Religion in American Politics

A Short History

By: Frank Lambert

Narrated by: Don Hagen

The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention blocked the establishment of Christianity as a national religion. But they could not keep religion out of American politics. From the election of 1800, when Federalist clergyman charged that deist Thomas Jefferson was unfit to lead a "Christian nation," to today, when some Democrats want to embrace the so-called Religious Left in order to compete with the Republicans and the Religious Right, religion has always been a part of American politics.

In Religion in American Politics, Frank Lambert tells the fascinating story of the uneasy relations between religion and politics from the founding to the 21st century. Lambert examines how antebellum Protestant unity was challenged by sectionalism as both North and South invoked religious justification; how Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" competed with the anticapitalist "Social Gospel" during postwar industrialization; how the civil rights movement was perhaps the most effective religious intervention in politics in American history; and how the alliance between the Republican Party and the Religious Right has, in many ways, realized the founders' fears of religious-political electoral coalitions. In these and other cases, Lambert shows that religion became sectarian and partisan whenever it entered the political fray, and that religious agendas have always mixed with nonreligious ones.

The book is published by Princeton University Press.

©2008 Princeton University Press (P)2010 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Of the writing of books about the rise and rumored fall of the religious right there is no end. But most of these tend toward the genre of the rant, which is why Lambert's new book is important. It gives a history of the intertwining of evangelical faith and political engagement in America that displays no obvious agenda other than to illuminate.... The whole book will be useful as a handy, clear and fair treatment of this most contentious subject." ( Publishers Weekly)

Excellent overview from colonial days up until now

I found this to be an easy listen and very informative. It explains a great deal of the prespective from colonial times, through constitutional convention, then 19th and 20th centuries and even up through recent elections in the 21st century. I highly recommend the book.

Nothing to write home about

This wasn't one of my favorites.

Not in-depth. Boring narrator. Written in a style that reminds of middle school lecture. A lot of "Group A felt this about this."

Clear and unbiased

The clear unbiased description of history related to religion in the US. Every politician should read it.