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Loading... The Culture of Disbelief (original 1993; edition 1994)by Stephen L. Carter
Work InformationThe Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion by Stephen L. Carter (1993)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Religion and his place in American public and private life are a theme that has consistently remained at the center of our national debate. In recent years, many political leaders and opinion makers have come to view any religious element in public discourse as a tool of the radical right for reshaping American society so in our zeal to keep religion from dominating our politics, we have constructed political and legal cultures that force the religiously devout to act as if their faith didn't really matter. In the Culture of Disbelief, Stephen L Carter explains how we can preserve the vital separation of church and state while embracing rather than trivializing the faith of millions or treating religious believers with disdain. And there was great mourning throughout the land... because it looked to Chrisanne like Carter had given up writing brilliant non-fiction to write fiction (which may be just as brilliant but not as interesting to her). In all sincerity, this was just as intriguing as the prior books I had read by Carter, if not more so. It is a treatise on religious freedom that contains information such as-- - The separation of church from state was originally(and should be) intended to protect the church, not the state. -When should the state upend religious rights? (answer: rarely) -Why the topic of euthanasia is a tricky one (legally and morally). -How racism, religion, and freedom intertwine and not always in the best way. And how we do the Civil Rights a disservice by disentangling it from religion...and how that relates to the abortion argument. -Why prayers should not be said in public schools (He's got a rock solid argument on this one). -How religion should be present and expressed in the present square (and how it shouldn't). -Why rethinking the school system set-up might be fairer than our current set-up. The simplest way to sum of The Culture of Disbelief is this, it is the argument that society forces religious devotion to be kept private and should not to be displayed openly. Society discourages us from voicing a religious choice. Right from the beginning you are hit with a sentence that brings it all to light: "More and more, our culture seems to take the position that believing deeply in the tenets of one's faith represents a kind of mystical irrationality, something that thoughtful, public spirited American citizens would do better to avoid" (p 7). no reviews | add a review
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America, it is often noted, is the most religious nation in the Western world. At the same time, many political leaders and opinionmakers have come to view any religious element in public discourse as a tool of the radical right for reshaping American society. In our sensible zeal to keep religion from dominating our politics, Stephen L. Carter argues, we have constructed political and legal cultures that force the religiously devout to act as if their faith doesn't really matter. This book explains how we can preserve the vital separation of church and state while embracing rather than trivializing the faith of millions of citizens or treating religious believers with disdain. What makes Carter's work so intriguing is that he uses liberal means to arrive at what are often considered conservative ends. Carter explains how preserving a special role for religious communities can strengthen our democracy. The book recovers the long tradition of liberal religious witness (for example, the antislavery, antisegregation, and Vietnam-era antiwar movements), and argues that the problem with the 1992 Republican convention was not the fact of open religious advocacy but the political positions being advocated. A vast array of issues appear in a new light: everything from religion in schools to the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's mass weddings, from abortion to the Branch Davidians. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)291.170973Religions Other Religions Comparative Religion; Mythology (No Longer Used) Mythologies TheologiesLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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