American Christianity

Mainline Christians and U.S. Public Policy: A Reference Handbook by Glenn Utter (Contemporary World Issues: ABC-CLIO) This reference work offers an overview of eight major mainline Protestant denominations along with the Catholic Church in the United States and the value positions they promote in the public arena, emphasizing the differences as well as similarities among them. The book presents these churches' historical development from colonial times to the present; the dominant values held by the leadership, clergy, and lay members; their social mis­sions; and their efforts to influence public opinion and public policy on several social, economic, and political issues. An exami­nation of the conversations, disagreements, and interest conflicts within each denomination provides insight into how value positions and the relationship between the denominations and the larger world have developed.

The first chapter offers a brief historical sketch of each denomination as well as a description of its organizational structure. Of particular interest is how members of the church may voice their views. In these religious groups, members' views often are strongly held and frequently relate to deep matters of faith in God, assumptions about the purpose of human life, and intensely held moral convictions about acceptable behavior. Therefore, not surprisingly, religious denominations historically have experi­enced divisions as well as strenuous efforts to bring about col­laboration and union among groups that share common beliefs and concerns. As with any organization, Robert Michels's "iron law of oligarchy"—any organization, no matter how democrati­cally structured, tends to be governed by a relatively small elite; the law is exemplified by the quote, "Who says organization says oligarchy"—confronts those in the mainline denominations who wish to express their concerns to the overall church. However, in recent decades an interesting phenomenon within mainline denominations has occurred that at least partially moderates the effects of Michels's law: dissident members have formed so-called renewal movements in order to create an effective voice in discus­sions of Christian doctrine, traditions, and policy.

Chapter 2 examines in greater detail various public policy questions on which the nine denominations treated here have taken public stands. The dominant value concerns of these churches become clearer as they are expressed in concrete issues such as capital punishment, embryonic stem-cell research, the war in Iraq, and abortion. There tends to be overall agreement among the denominations on many of these issues, but at times interesting distinctions become evident. Often European countries are con­trasted with the United States regarding the level of religious belief and commitment among citizens. Chapter 3 provides a brief examination of the historical development of religious institu­tions and their present status in six European countries: England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Sweden. With the exception of Poland, these countries, from which many U.S. mainline churches originated, have far lower rates of religious participation than the United States.

Chapter 4 presents a chronology of events related to the nine U.S. mainline denominations, beginning with the colonial period and ending with the most recent events affecting the status of these churches. Such historical events as the American Civil War, the two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Vietnam con­flict often initiated debates and influenced the activities of the denominations. Chapter 5 offers biographical sketches of indi­viduals associated with the mainline denominations, including historical figures such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Harry Emerson Fosdick, who contributed significantly to developing the charac­ter and values of mainline Christianity, and recent denomination leaders as well as more controversial persons, such as Daniel Ber­rigan, John Shelby Spong, and Joan Chittister, who have urged their denominations and the general public to take ever-greater steps toward modification of traditionally held values.

Chapter 6 presents data derived from recent studies of reli­gious behavior in the United States, including membership trends and the attitudes of mainline clergy toward various types of polit­ical behavior. Importantly, all the mainline denominations treated here, with the exception of the Catholic Church, have experienced declining membership in recent decades. In addition to data sum­maries, the chapter provides selected documents that present the positions denominational and ecumenical organizations and members have taken on public policy questions. They defend their views in the context of often passionate expressions of value convictions. Chapter 7 lists selected organizations associated with mainline denominations. These organizations either operate in close concert with the denominations to further the goals of the church in the wider society, or strive to alter the doctrinal direc­tion and policy stances of the denomination. Finally, Chapter 8 includes an annotated bibliography of selected print and nonprint resources that the reader may consult for further investigation of these institutions that have played, and continue to play, an important role in American social and political systems.

Some believe that the so-called religious left is ready to reassert the political influ­ence it wielded during the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s, and that members of mainline denominations are a potentially significant element in the reemergence of a progressive religious movement. However, observers question whether organizational success can be matched by increasing numbers of adherents, given that mainline denominations generally have been losing members in recent decades and have faced difficult internal conflicts. 

