Demonizing American Civil Religion

on December 16, 2015

The politically progressive Missouri pastor and author Brian Zahnd recently tweeted, “Donald Trump is exposing American civil religion for what it is — ugly religious nationalism; the empty chaff of a counterfeit Christianity.” But American civil religion is hardly coterminous with Trump.

It’s something much larger than any one man, an inclusive theism and natural law ethics that informed the Founders and our public documents, a civil religion that has allowed Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons and other sects to participate fully in American democracy without having to minimize their faith. Without claiming to offer redemption, it offers a moral and spiritual framework for public life without a coercive theological litmus test.

Read the rest here.

No comments yet

The work of IRD is made possible by your generous contributions.

Receive expert analysis in your inbox.