Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy

Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy - Paperback

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Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy
  • Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy
Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy - Paperback

Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy - Paperback

by Jonathan Rauch
$20.00
$20.00
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Hardcover $27.50 Paperback $20.00

Book Overview

Why the crisis of Christianity has become a crisis for democracy

"Concise and elegant. . . . Rauch applies careful research and incisive prose to examine, diagnose, and prescribe a cure for the maladies afflicting contemporary religious-political dynamics."--Michael M. Rosen, Commentary

What happens to American democracy if Christianity is no longer able, or no longer willing, to perform the functions on which our constitutional order depends? In this provocative book, the award-winning journalist Jonathan Rauch--a lifelong atheist--reckons candidly with both the shortcomings of secularism and the corrosion of Christianity.

Thin Christianity, as Rauch calls the mainline church, has been unable to inspire and retain believers. Worse, a Church of Fear has distorted white evangelicalism in ways that violate the tenets of both Jesus and James Madison. What to do? For answers, Rauch looks to a new generation of religious thinkers, as well as to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has placed the Constitution at the heart of its spiritual teachings.

In this timely critique Rauch addresses secular Americans who think Christianity can be abandoned, and Christian Americans who blame secular culture for their grievances. The two must work together, he argues, to confront our present crisis. He calls on Christians to recommit to the teachings of their faith that align with Madison, not MAGA, and to understand that liberal democracy, far from being oppressive, is uniquely protective of religious freedom. At the same time, he calls on secular liberals to understand that healthy religious institutions are crucial to the survival of the liberal state.
ISBN9780300288681
Author Jonathan Rauch
PublisherYale University Press
GenreNews & politics and Religion & spirituality
FormatPaperback
PublishedFebruary 2026
LanguageENG- English
Pages168
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

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Nonfiction Political Science

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About Jonathan Rauch

Jonathan Rauch is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, a senior writer and columnist for National Journal, and a writer in residence at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books on public policy, culture, and economics, including Government's End: Why Washington Stopped Working. His work has appeared in The New Republic, The Economist, Harper's, Fortune, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate, among other publications. He is vice president of the Independent Gay Forum and lives near Washington, D.C.

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