Godly Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future by John J. DiIulio Jr. (Wildavsky Forum: University of California Press) By 2006 the electoral and public policy victories conservative religious groups had achieved began to energize those who were uncomfortable with the emphasis on such issues as abortion and same-gender marriage at the expense of what were considered more pressing concerns, including poverty, affordable health care, and global warming. Many moderate and liberal Christians who opposed the Bush administration's policies, such as the Iraq war and budget cuts for social welfare programs, began to organize, forming such groups as Faith in Public Life, Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, and Faithful America.

The mainline denominations confront a variety of challenges to their role as influencers of U.S. public policy. While they gener­ally have representational structures—including regular conven­tions—that allow grassroots members to be heard at the highest levels of the denominations, as well as organizational resources that facilitate communication with the larger society and planned activities to further their mission, disagreements involving deep religious beliefs and values can reduce the ability to convey to the larger society the stands of the denominations on particular issues. Most recently, strong disagreements over sexual matters have created serious divisions within many of the denominations. Utter examines in greater detail specific public policy issues on which many of the denominations have taken a public stand and identifies the factors that tend to contribute to, or limit, the prospect for success.

At a time when ever more Americans and their leaders, including most elected leaders pursuing 2008 presidential bids, either talk openly about faith in their lives or publicly profess various Christian beliefs and tenets, it is doubly important to get religion's historic place in the nation's civic life right. In the godly republic, we need not reinvent the republican wheel when it comes to fostering mutual civic forbearance on church-state issues, whether in general or between today's Bible-believing Chris­tians and today's secular liberals. We need not reinvent it, but, as chap­ters 6 and 7 prescribe, we probably do need to retread it for our time.

If chapter 1 makes Madison a civic saint, chapter 2 begs indulgence for the modern-day Supreme Court. It answers two opposing camps of crit­ics of the contemporary Supreme Court's First Amendment religion-clauses jurisprudence. Many orthodox sectarians insist that an antireli­gious "judicial tyranny" has spread all across the land, beginning with the Court's aforementioned 1962 decision declaring that public schoolchil­dren may not be required to recite state-sponsored prayers. But the facts support neither the "Godless schools" caricature nor associated claims that the federal courts have forbidden government support for religious institutions. At the other extreme, many orthodox secularists claim that the post-1980 Court has all but endorsed religious "establishments." But the facts about the rabidly anti-Catholic roots of the strict separation doc­trine, and the reasoning behind the contemporary Court's ostensibly "pro-religion" decisions, reveal these criticisms to be no more well-founded than those of their main opponents.

The truth is that the Court and the wider federal judiciary have done a commendable, if far from perfect, job of enforcing church-state neutrality principles. Chapter 3 reveals that majority public opinion and bipartisan political sentiment are virtually at one with contemporary Court doctrine and the founders' church-state vision. Certain segments of elite opinion are plainly polarized on religion, government, and faith-based initiatives. But a careful look at the evidence on recent national election voting pat­terns and opinion dynamics suggests that most Americans are still religious pluralists, not antireligious zealots or religious purists. The same picture emerges from the post-1996 adoption by the federal government of grant-making rules that embody neutrality principles.

Chapter 4 examines the rise and demise of the original Bush plan that advocated greater federal support for community-serving religious non­profit organizations. The plan unraveled, and the wider consensus was momentarily shattered, when an influential minority of orthodox Chris­tian leaders made policy demands that violated settled constitutional lim­its on church-state collaboration. But Washington's move toward faith-based initiatives reflected, not created, the public consensus, and the political troubles of the "Bush faith bill" curtailed, not killed, the faith-based social services movement. Even without significantly more help from Washington, grassroots religious groups have continued to deliver social services to people in need. New public-private, religious-secular programs have continued to show special promise—programs like those that put loving adult mentors into the lives of some of the over two mil­lion children in America with incarcerated parents.

Chapter 5 summarizes the latest and best scientific evidence concern­ing the extent and efficacy of faith-based social services. It reprises and retests, in light of fresh and reliable empirical data, several concepts that I first brought into public discourse in the 199os. Whether measured by association memberships, philanthropy, or volunteering, most "social capital" in America is actually "spiritual capital" supplied by religious in­stitutions that serve nonmembers without regard to religion, race, or so­cioeconomic status.

