Synopses & Reviews
During the past decade, the growing intensity of fundamentalist movements has ignited increasingly heated debates and controversies over the role of religion in modern societies. Until 9/11, most debates in the modern United States over the intersection of religion, politics, and society had focused on the rise and influence of the fundamentalist Protestant-led Christian Right. But after that tragic day, fundamentalist religious beliefs commanded even more attention, though this time Islamic. Fundamentalism, Politics, and the Law describes and analyzes the role of religious fundamentalist beliefs in the modern political world. Comprised of studies by leading scholars in law, political science, sociology and religion, this volume is organized around two major topics: the first examines the rise and the enduring influence of the Christian Right in U.S. politics and policy. The second focuses on the clash between fundamentalist practices in various religious traditions and societal norms and the law.
Synopsis
This book studies the phenomenon of fundamentalism in the United States. It contains historical and contemporary scholarly analysis of the Christian movements that emerged around the time of the Moral Majority. It is divided into three sections: classic studies of US Christian fundamentalism, contemporary studies of US Christian fundamentalism, and fundamentalism within the contemporary Roman Catholic Church and radical Islamism.
About the Author
Marci A. Hamilton is Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law in the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. She is the author of God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (2005, 2007); Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (2008), and numerous scholarly articles on the interplay between law, politics, and religion. She is a columnist on constitutional and church/state issues for www.findlaw.com.
Mark J. Rozell is a professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and the author of numerous studies on religion and politics, the presidency, interest groups and other topics in American politics. His latest book is Executive Branch Czars and the Erosion of Democratic Controls (with Mitchel A. Sollenberger, 2012).
Table of Contents
Preface and Editors Introduction--Marci A. Hamilton and Mark J. Rozell * Fundamentalism: Yesterday and Today--George Marsden * Section I: Contemporary Studies of United States Protestant Fundamentalism * The Christian Right and the Politics of Abortion: The Triumph of Pragmatism?--Mark J. Rozell and Debasree Das Gupta * Premillenialists at the Millenium: Some Reflections on the Christian Right in the Twenty-first Century--Clyde Wilcox * From Darwin to Dover: An Overview of the Evolution Debate--David Masci * Sex, Sin, and Social Policy: Religion and the Sexual Politics of Abstinence-Only Programs--Susan D. Rose * Uncivil Religion: “Judeo-Christianity” and the Ten Commandments--Frederick Mark Gedicks and Roger Hendrix * In “Bad Faith”: The Corruption of Charitable Choice--Steven K. Green * Re-forming the Secular?: Theological Double-Talk and “Faith-based” Social Services--Winnifred Fallers Sullivan * Section II: Beyond United States Protestant Fundamentalism * Islamicism--M.A. Muqtedar Khan * Hinduism: The BJP and the Rise of Hindu Nationalism in India--Author TBA * Judaism--Kenneth Wald * Mormonism--Author TBA * Catholicism: Fundamentalism in the Canon Law Tradition--Thomas P. Doyle * Epilogue--John Esposito