Notes on Religion and Politics in America (Fourth Edition)

This is a terrific book and a must-have for anyone, especially activists, who need to know the specifics regarding America's long-standing and deep connection between religion and politics.

I plan to get it as soon as possible but wish to record a few brief notes.

1. Four dimensions in American religion: Puritan, pluralist, evangelical and populist.
2. Churches growing the fastest are the ones whose values and communities are distinguishable or in tension with the dominant culture and that make demands on their adherents.
3. As pervasive as the religious impulse is in America, its effects on public life are muted. This is because the founders set up a system in which no sect is established and all – grudgingly or not – must tolerate those sects with which they disagree as the price of being accepted itself. So all religions can have influence, but the system makes it all but impossible for any one sect to have dominance.
4. Factors affecting a church's influence include size, isolation vs. involvement in the political process, geography, socio-economic islolation and respectability.
5. Religious lobbies have limited effects on policies except when they are able to form coalitions. Religions that wish more influence need to participate in the intellectual discussions of our day and need to engage in culture-building activities such as congregations, schools, colleges and media outlets.
6. The relationship of political and cultural elites to religion is complicated. Simply knowing that a congressman is Jewish, for example, does not necessarily predict their voting pattern.
7. Religious disputes are more often arbitrated in the courts than in the legislative or executive branches. Access to the courts gives even small religious groups an opportunity to defend against encrouchments from the larger society.
8. A key issue is the relationship between the establishment clause and the free exercise clause in the First Amendment.

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Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices by Robert Booth Fowler, Allen D. Hertzke, Laura R. Olson, and Kevin R. den Dulk at http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Politics-America-Culture-Strategic/dp/0813344360/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287573742&sr=8-1