Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life

John J. DiIulio, Jr., Frederic Fox Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania and Former Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Arguably the most important and worthwhile volume on church-state relations and religion in the public square published in recent years, this book offers multiple and competing expert perspectives on several critical constitutional questions, supplies fresh empirical data on major religious freedom controversies, and spotlights potential common ground on today's most highly contentious issues. For First Amendment scholars, journalists who cover religion, and interested citizens of whatever faith or of no faith, this well-edited and engaging book is truly must reading.

Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Professor of Law, Valparaiso University A superb addition to the growing consensus that requires much more than mere toleration of one another's distinct approaches to an often hidden God. Kmiec and his partners in this dialogue show us how to attain to careful respect for important differences in our approaches to God and to what that means in our daily lives.

Gary J. Adler, Jr. is the Director of Research at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and Senior Research Associate in the School of Religion at the University of Southern California.

Contributors ; Preface ; J. Bryan Hehir ; Part One: Secularism and Catholicism ; Introduction: Secularism, Democracy, and Catholicism ; Gary J. Adler, Jr. ; Secularism Crucified? ; Douglas W. Kmiec ; Part Two: Relations Between Church and State ; Proposal for a Theoretical Linchpin for Church-State Relations ; Michael Anderheiden ; Secularism Resurrected? The European Court of Human Rights after Lautsi ; Geoffrey R. Watson ; Part Three: The Catholic Church, Moral Authority, and Secularism ; Public Religion, Secularism, and the Ethos of Love ; Hans Joas ; The Secularization of Sin and the New Geo-Religious Politics of the Vatican ; Massimo Franco ; Part Four: Secularism and International Affairs ; Religion, Secularism, and Social Justice Beyond the Nation-State ; Erin K. Wilson ; A Strategic Perspective for a New Era in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Religion, Immigration, and a Post-Arab Spring World ; Stephen Calleya ; Epilogue ; The Future of Secularism in Public Religious Life: The Author's Response ; Douglas W. Kmiec ; Index