One Nation Under Gods

Prying Religion Off the Pews and Taking It to the Streets

Americans have an uneasy relationship with the public expression of religion. We cherish the separation of church and state, but expect declarations of faith from our political leaders: how many presidential speeches end with "God bless America"? As we wrestle with the constitutionality of prayer in the schools, the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, and God's place in the Pledge of Allegiance, new books explore not whether but how to bring religion -- in particular, Christianity -- even further into our public lives.

In Human Nature and the Freedom of Public Religious Expression, Stephen G. Post argues that faith is an essential part of being human—in every time and in every culture. Despite “the emergence of secular existentialism and … potent argument for atheism,” he contends that “we are now, and have always been, Homo religiosus.” Post, a professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, takes a controversial leap, however, asserting that this core of spirituality makes public affirmations of religious doctrine appropriate, even for governments. Opening legislative sessions with prayer – rotating among a variety of denominations – is, in Post’s way of thinking, a proper expression of our universal spirituality.

Delving into a far more controversial public manifestation of faith, The Christian Right in American Politics: Marching to the Millennium traces the history of this movement’s work to abolish or curtail legal abortion, block gay rights, defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, and elect socially conservative candidates at all levels of government. The book uses an academic approach that avoids taking sides. The editors, who are all university professors – John C. Green is a professor of political science at the University of Akron, Mark J. Rozell is professor and chair of the Department of Politics at the Catholic University of America, and Clyde Wilcox is a professor of government at Georgetown University – focus on the movement’s political effectiveness, not its propriety.

On a more personal level, The Insider: Bringing the Kingdom of God Into Your Everyday World, prescribes a “soft core” brand of evangelism in which Christians casually drop mentions of their faith into everyday conversations with friends, neighbors, and co-workers. “A one-liner crediting the Scriptures as the source of an idea we’re discussing often communicates more to my nonChristian friends than do my best propositions about God,” write authors Jim Petersen and Mike Shamy, both leaders in The Navigators Christian ministry program. Instead of trying to draw the unconverted to church – a task they liken to stacking marbles – the authors encourage Christians to establish relationships with “pre-Christians,” as a way to prepare them for religious conversion. They make a point of not providing a script for Christians to spread the message, and they warn against preaching codes of behavior. “Ask God for the words you will need,” and simply tell your own story about Christ in your life, they advise.

In Dirty Faith: Becoming the Hands and Feet of Jesus, Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline tells Christians to take their faith to the streets, to minister to those in need. “[G]et bruised, get used, get dirty. [B]e like Jesus.” They present case studies from the work of Mission Year, “an organization that encourages students to move into the inner city for one year in order to be Jesus’ hands and feet as neighbors to the poor and the broken.” These 12-month missionaries befriend and assist the needy, all the while crediting Christ as the source of their kindness.

Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith also takes faith to the streets – by redesigning the streets. In this architectural perspective on Christianity, author Eric O. Jacobsen calls for urban renewal as an expression of loving your neighbor. Jacobsen, a Presbyterian minister, encourages many of the same changes advocated by the New Urbanism movement: mixed use neighborhoods built on a pedestrian scale, public space, and the “communal value of aesthetics.” He describes the benefits of these changes, such as a renewed sense of connection and a greater ease in performing acts of public service, as Christian goals. Jacobsen frequently references the Bible’s emphasis on the city; when Christ described the redeemed life to John, he called it the city of New Jerusalem. Jacobsen encourages Christians to take this metaphor seriously, and to build cities that might be transitions to the New Jerusalem.

Religions Both Different and ‘Startlingly Similar’
The drive toward the integrating religion into society can’t ignore the fact that 21st Century America is a multi-cultural nation that houses many spiritual views. In How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West, Perez Zagorin, Professor of History (emeritus) at the University of Rochester, traces the evolution of Western thought regarding beliefs outside the official church, from violent suppression of “heretical” ideas to respectful acceptance of a wide variety of religions. Originally a stance taken by some Christians in an attempt to keep the practice of Christianity more Christ-like, tolerance was propelled toward true religious freedom by the European Enlightenment of the 18th Century and the great value it placed on an individual’s right to follow his own beliefs.

