The Political Pulpit Revisited

John Lester Pauley

Jan 2005 · Purdue University Press

About this ebook

The Political Pulpit Revisited examines a set of arguments originally made in 1975 about church-state relations in the U.S. Scholars have long wondered how a nation of some two thousand different religious denominations has been able to remain relatively calm about such matters. Controversial issues like abortion rights, war-time pacifism, sanctuary for illegal aliens, clerical abuse of children, non-taxation of church property, and other matters con-tinually roil the political waters. The first edition describes how church and state tensions are worked out symbolically rather than coercively, legally, or economically. The Political Pulpit Revisited updates church/state arguments and then offers reflections by eight distinguished scholars who re-examine the relationship in light of recent events. The result is a fresh look at the American experiment in those relations and what it portends for the U.S. in the years ahead.

About the author

Roderick Hart received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University. His area of special interest is politics and the mass media. In addition to being a professor of government, Hart is the Shivers Chair in Communication and the director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation at the University of Texas at Austin. John L. Pauley II received a Master of Divinity degree from Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary and is an ordained minister. Pauley also holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Speech Communication from the University of Texas.