A Secular Faith
by Darryl Hart
Summary
Darryl Hart, the highly regarded historian of religion, contends that appeals to Christianity for social and political well-being fundamentally misconstrue the meaning of the Christian religion. His book weaves together historical narratives of American Protestantism’s influence on the nation’s politics, and commentary on recent writing about religion and public life, with expositions of Christian teaching. The tapestry that emerges is a compelling faith-based argument for keeping Christianity out of politics.
Excerpt
From the Preface
For many devout American Christians, the thought of the President of the United States pausing during a time of national peril or uncertainty to pray to the God of the universe is a comforting one. This was certainly the impression I took away from a recent summer seminar at a prominent American university, where scholars had convened to discuss the American founding and legal barriers to religious involvement in the political process. The idea of a president looking for divine assistance appeared to most of those assembled as at least innocent if not becoming. If God doesn’t exist, prayer certainly couldn’t hurt. But if divine assistance was available to the petitioner, wasn’t it better for the most powerful man in the free world to acknowledge his dependence upon powers mightier than his rather than proudly thinking he could manage on his own? In fact, wasn’t this the sort of activity in which a long line of reverential presidents engaged, from the Father of the Country to Honest Abe?
Since most of the academics in the room were conservative of some stripe, the thought experiment immediately conjured up images of the current occupant of the Oval Office, George W. Bush. His invocation of divine blessing and acknowledgement of his own faith has appealed to many American Christians who view secularization as one of the chief threats to the well-being of the nation. But complications ensued when this group of conservatives considered the hypothetical of someone like Hillary Rodham Clinton offering a prayer for help in her conduct as chief executive of the United States. At this point the image turned from consoling to annoying, even alarming. Questions about her sincerity, her comprehension of the proper matters for which to pray, her willingness to follow a wise course of action irrespective of any answer to her prayer—all these came to mind. The second version of this thought experiment posed the inconsistency that so often accompanies the way Americans mix Christianity and politics. Just as the thought of Clinton beseeching divine favor drives conservatives crazy, the thought of Bush doing so is equally infuriating to liberals and Democrats. The problem, as American history shows, is that the party in power rarely sees itself through its opponents’ eyes; it doesn’t consider that its appeal to divinity might not only look self-serving but also make self-delusion more likely.
The point of this book is to try to complicate contemporary understanding of the relationship between Christianity and liberal democracy in the United States. It should challenge both believers who think their faith serves specific forms of political participation, and skeptics who view Christianity negatively because of its recent influence on electoral politics. It starts from the premise that Christianity is an apolitical faith. Its message and means, though not indifferent in civil society, transcend all political rivalries, whether between Republicans and Democrats, big business and labor unions, the right and the left, or even Fox News and CNN.
Reprinted with permission of Ivan R. Dee Publishers. http://www.ivanrdee.com
Reviews
"[A] fascinating, well–documented historical exploration of religious expression in American life.... Engaging"—Publishers Weekly
"[A] much-needed religious and historical perspective on the relationship between Church and State"—Library Journal
"A valuable contribution to the discussion of church and state"—Terry Eastland, Weekly Standard
Author's Biography
Darryl Hart, a historian of American religion, is director of academic projects and faculty development at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Wilmington, Delaware. He has also written Defending the Faith, The University Gets Religion, That Old-Time Religion in Modern America, and The Lost Soul of American Protestantism.