Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life: A Dialogue with Ambassador Douglas W. Kmiec

by Gary J. Adler (Editor)

Overview

How can religion contribute to democracy in a secular age? And what can the millennia-old Catholic tradition say to church-state controversies in the United States and around the world? Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life, organized through the work of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies (www.ifacs.com), responds to these questions by presenting a dialogue between Douglas W. Kmiec, a leading scholar of American constitutional law and Catholic legal thought, and an international cast of experts from a range of fields, including legal theory, international relations, journalism, religion, and social science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190205430
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2015
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Gary J. Adler, Jr. is the Director of Research at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and Research Scientist in the School of Religion at the University of Southern California.

Douglas W. Kmiec is the Caruso Family Chair at Pepperdine School of Law. He has served in the Office of Legal Counsel for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and more recently as the U.S. Ambassador to Malta for President Barack Obama.

Table of Contents

Preface - J. Bryan Hehir

Part One: Secularism and Catholicism
Introduction: Secularism, Democracy, and Catholicism - Gary J. Adler, Jr.
Secularism Crucified? - Douglas W. Kmiec

Part Two: Relations Between Church and State
Proposal for a Theoretical Linchpin for Church-State Relations - Michael Anderheiden
Secularism Resurrected? The European Court of Human Rights after Lautsi - Geoffrey R. Watson

Part Three: The Catholic Church, Moral Authority, and Secularism
Public Religion, Secularism, and the Ethos of Love - Hans Joas
The Secularization of Sin and the New Geo-Religious Politics of the Vatican - Massimo Franco

Part Four: Secularism and International Affairs
Religion, Secularism, and Social Justice Beyond the Nation-State - Erin K. Wilson
A Strategic Perspective for a New Era in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Religion, Immigration, and a Post-Arab Spring World - Stephen Calleya

Epilogue
The Future of Secularism in Public Religious Life: The Author's Response - Douglas W. Kmiec

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Arguably the most important and worthwhile volume on church-state relations and religion in the public square published in recent years, this book offers multiple and competing expert perspectives on several critical constitutional questions, supplies fresh empirical data on major religious freedom controversies, and spotlights potential common ground on today's most highly contentious issues. For First Amendment scholars, journalists who cover religion, and interested citizens of whatever faith or of no faith, this well-edited and engaging book is truly must reading." —John J. DiIulio, Jr., Frederic Fox Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania and Former Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

"A superb addition to the growing consensus that requires much more than mere toleration of one another's distinct approaches to an often hidden God. Kmiec and his partners in this dialogue show us how to attain to careful respect for important differences in our approaches to God and to what that means in our daily lives." —Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Professor of Law, Valparaiso University

From the Publisher