From Pews to Polling Places: Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic

This book reveals the rich diversity of the American religious fabric, highlighting especially the growing religious traditions outside of conventional Christianity and the growing importance of racial and ethnic minority perspectives within it. Chapters emphasize that different theologies, histories, and social situations drive very different conceptualizations of the relationship between religious and political life in America's varied faith traditions. They also accentuate the fact the set of moral issues intertwined with American religion and politics is a broad one, and may differ from one religious tradition to the next. At the same time, contributors point to important commonalities across traditions that can inform discussions--and voting behaviors--of the impact of religion on political life. In emphasizing these commonalities contributors explore the challenges of political mobilization, dilemmas about the appropriate level of politicization, and the intersections of religion and ethnicity. Groups discussed within the American "mosaic" include mainline and evangelical Christianity; the religious left; Catholics; Mormons; African Americans; Latinos; Jews; Muslims; and, in a novel chapter, secularists & anti-fundamentalists. The substance of the book begins with a fine chapter from Clyde Wilcox and Carin Robinson, setting the stage for how religious groups mobilize for political action--and, given changing demographics, how they will likely mobilize in the years ahead. Matthew Wilson concludes the book with various scenarios for the future role of religion in American political life.