Faith in American Public Life

In Faith in American Public Life ,Melissa Rogersâformer Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnershipsâexplores the role of religion in the public square and focuses on principles that define the relationship between government and religion. While the Constitution prohibits government-backed religion, it protects the rights of religious individuals and organizations to promote their faith. These twin principles have helped freedom and faith to flourish in the United States. At the same time, Rogers warns of current threats to religious freedom and pluralism in America, the most seriousof which are rising hostility toward and attacks on religious minorities. Fearmongeringregarding certain religions, races, andethnicitiesand the use of violent imagery and dehumanizing language amount to throwing a match on dry kindling. Americans, Rogers argues, must take action to counter these threats.She also warns about efforts to shrink the constitutional bar on governmental establishment of religion and upset a balanced approach to free exercise issues. Faith in American Public Life offers suggestions for confronting these and other challenges. Rogers walks readers through settled and contested legal issues, providing an accessible guide to many of the most important and timely matters in this field. The legal rules are not perfect, she says, but they have established a framework that produces remarkable freedom and have helped to create a country wherereligion can be a powerful force for good. Through her knowledgeable analysis and practical recommendations for policymakers and religious leaders, Rogers inspires hope that the genius of the American system can be preserved and perfected and that efforts to find common ground can be renewed.

In Faith in American Public Life, Rogers recognizes the delicate balance provided by the United States Constitution and judiciary to provide an environment for the flourishing of faith, and she calls for all Americans to appreciate and protect thsi privilege of their democracy.--Daniel T. Crouch "Perspectives in Religious Studies", With the publication of Faith in American Public Life, Melissa Rogers has penned what should be required reading for all scholars and students of religion and politics.--Aaron D. Weaver "Baptist History and Heritage Journal", ... Rogers' more scholarly treatise is the book for political science professionals and academics in the fields of Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, or Religion and Politics. And it is still quite accessible to general lay readers.--Joe P. Dunn "The Journal of Political Science", Rogers' book is an excellent guide to federal law and policies relevant to religion and public life in American history. The book walks the reader through the political and religious commitments latent in the American ethos by looking at key supreme Court cases and watershed events. Rogers subtly describes the philosophical commitments present in the earliest years of our country and as captured in the nation's founding documents, that being a liberalism that is free from any one conception of the good.--Nathaniel A. Warne "The Living Church", In this cultural moment, with hostility against religious minorities on the rise and Christian supremacy often conflated with free speech, we very much need works like Faith in American Public Life. The safety of our neighbors--not to mention the stability of our democracy--relies on the kind of clear-eyed and reasonable account Melissa Rogers provides.--Clint Schnekloth "Christian Century"

Melissa Rogers (J.D. University of Pennsylvania School of Law) is Visiting Professor of Religion and Public Policy and Director, Center for Religion and Public Affairs, at Wake Forest University Divinity School.