The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion

The Culture Of Disbelief has been the subject of an enormous amount of media attention from the first moment it was published. Hugely successful in hardcover, the Anchor paperback is sure to find a large audience as the ever-increasing, enduring debate about the relationship of church and state in America continues. In The Culture Of Disbelief, Stephen Carter explains how we can preserve the vital separation of church and state while embracing rather than trivializing the faith of millions of citizens or treating religious believers with disdain. What makes Carter's work so intriguing is that he uses liberal means to arrive at what are often considered conservative ends. Explaining how preserving a special role for religious communities can strengthen our democracy, The Culture Of Disbelief recovers the long tradition of liberal religious witness (for example, the antislavery, antisegregation, and Vietnam-era antiwar movements). Carter argues that the problem with the 1992 Republican convention was not the fact of open religious advocacy, but the political positions being advocated.

Author: Stephen L. Carter
Publisher: Anchor Books
Published: 09/01/1994
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.06h x 5.29w x 0.76d
ISBN: 9780385474986

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 09/01/1995 pg. 18
Publishers Weekly 08/29/1994

About the Author
Stephen L. Carter is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He is also the author of seven acclaimed works of nonfiction and five bestselling novels. Among his titles are The Emperor of Ocean Park, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, Back Channel, The Culture of Disbelief, Jericho's Fall, and New England White. At Yale, Carter teaches courses on law and religion, intellectual property, contracts, professional responsibility, lying and secrets, and the ethics of warfare. He has published dozens of articles in law reviews, and many op-ed columns in the nation's leading newspapers. He appears frequently on radio and television.