Urban community-serving religious nonprofits, especially ones led and staffed by inner-city African Americans and Latinos, are the back­bone of America's faith-based social services sector and our most under­resourced and underappreciated repositories of "bridging spiritual capi­tal." Chapter 5 documents that the vast majority of all community-serving religious nonprofits are faith-based, not faith-saturated.

That is, they are motivated by faith, but they serve people without re­gard to religion; they do not hire only people who share their particular religious views; and they are ready and willing to work within ecumeni­cal, interfaith, religious-secular, and public-private partnerships. Most are not at all adverse to seeking federal grants. Most are eager to receive technical assistance and capacity-building support from government agencies and secular nonprofit organizations. With or without public or private partners, faith-based organizations' one proven civic comparative advantage is mobilization of volunteers.

Presently, there is no credible research to prove that religious non­profits that emphasize spiritual transformation succeed where other, re­ligiously motivated or wholly secular programs fail. However, as chap­ter 5 explains, a sizable body of scientific literature suggests that one or more of three "faith factors" may be associated with many positive social and health outcomes. As it turns out, Franklin was right in believing that, under certain conditions, religion can elicit desirable social behavior, lead to better physical and mental health, and render believers and nonbe­lievers alike more inclined to help others in need, no matter who they are.

To paraphrase the greatest nineteenth-century foreign observer of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, the world is not led by long or learned demonstrations. Even if I am right about Madison and the founders' faithful consensus, the contemporary Court's approach, recent policy dynamics and administrative developments, and the science of the subject, it is all mere academic musing unless the nation's first "faith czar" can also suggest how we might keep future church-state debates from triggering pitched legal and legislative battles between religious and sec­ular political factions.

Chapter 6 discusses the godly republic's faith-based future, and how deep differences between evangelical Christians and secular liberal elites could be aired and resolved in a more public-spirited fashion than they have been in the recent past. It uses as a case study a live federal court case involving a major evangelical Christian ministry on whose board I once served. It outlines and illustrates three quasi-religious principles for civic engagement on the most contentious church-state questions. And it con­cludes by emphasizing the one thing on which most people of good civic faith should be able to agree, whatever their stand on religion's public role: America still has a significant poverty problem.

My plea is that we will not permit ideological, political, or other differ­ences to delay, diminish, or derail efforts to help those whom Jesus called "the least of these" among us. We must not substitute cynical partisan gamesmanship for sincere civic action in helping the country's poor and dispossessed by all legitimate means at our disposal. We must resist the temptation to court or prolong legal or legislative conflicts over church-state issues so as to raise more money for "us" from supporters who de­spise "them," or otherwise worship ideological icons or kneel before or­ganizational self-interest. And my hope is that we will all strive to "think Catholic" when it comes to antipoverty efforts and the common good.

For those without ears to hear, chapter 7 repeats this plea, but in rela­tion to three faith-free principles (or as faith-free as I am capable of mak­ing them). It conceives urban faith-based organizations as "civic value stocks" that promise to yield significant social returns on multiple small public and private investments. Reaching back to chapter 5, it documents the special civic strengths and resiliency represented by black churches and argues for focusing the next round of federal and state faith-based ini­tiatives on helping young black urban low-income males. The recipe in­cludes everything from targeted mentoring initiatives for preschool chil­dren to targeted prisoner reentry programs for adult ex-offenders. The total price tag, only a fraction of which would need to come from Wash­ington, would be about $10 billion a year, or less than a quarter of what we spend annually on state prisons alone.

As a hedge against having totally missed my mark, and because I think it is the best church-state consensus statement yet drafted by present-day religious leaders, the appendix copies the 1988 Williamsburg Charter.

Obviously, this is a book by an academic, but it is not, strictly speak­ing, an academic treatise. It is also a book by a former White House offi­cial; particularly in chapters 3 and 4, I have drawn on my experience there. Yet this is not an insider or tell-all account.

I am aware that I am many things, or many things all at once, that most citizens are not at all: a working-class character with a Harvard Ph.D. who got tenure early at Princeton; a Democrat who is highly conservative on some issues and quite liberal on others; and a Catholic who, as I noted previously, reclaimed his faith by hanging out with black Pentecostals. Furthermore, as you may see most plainly in chapter 6, my respect and admiration for certain evangelical Christian leaders with whom I have disagreed is so profound that I wish my secular liberal friends would stop cringing at the mere mention of their names. I even hold out hope for mu­tual civic forbearance so deep that it will permit joint left-right, secular-sectarian advocacy and action to benefit America's most truly disadvan­taged children, youth, and families. (I believe in civic miracles.) 

