Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life

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

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.