Rediscovering America's Sacred Ground : Public Religion and Pursuit of the Good in a Pluralistic America.

Intro -- REDISCOVERING AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Prologue -- 1. Toward a Debate on Common Ground -- AT THE CROSSROADS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY -- ROOTS OF THE CONFLICT -- ORIGINAL INTENT AND THE RELIGION CLAUSES: AT THE CORE OF THE DEBATE -- ENTERING THE FRAY -- ON LOOKING BACK TO REDISCOVER AMERICA'S MORAL FOUNDATIONS -- Part I. Looking Back to Rediscover America's Sacred Ground -- 2. Rediscovering the Roots of America's Sacred Ground in John Locke -- JOHN LOCKE: PROPHET OF AMERICA -- LOCKE'S POLITICAL THEOLOGY: LOCATING THE SACRED CENTER IN EACH INDIVIDUAL'S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD -- THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AS SOCIETY'S SACRED GROUND -- AIMING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD REQUIRES "JUST BOUNDS" BETWEEN CIVIL GOVERNMENT AND CHURCHES -- REDISCOVERING THE INDIVIDUAL AS THE SOLE AUTHORITY OVER CONSCIENCE AND THE AUTHENTIC RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY AS A FREE AND VOLUNTARY CALL TO CONSCIENCE -- SETTING THE "JUST BOUNDS" BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCE'S MORAL CHOICE AND THE STATE -- RETHINKING THE PRIVATE/PUBLIC DICHOTOMYIN LOCKE'S POLITICAL THEOLOGY AND THE"PUBLIC" ROLE OF RELIGION -- REDISCOVERING THE MORAL GROUND OF LOCKE'S POLITICAL THEOLOGY -- DISTINGUISHING LOCKE'S REASONABLE CHRISTIANITY FROM HIS POLITICAL THEOLOGY -- CREATING THE POLITICAL CONTEXT FOR THE REALIZATION OF THE TRUE AND THE GOOD -- 3. The United States Constitution:Establishing America's Sacred Ground -- REDISCOVERING JOHN LOCKE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT -- REDISCOVERING THE RELIGIOUS ROOTS OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM -- THE STATES: TOWARD GOVERNMENT THAT ENSURES FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND SEEKS TO PROMOTE A GOOD SOCIETY -- THE UNITED STATES: TOWARD GOVERNMENT THAT ENSURES FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND CREATES THE CONTEXT FOR THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUE AND THE GOOD -- EXPLORING THE THEOLOGICAL TERRAIN OF AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND.

COMPARING THE MORAL TERRAIN OF AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND WITH THE MORAL ORDER OF OVERARCHING WORLDVIEW APPROACHES TO GOVERNMENT -- THE CIVIC AND CONSCIENTIOUS MORALITY OF THE TWO-TIERED PUBLIC FORUM -- THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC FORUM AND IN THE PURSUIT OF THE GOOD -- AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND: THE FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM AND MULTICULTURALISM THAT REFUTES THE CLAIMS OF MORAL RELATIVITY -- AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND AS THE COMMONGOOD: WHERE RELIGIOUS VOICES ARE PROMINENT AND TRUTH CAN SHIFT FOR HERSELF -- Part II. Rooting the Contemporary Debate in Sacred Ground -- 4. Taking Sides and Looking Left -- UNRAVELING THE CONTEMPORARY DEBATE -- EMBRACING THE FEARS AT THE EXTREMES:LEFT AND RIGHT -- RECONSIDERING THE SECULAR LEFT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND -- JOHN RAWLS: COMPROMISING AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND WITH PUBLIC REASONS -- 5. Looking Right -- RECONSIDERING THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND -- ACCOMMODATION: COMPROMISING AMERICA'S SACRED GROUND BY MEDIATING THE EXTREMES -- 6. Grounding the Debate -- SIFTING THROUGH THE CONFUSION IN THE CONTEMPORARY DEBATE -- REORIENTING THE DEBATE TO AIM FOR THE GOOD -- CONCLUSION -- America's Sacred Ground: Our Civic Faith -- APPENDIX A A Few Definitions -- APPENDIX B Freedom of Conscience in Revolutionary Period State Constitutions and Declarations of Rights -- Appendix C Drafts of the Religion Clauses Proposed in the Debates of the First Congress -- Notes -- Suggested Readings -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y.

Sees a way out of the contentious debates over the role of religion in American public life by looking back to the ideas of John Locke and the nation's Founders.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.