RT Book
T1 No Separation: Christians, secular democracy, and sex
A1 Viefhues-Bailey, Ludger H. 1965-
LA English
PP New York
PB Columbia University Press
YR 2023
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1858495172
AB Powerful illiberal Christian movements have upended liberal democracies in countries that were once seen as paradigms of secular governance. Ludger H. Viefhues-Bailey offers new insight into the foundations of these movements, demonstrating how they emerge from the contradictions at the intersection of secularism and democracy.
AB Intro -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Germany, Cultural Christianity, and the Veil -- 2. Philosophical Interlude on Making the Bonds That Unite Us -- 3. France, Republican Catholicism, and Marriage for All -- 4. American Cultural Christianities from Animus to Eros -- 5. Democracy Without Moral Monsters? Reproducing a Community of Care -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
AB "In this book Viefhues-Bailey argues that political Christianities in the form of secularized "cultural religion," rather than retrieving past historical models, both emerge from and effect [affect] how the state regulates its citizenry. He identifies three forms of political Christianity--that democracy requires a shared Christian cultural foundation (Germany), that "the People" are united through correctly ordered reproductive policy (France), and that civic belonging is defined and mobilized through the affects of antagonism and enmity (United States). He evaluates how these forms function in three concrete conflicts stirred up by religion in secular European and American public squares--legal arbitration of Muslim veiling in Germany, same-sex marriage in France, and abortion in the United States--demonstrating how in each case they betray a deep xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, and racialized nationalism. The cumulative argument exposes the illiberal foundations of contemporary secular democracies, which police their citizens not through shared liberal values or processes but through complex, unacknowledged webs of influence. The book also charts a way out of the crisis of democracy brought about by the authoritarian populisms they engender: since religion is inextricably bound to politics, citizens need to adopt the idea of communities of care at the core of their democratic conception so that more compassionate forms of Christianity can become central"--
OP 342
NO Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources
CN BR115.P77
SN 9780231557627
K1 Christianity and politics
K1 Christianity and culture
K1 Intercultural communication : Religious aspects : Christianity
K1 Sex : Religious aspects : Christianity
K1 Nationalism : Religious aspects : Christianity
K1 Democracy : Religious aspects : Christianity