The Secular State Under Siege: Religion and Politics in Europe and America

Throughout human history, religion and politics have entertained the most intimate of connections as systems of authority regulating individuals and society. While the two have come apart through the process of secularization, secularism is challenged today by the return of public religion. This cogent analysis unravels the nature of the connection, disconnection, and attempted reconnection between religion and politics in the West. In a comparison of Western Europe and North America, Christianity and Islam, Joppke advances far-reaching theoretical, historical, and comparative-political arguments. With respect to theory, it is argued that only a “substantive” concept of religion, as pertaining to the existence of supra-human powers, opens up the possibility of a historical-comparative perspective on religion. At the level of history, secularization is shown to be the distinct outcome of Latin Christianity itself. And at the level of comparative politics, the Christian Right in America which has attacked the “wall of separation” between religion and state and Islam in Europe with the controversial insistence on sharia law and other “illiberal” claims from some quarters are taken to be counterpart incarnations of public religion and challenges to the secular state. This clearly argued, sweeping book will provide an invaluable framework for approaching an array of critical issues at the intersection of religion, law and politics for advanced students and researchers across the social sciences and legal studies, as well as for the interested public.

Church and State

Church and state have historically had an uneasy relationship, sometimes close allies, at others harsh adversaries, and at still others largely independent of one another. This paper develops an economic model of this relationship, where the state's objective is to maximize net tax revenue, while the church provides religious goods. Religious goods benefit the state in two ways: first, they provide utility to citizens, thus allowing the state to extract more taxes before running up against citizens' reservation utility (the point at which they would revolt), and second, they potentially provide legitimacy to the state, thereby lowering the costs of tax collection. If the latter effect is strong enough, the state may find it optimal to take control of the church, either to enhance its legitimizing effect, or to suppress its de-legitimizing effect. To evaluate the model's implications, we use recent cross-country data on the relationship between religion and state, including measures coded from the 2001, 2003, and 2005 International Religious Freedom reports. We also examine in more detail some of the paradigmatic cases indicated by the model, presenting various types of evidence from current and historical examples of each case.

Polygamy’s Challenge : Women, Religion And The Post-Liberal State

Dossier : Should Polygamy be Recognized in Canada ? Ethical and Legal Considerations

Men's Modesty, Religion, and the State: Spaces of Collision

This article examines religious practices in the United States, which govern modesty and other dress norms for men. I focus both on the spaces within which they most collide with regulatory regimes of the state and the legal implications of these norms, particularly for observant Muslim men. Undergirding the research are those ‘‘gender equality’’ claims made by many religious adherents, that men are required to maintain proper modesty norms just as are women. Also undergirding the research is the extensive anti-Islam bias in American culture today. The spaces within which men’s religiously proscribed dress and grooming norms are most at issue—indicated by First Amendment legal challenges to rights of religious practice—are primarily those state-controlled, total institutions Goffman describes, such as in the military and prisons. The implications of gendered modesty norms are important, as state control over religious expression in prisons, for example, is much more difficult to contest than in other spaces, although this depends entirely on who is doing the contesting and within which religious context. In American society today—and particularly within the context of growing Islamaphobia following the 9/11 attacks—the implications are greatest for those men practicing ‘‘prison Islam.’’

Memoirs of the Rev. Ammi Rogers ... persecuted in the state of Connecticut, on account of religion and politics, for almost twenty years; and finally falsely accused and imprisoned in Norwich jail, for two years on the charge of crimes said to have been committed in the town of Griswold ... Also a concise view of the authority , doctrine, and worship, in the Protestant Episcopal church, and a very valuable index to the Holy Bible.

Mode of access: Internet.

The Liberator : a monthly journal of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from State-Patronage and Control.

Vols. 21-32 also called n.s., v. 1-12.

Memoirs of the Rev. Ammi Rogers, A. M., a clergyman of the Episcopal Church ... persecuted in the state of Connecticut, on account of religion and politics ... and finally falsely accused and imprisoned in Norwich jail, for two years ... Also a concise view of the authority, doctrine, and worship, in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and a very valuable index to the Holy Bible.

Mode of access: Internet.

A history of Philadelphia : with a notice of villages, in the vicinity containing a correct account of the city improvements, up to the year 1839; also, the state of society, in relation to science, religion, and morals; with an historical account of the military operations of the late war, including the names of over two thousand patriotic officers, and citizen soldiers. In 1812,-13, & 14.

Principally muster-rolls of Pennsylvania troops, reprinted from A brief sketch of the military operations on the Delaware during the late war: together with a copy of the muster-rolls of the several volunteer-corps which composed the Advance light brigade ... Philadelphia, 1820.

A compend of history from the earliest times : comprehending a general view of the present state of the world : with respect to civilization, religion, and government : and a brief dissertation on the importance of historical knowledge /

Mode of access: Internet.

A compend of history, from the earliest times; comprehending a general view of the present state of the world, with respect to civilization, religion, and government: and a brief dissertation on the importance of historical knowledge.

Shoemaker

The present state of Great-Britain and Ireland. : In three parts. The I. Of South II. Of North Britain. III. Of Ireland. Containing an accurate and impartial account of these great and famous islands: of their several counties, and their inhabitants; the advantages and disadvantages of both, in respect to foreign countries; and their curiosities both of nature and art. Of... London... and of the famous universities... Of the Britains original, language, temper, genius, religion, morals, trade, &c. Their nobility, gentry, clergy, and commonalty. Their laws and government; with a succinct history of all the English monarchs... With the lists of the present officers in church and state, of... Parliament, and of the Convocation. To which is added a map of the three kingdoms. Also the present state of His Majesty's dominions in Germany... and a new map of them all.

In MS on t-p & elsewhere: Willm Pawley 1758[?]; Judith Buch 1735; fore edge label: New state of Engl.

All religions and religious ceremonies : in two parts. Pt. I. Christianity, Mahometanism, and Judaism. To which is added a Tabular appendix, by Thomas Williams. Exhibiting the present state of the world as to religion, population, religious toleration, government, etc. Pt. II. A view of the history, religion, manners and customs of the Hindoos. By William Ward. Together with the religion and ceremonies of other pagan nations.

Part II has subtitle : A view of the idolatry of the Hindoos ... by William Ward, of Serampore, abridged from his original work in 3 volumes.

The life of Samuel Johnson, D.D. : the first president of King's College, in New York. Containing many interesting anecdotes; a general view of the state of religion and learning in Connecticut during the former part of the last century; and an account of the institution and rise of Yale College, Connecticut; and of King's (now Columbia) College, New-York /

Microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich., University Microfilms [n.d.] (American culture series, Reel 257.3)