Good And Bad Ways To Think About Religion And Politics

Clear, useful guide to a subject too often characterized by confusion and loud rhetoric

“There is nothing greater than indignation to stimulate a writer to write, and my outrage has been stirred mightily by reading so many wrongheaded ‘takes’ on how religion and politics ought to be related,” says Robert Benne.

In this book Benne describes and analyzes the two main bad ways of relating religion and politics – “separationism” and “fusionism” – and offers a better way that he calls “critical engagement.” He first explains this approach in theoretical terms and then reflects on the practical ways in which such convictions reach the public sphere of policy. This better way derives in large part from the Lutheran tradition, with a few tweaks to adapt the tradition to deal with the new challenges of our present situation.