The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion - Hardcover

"Rational argument rarely seems as warm, as human, as it does in this book...Carter leads the reader to contemplate the embattled constitutional wall between the state and religion, and he does so without furor, without dogma, with only the qualities he envisions in the ideal public square: moderation, restraint, respect." -- The New Yorker.

Written by the author of "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby", this book argues that in America's zeal to keep religion out of politics, it has forced the religiously devout to act as if their faith doesn't really matter. Stephen Carter takes on the conventional wisdom that to secure religious freedom we must keep religion out of the public realm. Carter uses liberal means to arrive at what are often considered conservative ends. A firm believer in the separation of church and state (just as he endorses some forms of affirmative action), he argues that it is possible, even vital, to maintain that separation without trivializing religious belief or treating religious believers with disdain. A wide range of issues appear in a new light - from religion in schools to Moonie weddings, from abortion to the Clarence Thomas hearings.