Under God? Religious Faith and Liberal Democracy

Political reliance on religious faith does not violate the morality of liberal democracy.

The proper role of religious faith in the public life of a liberal democracy is one of the most important and controversial issues in the United States today. Since the publication in 1991 of his book Love and Power, Michael J. Perry's important writings on this issue have been among the most insightful. In this new book, Perry argues that political reliance on religious faith violates neither the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution nor, more broadly, the morality of liberal democracy. Nonetheless, Perry argues, religious believers sometimes have good reasons to be wary about relying on religious beliefs in making political decisions. Along the way, Perry thoughtfully addresses three subjects at the center of fierce contemporary political debate: school vouchers, same-sex marriage, and abortion.

Part I. Mainly for the Agnostics and the Exclusionists: 1. What does the Establishment Clause forbid? Reflections on the constitutionality of school vouchers; 2. Why political reliance on religiously grounded morality does not violate the establishment clause; 3. Why political reliance on religiously grounded morality is not illegitimate in a liberal democracy; Part II. Mainly for the Agnostics and the Inclusionists, Especially Inclusionists Who are Religious Believers: 4. Christians, the Bible, and same-sex unions: an argument for political self-restraint; 5. Catholics, the Magisterium, and same-sex unions: an argument for independent judgment. 6. Religion, politics, and abortion.

Michael J. Perry argues that although political reliance on religious faith does not violate the morality of liberal democracy, religious believers sometimes have good reasons to circumscribe religious beliefs in making political decisions. Along the way, Perry thoughtfully addresses contemporary issues like school vouchers, same-sex marriage, and abortion.