Under God?: Religious Faith and Liberal Democracy / Edition 1

From the Publisher

"Michael Perry's is one of the most important voices in the legal academy on matters of constitutional law, religion, and the intersection between them...The book is distinctive because it addresses diverse audiences—believers and nonbelievers, Christians and non-Christians, liberal Catholics and conservative evangelicals—in an effort to bring these audiences together into a more encompassing conversation. And the book always keeps the concrete issues (vouchers, abortion, same-sex unions) in the foreground, preventing the discussion from losing itself in abstraction." Steven D. Smith, author of Foreordained Failure: The Quest for the Constitutional Principle of Religious Freedom

"Perry argues on jurisprudential grounds for vigorous participation by religious voices in public debates about law and policy. He also argues for self-restraint by religious communities on both theological and ethical grounds. Under God? shows how Perry thinks religious communities should behave in public when given the freedom his jurisprudence calls for. A most valuable contribution on a question of crucial importance to democratic life." David Hollenbach, S.J., Flatley Professor of Theology, Boston College

"With this book, Michael Perry builds on his already secure reputation as one of our most astute, incisive, and level-headed theorists concerning the role of religion in our public square. As in all of Perryas work, whatas impressive is the unusual blend of sophisticated theory and concrete examples. What is especially impressive about this particular collection is Perryas ability and willingness to think against the grain - even exemplary final chapters on Religion, Politics, and Abortion." Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University

"I have nothing but admiration for Michael Perry's new book. The positions Perry defends comprise a distinctive and nuanced mix of theses that, when taken as a whole constitute a vision of religious political activity that is at the same time genuinely religious and humane, ecumenical and principled, wise and pragmatic. The book is a major contribution to a contentious topic by one of the leading figures in a field, a figure whose position has continued to evolve, and thus whose continued reflections on these matters deserves scrutiny." Christopher J. Eberle, author of Religious Conviction in Liberal Politics

"In this new book, legal scholar Michael Perry argues persuasively and precisely that this American consensus is correct: that there is, in fact, a place in our public square for 'political reliance on religiously grounded morality,'...Perry's argument in this book opens with a tightly reasoned exposition of the First Amendment's 'nonestablishment norm': 'Government may not take any action that favors a church in relation to another church, or in relation to no church at all, on the basis of the view that the favored church is, as a church...better along one or another dimension of value.'...Perry's project deserves believers' praise and attention." National Review

"Perry has written a sane, lucid, prudent, wise and moderate volume. It makes good political sense" The Journal of Religion Ashley Woodiwiss, Wheaton College