Do you know if you are going to heaven?" Shortly after being appointed the first Director of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives--the "faith czar"--John J. DiIulio Jr. was asked this question. Suddenly DiIulio, a Catholic Democrat who pioneered programs for inner-city children, was acutely aware that he was no longer a private citizen who might have humored the television evangelist standing before him. Now he was, as he recalls in his introduction--"responsible for assisting the president in faithfully upholding the Constitution . . . and faithfully acting in the public interest without regard to religious identities." Using his brief tenure in the Bush administration as a springboard, this lively, informative, and entertaining book leaps into the ongoing debate over whether as a nation America is Christian or secular and to what degree church-state separation is compelled by the Constitution. Avoiding political pieties, DiIulio makes an impassioned case for a middle way. Written by a leading political scholar, Godly Republic offers a fast-paced, faith-inspired, and fact-based approach to enhancing America's civic future for one and all.

"John DiIulio's Godly Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future is a splendid book. It is a much needed book. It is a book that will raise eyebrows and raise hackles-at both edges of the political spectrum. It will also raise the consciousness of readers who are willing to consider dispassionately the careful, thoughtful, and quite penetrating argument Professor DiIulio makes for a via media on the question of public aid to religiously based providers of social services to our fellow citizens who are in need. I hope and--dare I say it?--pray that there will be many such readers."--Robert P. George, Princeton University

"DiIulio's manuscript explodes myths that have surrounded our understanding of constitutional history, law and religion, the public administration of social services programs, the nature of religious service organizations, and the politics surrounding faith based programs. His style is casual, breezy, often funny, and filled with autobiographical detail. Only DiIulio, who is not only a streetwise activist for the poor, but also a prominent social scientist and political figure, could have written this important book."--Steven Shiffrin, Cornell Law School

"John DiIulio has done his country another important service. Godly Republic makes a compelling case that respect for religious influence and genuine pluralism go hand in hand in American history. John is a voice of reason and civility in a debate that needs more of both."--Michael Gerson, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Former Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush

"John DiIulio is a person of faith, learning, and wisdom. He brings his passion for truth and history to his examination of the right relationship between religion and government, faith and politics. This illuminating book is a must read for all who seek insight and guidance on these difficult questions."--Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Former Lt. Gov. of Maryland, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and author of Failing the Faithful

"Godly Republic is lively, stimulating, and thought provoking--just what we have all come to expect from John DiIulio, one of America's leading political thinkers."--William Kristol, Editor, The Weekly Standard

"John DiIulio has done more than anyone in America to unleash the power and capacity of sacred places to serve the poor and needy. In Godly Republic, he lays a foundation for splitting the atom of faith-based civic power. This sage and saint of the compassion agenda might just pull it off-and bring our country around a faith-based agenda that could ignite millions of Americans in service to the nation."--John M. Bridgeland, Former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council and USA Freedom Corps

"John DiIulio presents a succinct and authoritative statement on what the Founding Fathers actually intended as operating principles for a healthy democratic society... A scholar and a man of deep religious faith, he brings to this book first-hand experience... Godly Republic will be of enormous value to leaders in political, academic, and religious circles as well as citizens in all walks of life."--George Gallup, Jr., Pollster and Founding Chairman, George H. Gallup Institute

"John DiIulio rejects the kind of Evangelical triumphalism that declares America to be a Christian nation, even as he turns from that secularity which leaves no room for religion in the public sector. Writing in a lucid style, he shows how religion and government can maintain a legal relationship that addresses some of the greatest social needs of our time."--Reverend Tony Campolo, Professor Emeritus, Eastern University

"No one in the country better understands the connection between policy and on-the-street results than John DiIulio. In Godly Republic he combines his experiences, from urban neighborhoods to the White House, to convincingly show how faith can be a unifying force for citizens and their communities all across the country."--Stephen Goldsmith, Chairman, Corporation For National Service, Former Mayor, Indianapolis

