Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The recent decline of Christianity poses a crisis for the religion and for American democracy, according to this stimulating if uneven treatise. Rauch (The Constitution of Knowledge), a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, contends that a mass "dechurching" over the past 25 years has left a "God-shaped hole" in American society that secularism has been unable to fill. At the same time, the remaining segment of Christianity has sharpened into "a divisive, fearful, partisan" movement that prizes "un-Christian" values like aggression and strength. (That shift has been driven in part by society's increased secularization, Rauch suggests, as Christians are influenced by politicians and evangelical media personalities, resulting in a faith that's radicalized and less spiritually fulfilling.) Rauch calls for a "positive realignment" between faith and liberalism, proposing that pastors preach an attitude "of care and stewardship for civic institutions" and that secular activists take more seriously concerns about religious freedoms. Unfortunately, there are gaps in Rauch's argument for a supportive relationship between faith and liberalism--most notably, how other religions, especially non--Judeo-Christian ones, might fit into this supposedly pluralistic system. The result is an intriguing if incomplete analysis of faith's complicated role in an increasingly secular society. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A call for American Christianity to be an essential component of liberal democracy. Although Rauch, gay and Jewish, frequently notes that he may be an unlikely dispenser of advice to churchly Christians, he observes that American Christianity is in a historical state of crisis: fewer and fewer people identify as Christians, while church attendance is sharply down. This has reverberations in secular society, Rauch holds, because the Founders, while allowing that "religion's job is not tosupport republican government," held that religion "teaches virtue and thereby makes Americans more governable," an entwinement of public governance and public morality. Religion writ large, Rauch holds, still has this role to play, addressing questions of the here and now while pondering the larger issues: Why is there death? Why does evil exist in the world, especially if there is a loving God? Rauch hastens to add that liberal democracy is not strictly dependent on the religious--as witness the secular societies of Japan and Scandinavia--but ideally, in a heterogenous society such as America's, religion is an important provider of "cultural and spiritual infrastructure." Of course, he adds, the militant arm of nationalist Christianity fails in this task, presuming that negotiated democratic agreements are immaterial when God and earthly preachers are issuing the commands. "Absolutely nothing about secular liberalism required white evangelicals to embrace the likes of Donald Trump," Rauch argues, yet there we are, surrounded by what he calls "Sharp Christianity," adding that it is "literally a Church of Fear." Interestingly, Rauch looks to Mormonism as a model for negotiating moral stances by way of compromise, "a conciliatory approach [that] is conspicuously countercultural in the conservative religion world," especially in its support of LGBTQ+ rights and other progressive social causes. A cogent argument for reframing Christianity as an ally and not an enemy of secular society. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
