What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment? [Paperback]

E.J. Dionne (Editor), John J. DiIulio (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0815718691 | ISBN-13: 978-0815718697 | Publication Date: July 1, 2000

More than two hundred years have passed since the Constitution was written, yet Americans still cannot make up their minds whether religion is primarily private, public, or a combination of the two. This collection of essays explores the unsettledand often unsettlingquestion of organized religions role in contemporary public life. Richard N. Ostling reviews religious belief and practice in the United States in a survey of the ever-changing religious landscape, while Robert J. Blendon and others compare the political, moral, and religious values of the 1960s with those of the 1990s. Patrick Glynn and Alan Wolfe examine different religious responses to the recent presidential scandal, and James Q. Wilson, John J. DiIulio Jr., and Ram Cnaan examine the rise of faith-based social programs, including the shift of private funds to social service providers, the role of black churches in the inner city, and social and community work by urban religious congregations. Additional contributors include Taylor Branch, Kurt Schmoke, Cal Thomas, and Peter Wehner.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

E. J. Dionne Jr. is a senior fellow in the Governmental Studies program at the Brookings Institution and a columnist for the Washington Post. John J. DiIulio Jr. is a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Governmental Studies program and professor of politics at Princeton University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815718691
• ISBN-13: 978-0815718697
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent primer for the new debate, March 3, 2001

By 

Michael Wyland "Nonprofit Consultant" (Sioux Falls, SD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment? (Paperback)

The issue of "charitable choice" and faith-based organizations' eligibility for federal funding for social service programs is a very important topic of discussion in nonprofit and governmental circles, as well as among the general public. This book is a collection of essays from some of the leading thinkers in the field on these issues and others related to religion and public policy in America.

E.J. Dionne is a Senior Fellow in Governmental Studies at the Brookings Institution and a columnist for the Washington Post, and his co-editor, John DiIulio, now serves as the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

The first essay alone is worth the price of the book and more. "God and the American Experiment -- an Introduction," co-authored by the editors, eloquently lays out the perspectives of the book's respective contributors and weaves them into a description of the history, the paradoxes, and the ambiguities inherent in the issue of the role and limitations of religious involvement in public life in America. Advocates for, and opponents of, expanding access to government support by private organizations seeking to address social ills are found across all party, religious, and ideological lines.

That last point is important enough to reiterate. Both President Bush and former Vice President Gore campaigned in 2000 on platforms that included expansion of access by faith-based organizations to federal support. Although the initiative is often suspected of being a tactic of Christian conservatives, the two government leaders responsible for its implementation, Mr. DiIulio and Stephen Goldsmith, are a Catholic Democrat and Jewish Republican, respectively. Liberal Senator Paul Wellstone is generally favorable to the concept, while Reverend Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition is opposed. The book's introduction explores these unusual alliances and perspectives in a coherent and balanced way.

The essays themselves are a mixed bag of scholarship and opinion, of social science and ad hominem advocacy. It also includes some essays which are more tangential to the issue of faith-based initiatives, like the personal memoir from one of the religious counselors that former President Clinton asked to help him in the fall of 1998 during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Mr. DiIulio's essay on the history and characteristics of the involvement of black churches in community programs, and his colleague Ram Cnaan's writing on "Our Hidden Safety Net" provide both anecdotal and statistical evidence that faith-based organizations, and especially minority churches in inner-city neighborhoods, are the best source and only source of help for at-risk children who are often forsaken by secular social service programs. Mr. Cnaan is emphatic in his assertion that community organizations cannot pick up the slack left by federal devolution of welfare programs to the states; the states will have to increase programs and funding to fill the void. However, the void would be a chasm without the faith-based providers, and supporting them is supporting those most at-risk, which is the stated goal of almost all involved in social service.

The case against charitable choice is presented by Melissa Rogers, the general counsel at the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. Her essay asserts that charitable choice is an unconstitutional breaching of the separation of church and state, as well as a danger to the mission of faith-based organizations themselves. The demand for public accountability could jeopardize many of the liberties enjoyed by religious organizations, should they choose to receive government funds.

The debate over the role of religion in American society has achieved decisive status twice before in our history: once at the founding, and once again at the turn of the 20th century. What's God Got To Do With The American Experiment? is evidence of its re-emergence at the turn of the 21st century and a valuable primer for identifying the issues and framing the debate. The issues have emerged in new forms and the battle lines are not what one would expect.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking, highly recommended reading, February 15, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment? (Paperback)

What's God Got To Do With The American Experiment? is a collection of essays examining the role of religion in public life as played out in the political arena in a democracy. Answers to questions about the complex relationship between religious faith and the American democracy are obscure, controversial, and constantly evolving from generation to generation. The essayists examine a variety of issues ranging from the role of a spiritual advisor to President Clinton, to faith-based social programs, to the involvement of Black Churches with political reforms, and much more. What's God Got To Do With The American Experiment? is thought provoking, highly recommended reading for political science students and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in Church/State relations within the American system of democratic, constitutional governance.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, November 8, 2000

By 

"johngarneski" (Chantilly, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment? (Paperback)

This is a very informative book by the always informative E. J. Dionne. The book provides a series of strong essays detailing the evolution and role of religion is American politics. A good read for any Government student.