempting to tame.

Tablet Magazine - Josh Lambert

[Taming the Gods] argues that the intrusion of religion into politics threatens democracy in the U.S., in Europe, and—more surprisingly—in China and Japan.

The Complete Review - M.A. Orthofer

Buruma's short book is useful as a reminder of how religion has played an influential role in various nations at various times, and how support of Enlightenment values can suddenly evaporate when people are confronted by new circumstances (such as the 'rise' of Islam in some European countries).

Literary Review - John Gray

In a debate driven by raucous emotion . . . Buruma's is the quiet voice of reason. . . . If there is a lesson that emerges from Buruma's inquiry, it is that there are many ways of integrating religion into society.

Guardian - Steven Poole

Buruma's elegant short book considers 'Religion and Democracy on Three Continents' (US, Europe, Asia) and ranges from America's first evangelical 'great awakening' in the 18th century to Mao's boasts of burying thousands of scholars and the 'rush hour of the gods' in postwar Japan. Voltaire, De Tocqueville, Hume and Spinoza are set talking among themselves, watched over by the book's éminence grise, Confucius.

Australian - Peter Kirkwood

In a measured and balanced way, [Ian Buruma] lays out the history and philosophy behind the big debates about religion: separation of church and state, compatibility of religion and democracy, the advent of militant fundamentalism and violence inspired by religion. Without glossing over the complexity of these crucial questions, he makes it all accessible to a lay reader. . . . The strengths of this book are its clear analysis of the messy melange that makes up an open democratic society, its diagnosis of underlying insecurities fuelling heated debate and its even-handed arguments on how to best harness competing forces productively.

Cleveland Plain Dealer - Karen Long

Taming the Gods is an elegant, essay-length book that begins with a spirited look at Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry and concludes with an insight from Confucius. In between, the author swivels his lens from the United States, to Japan and China, and finally back to Europe. . . . [B]asically tough and lucid in an arena that could do with a good deal more thought—and a lot less cant.

Globe and Mail - Clifford Orwin

Buruma is that rare bird equally at home not only in Europe and America, but also in East and West. He devotes a chapter to Europe and America, one to China and Japan, and a third to Europe again, but this time focused on its confrontation with Islam. Throughout all, Buruma sounds a recurrent note. It is the toxicity of blending religion and politics, whether when religion usurps the mantle of politics or politics usurps that of religion. . . . [C]oncise and fascinating.

Spectator - Jonathan Sumption

We would do well to ask ourselves the kind of fundamental questions posed by [Buruma's] erudite and thought-provoking book.

New Statesman - Sholto Byrnes

Buruma has an enjoyable style and deserves credit for venturing into choppy waters where efforts are made to accommodate apparently contradictory beliefs, rather than sailing on the beguilingly calm seas of fundamentalist principle.

Lincoln Journal Star - Charles Stephen

In this short book by Bard College Professor Ian Buruma the roles of religion and democracy in the contemporary world are thoughtfully examined. . . . The central question he deals with throughout this book is whether democratic values can be protected against religious bodies that claim they, and they alone, possess the truth.

3 AM Magazine - Max Dunbar

Taming the Gods is a story, an intellectual journey, full of erudition and economy, a pleasant and interesting read. Yet it is also a careful negotiation around several unwritten assumptions.

Cultural Wars - Dolan Cummings

Taming the Gods goes beneath the superficial counterpositions of today's religion debates—religion versus secularism, multiculturalism versus intolerance—to identify some more interesting dynamics at work. Perhaps most usefully, Buruma shows that ideological disorientation within Western culture is at least as important as tensions between West and East, or even 'secular liberalism' and radical Islam.

Newark Star Ledger - Jonathan D. Fitzgerald

Buruma's professional and personal background makes him an apt observer of religion's impact on the politics of the countries on these diverse continents. . . . Though Buruma's book deals with concepts that are deeply held and controversial, he handles them academically, avoiding stuffy, antagonistic interrogatives.

Jerusalem Post - Glenn C. Altschuler

[E]rudite and elegantly written. . . . Buruma does make a compelling case.

Survival - Gilles Andreani

The virtue of Taming the Gods is that it leaves all avenues open, seeking to inform the reader while avoiding firm conclusions on an issue that is intrinsically complex, and still in flux.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies - Christopher Hrynkow

[Buruma's] illustrative examples and cross-cultural linkages in the emerging religious and political contexts in seven countries, along with the book's brevity and excellent flow of its prose, mean that a reader will be duely rewarded for time invested interacting with Buruma's latest English-language monograph.

The Complete Review - M. A. Orthofer

Buruma's short book is useful as a reminder of how religion has played an influential role in various nations at various times, and how support of Enlightenment values can suddenly evaporate when people are confronted by new circumstances (such as the 'rise' of Islam in some European countries).

Survival - Gilles Andréani

The virtue of Taming the Gods is that it leaves all avenues open, seeking to inform the reader while avoiding firm conclusions on an issue that is intrinsically complex, and still in flux.

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