Allen D. Hertzke – författare

Marshalling unprecedented global scholarship, Allen Hertzke demonstrates how religious freedom is pivotal to democratic, peaceful, and flourishing societies.

The twenty-first century has witnessed a rising crisis of religious repression and persecution. In Why Religious Freedom Matters, Allen Hertzke synthesizes vast evidence from history, ethnography, and worldwide statistical analyses to make the compelling empirical case for the role of religious liberty in shaping a better global future.

In rich detail, Hertzke demonstrates how religious freedom nurtures democracy, fosters prosperity, and cultivates international peace. The book also reveals the surprising ways that religious liberty and equality unleash personal agency that empowers women and uplifts the poor. Religious freedom uniquely matters, Hertzke argues, because it goes to the heart of human personhood and aspiration—the right "to be who we are," to act on ultimate commitments, and to be treated with equal worth and dignity.

Based on a quarter century of immersion in global networks of scholarship and activism on religious freedom, Hertzke has produced a landmark volume showing how we can navigate the challenge of living with our differences in a shrinking world.

Religion and politics are never far from the headlines, but their relationship remains complex and often confusing. This book offers an engaging, accessible, and balanced treatment of religion in American politics. It explores the historical, cultural, and legal contexts that motivate religious political engagement and assesses the pragmatic and strategic political realities that religious organizations and people face. Incorporating the best and most current scholarship, the authors examine the evolving politics of Roman Catholics; evangelical and mainline Protestants; African-American and Latino traditions; Jews, Muslims, and other religious minorities; recent immigrants and religious "nones"; and other conventional and not-so-conventional American religious movements.

New to the Sixth Edition

• Covers the 2016 election and assesses the role of religion from Obama to Trump.

• Expands substantially on religion’s relationship to gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class, and features the role of social media in religious mobilization.

• Adds discussion questions at the end of every chapter, to help students gain deeper understanding of the subject.

• Adds a new concluding chapter on the normative issues raised by religious political engagement, to stimulate lively discussions.

Religion and politics are never far from the headlines, but their relationship remains complex and often confusing. This book offers an engaging, accessible, and balanced treatment of religion in American politics. It explores the historical, cultural, and legal contexts that motivate religious political engagement and assesses the pragmatic and strategic political realities that religious organizations and people face. Incorporating the best and most current scholarship, the authors examine the evolving politics of Roman Catholics; evangelical and mainline Protestants; African-American and Latino traditions; Jews, Muslims, and other religious minorities; recent immigrants and religious "nones"; and other conventional and not-so-conventional American religious movements.

New to the Sixth Edition

• Covers the 2016 election and assesses the role of religion from Obama to Trump.

• Expands substantially on religion’s relationship to gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class, and features the role of social media in religious mobilization.

• Adds discussion questions at the end of every chapter, to help students gain deeper understanding of the subject.

• Adds a new concluding chapter on the normative issues raised by religious political engagement, to stimulate lively discussions.