Fear is the enemy of tolerance, as evidenced by the current wariness toward Islam in the U.S. Several new books work against this trend by presenting reasoned rather than sensational views of this ancient religion, pointing out Judaism and Christianity’s close ties to Islam. In Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith by Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian, the religion seems neither exotic nor foreign, but very familiar. Its history, traditions, and beliefs mirror Judaism and Christianity, and its internal conflicts between traditionalists and modernists reflect universal human traits. In Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World, Carl W. Ernst titles an early chapter “Avoiding Prejudice in Approaching Islam.” He goes on to debunk western myths about Islamic law and culture, placing the practices in their historical and metaphorical context. The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition explores the bond between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. It explains the common roots, beliefs, and practices among the religions of “the God of Abraham.” Demonstrating respect for each religion’s worldview, F. E. Peters, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and History at New York University, tells compelling stories about the legendary fathers of these religions, and of the believers whose lives have been molded by them.

Also in this spirit of inclusiveness, The Genesis Meditations: A Shared Practice of Peace for Christians, Jews, and Muslims asks followers of these three faiths to consider their common Creation stories. “These are all celebrations of hope, not fear; of love, not hate... I believe that the actual practice of this [Creation] meditation… can build a bridge of peace between the three religions of the Middle East,” writes author Neil Douglas-Klotz, a leader in the International Sufi Movement. “It can affirm a radically different view of life in a world that looks to save its ecosystem and rediscover an authentic connection to the sacred.” A Spirituality of Resistance: Finding a Peaceful Heart and Protecting the Earth points to historical tensions within Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity between “the ‘vertical’ dimension of a personal relationship to God ” and “the ‘horizontal’ dimension of concern for social justice and collective well-being.” “The crucial, and often quite difficult, task is to join both dimensions,” Worcester Polytechnic Institute Professor of Philosophy Roger S. Gottlieb writes. In Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion at Bucknell University, calls on the wisdom of all faiths in an appeal to honor creation through ecological awareness. In The Holy Way: Practices For a Simple Life, writer Paula Huston describes her attempts to live “the Christian simple life” of retreat and contemplation. Yet she notes that her experiences are not uniquely Christian. “The more I’ve immersed myself in the Christian way of simplicity, the more I’ve come to see how much of that path we share with all the major world religions… The overall pattern is startlingly similar.”

‘Truth Doesn’t Screw Around’
Indian Mythology: Tales, Symbols, and Rituals from the Heart of the Subcontinent further calls on the ability of the Western mind to see from another point of view. “One must move away from Western concepts of right/wrong, divine/diabolical, angel/sinner, heaven/hell, genesis/apocalypse, and fall/return.” Author Devdutt Pattanaik, who writes and lectures in India on Hindu narratives, art, rituals, and philosophy, introduces readers to the tenets of Hinduism, a religion that “has no need for the concept of evil because every event is a reaction to past events… This religion holds that the cosmos is multilayered and populated by a variety of beings, and believes that time is cyclical, with events repeating themselves again and again and again.”

Zen Buddhism is a system of thought so different from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other religions that many say it is not a religion, at all. Hardcore Zen moves even further away from tradition in its description of Zen Buddhism. Unlike the serenely mysterious tone in which this spiritual path is often described, Brad Warner’s approach is abrasive. “Truth doesn’t screw around, and truth doesn’t care about your opinions,” Warner writes. A Zen priest and punk rocker, Warner is also unapologetically critical of religion (and philosophy, and politics). Though he can’t be bothered with the niceties of religious inclusiveness, his readers are likely to finish this book with a wider understanding of spiritual ideas.

And that, of course, is the point of most of these books.