Religion, State, and Society Jefferson's Wall of Separation in Comparative Perspective

by Ramazani, R.K.; Fatton, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780230612303
• ISBN10: 023061230X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book examines the relationship between religion and the state in a comparative perspective with special attention paid to the Western and Middle-Eastern experiences. It examines the resurgence of "fundamentalism" not only in developing nations but also in economically affluent "post-modern" societies. It seeks to elucidate whether the fusion between religion and politics is compatible with tolerance and individual freedom; or whether the Jeffersonian "wall of separation" is necessary to insure the flowering of democracy.

Author Biography

Robert Fatton Jr. is the Julia A. Cooper Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He also served as Chair of the Department of Politics from 1997 to 2004. He is the author of several books and a large number of scholarly articles. His publications include: Black Consciousness in South Africa (1986); The Making of a Liberal Democracy: Senegal's Passive Revolution, 1975-1985 (1987); Predatory Rule: State and Civil Society in Africa (1992); Haiti's Predatory Republic: The Unending Transition to Democracy (2002); and The Roots of Haitian Despotism (2007). He is also co-editor with R. K. Ramazani of The Future of Liberal Democracy: Thomas Jefferson and the Contemporary World (2004).

R. K. Ramazani was the Edward Stettinius Chair and served as the chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia. He was also the director of the Gulf Cooperation Council Studies Project at the University of Virginia. Professor Ramazani has authored ten books on the Middle East, in addition to numerous book chapters and journal articles. He is the co-editor with Robert Fatton Jr. of The Future of Liberal Democracy: Thomas Jefferson and the Contemporary World (2004). He has been a consultant to the White House, the Department of State, the Defense Department and the Treasury Department, in addition to many private foundations and companies. He is a former Fulbright Professor, and recipient of many awards, including the Distinguished Professor Award.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
The American Experience: The Jeffersonian Wall of Separation between Church and State
Thomas Jefferson's Christian Nation	p. 17
Beyond Locke, beyond Belief: The Nexus of Free Exercise and Separation of Church and State	p. 37
"Separation" Abroad: How Long the Jeffersonian Shadow?	p. 53
The Road from Monticello: The Influence of the American Constitutional Experience in Other Lands	p. 73
The Wall of Separation and Western Perspectives
Secularism, Liberalism, and the Problem of Tolerance	p. 93
America's Secular State and the Unsecular State of Europe	p. 109
Christianity, Violence, and Democracy: Sociohistorical Selection from a Basic Religious Repertoire	p. 137
Middle-Eastern Perspectives
Religion and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa	p. 155
Revisiting Jefferson's Wall from a Contemporary Middle-Eastern Perspective	p. 171
Constitutionalizing Islam in the Arab World	p. 195
Religion and State in the State of Israel	p. 215
Index	p. 233
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