"John DiIulio's renowned leadership in the faith-based initiatives debate is here complemented by his keen scholarship. James Madison's erudition shines in glory as DiIulio explains how the framer of the Constitution balances John Witherspoon's orthodox Christianity and Thomas Jefferson's deistic perspective, thereby creating the 'Godly Republic.' This is a must read for friend and foe alike of the faith-based movements that will impact American government for generations to come."--Reverend Peter Lillback, President, Providence Forum and Westminister Theological Seminary

"Having excelled at opening government's doors to a greater role for faith-based social work, John DiIulio in Godly Republic makes clear that the pedigree for such openness lies deep in our founding principles. Like it or not, America has entered a wide-ranging debate about religion's place in our civil life. Godly Republic supplies an indispensable framework for this debate."--Jeffrey Bell, Washington political consultant and author of Populism and Elitism

"John DiIulio is likely the only person writing today who combines stellar academic credentials and first-hand experience in the corridors of political power and on the streets with faith-based and community organizations. Often compelling, at times challenging, but always thought-provoking, Godly Republic offers sharp insights and insider stories to provide a much needed corrective to many myths about religion and government in America."--Amy E. Black, Wheaton College, co-author of Of Little Faith

"John DiIulio has made a brilliant contribution to the ongoing debate on the place of religion in the public square. Through good, sound research and reader-friendly language, he has presented our nation with a unique and valuable book that should bring much clarity to the issue of the separation of church and state... It should be read by every elected official, policy maker and religious leader."--Rev. W. Wilson Goode, Sr., Director, Amachi Mentoring Program; Former Mayor, Philadelphia

"At a time when we struggle with the role and status of religious faith in the public square, John DiIulio, in his usual urbane and scholarly manner, clarifies the misconceptions of the liberal left and religious right. Thank you, John, for providing us the Good News that faith and religion have always been part of the public square."--Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr., President, Esperanza, America's largest Latino faith-based organization

"With his trademark combination of candor and intellectual rigor--and a powerful gift for weaving a story--John DiIulio seeks a middle ground in today's increasingly rancorous church-state debates... With him, we travel back to the start of our 'Godly Republic' and into the minds of our nations' framers; peer into the most private rooms of the White House, where he served as a top aide; and glimpse what the future can hold in a nation that both respects religious pluralism and allows faith-based institutions to help the most disadvantaged among us."--Gigi Georges, Former State Director, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Partner, The Glover Park Group

"Take a brilliant analytical mind, add in a huge heart, a passion for justice and a deep religious faith, combine all that with a lively facility of expression, and you have John DiIulio. This is a book so many have been waiting for, the tough-minded reflections of a man who went into the White House trenches to pursue his carefully thought-through dreams of how compassion might be realized through social policy. By offering an honest, searching and deeply intelligent explanation for why things did not quite work out as he planned, DiIulio offers hope that we can get things right the next time around. And he makes clear how urgent it is that we try. DiIulio is a national treasure."--E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post Syndicated Columnist, and author of Why Americans Hate Politics

"This wise and engaging book accomplishes an awesome feat-it is both important and a pleasure to read."--Jane Eisner, Vice President, National Constitution Center, and editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer

"In Godly Republic, John DiIulio gives us a timely book for the elevation of our public policy and public discourse. It is a terrific read that reminds us that tolerance is both a religious and an American virtue."--Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland, Former Mayor of Baltimore

"In the White House and in his scholarship and civic service, John DiIulio has explored the theory and practice of allowing faith to inform government action. The unending--indeed, unendable--debate on the proper relationship between religion and government will be livelier and more civil because of this book."--George Will, ABC News and Syndicated Columnist

"God and America, what could be more important? And no one is better qualified to explore one of the most important issues of our time than John DiIulio. In a book that weaves a seamless web between superb social science and his own experiences in government, DiIulio has written a must read for any serious citizen-religious or not."--Elaine Kamarck, Public Policy Lecturer, Harvard University; former Senior Advisor to Vice President Al Gore

"A must-read gem written by a rarity: a respected and courageous former public servant who is also one of America's most influential academics on the intersection of religion, politics and social policy. His brilliance and decency shine through on every page."--Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

 

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