Civil Religion Today

Moves the discussion of American civil religion into the twenty-first century

Civil Religion, a term made popular by sociologist Robert Bellah a little over fifty years ago, describes how people might share in a sacred sense of their nation. While hotly debated, the idea continues to enjoy wide application among academics and journalists. Bellah used civil religion to make sense of the turmoil of the 1960s, especially moral debates provoked by the Vietnam War. Now, a half-century later, American society is again riven by conflict over immigration, economic inequality, racial oppression, and “culture wars” issues. Is Bellah's hopeful assessment still useful for understanding contemporary America? If not, how should we think of it differently?

Civil Religion Today reassesses the term to take stock of its usefulness after fifty years of engagement in the field. Looking both at the concept and at ground-level studies of how we might find civil religion in practice, this book aims to push the conversation forward, considering how and in what ways it is helpful in our current social and political context, evaluating which parts are worth keeping, which can be reformulated, and which can now be usefully discarded. It suggests we go “beyond Bellah” in theory and practice, thinking about American society in a new century.

Rhys Williams is Professor of Sociology and Department Chair Director of the McNamara Center for the Social Study of Religion at Loyola University Chicago. He is coauthor or editor of three books, including Civil Religion Today: Religion and the American Nation in the Twenty-First Century (NYU Press, 2021), The Urban Church Imagined: Religion, Race, and Authenticity in the City (New York University Press, 2017) and Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories about Faith and Politics (New York University Press, 2017).Haberski Jr. Raymond :

Raymond J. Haberski, Jr. is Professor of History and American Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.Goff Philip :

Philip Goff is Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture and Chancellor’s Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.Rhys H. Williams (Editor)
Rhys Williams is Professor of Sociology and Department Chair Director of the McNamara Center for the Social Study of Religion at Loyola University Chicago. He is coauthor or editor of three books, including Civil Religion Today: Religion and the American Nation in the Twenty-First Century (NYU Press, 2021), The Urban Church Imagined: Religion, Race, and Authenticity in the City (New York University Press, 2017) and Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories about Faith and Politics (New York University Press, 2017).

Raymond Haberski Jr. (Editor)
Raymond J. Haberski, Jr. is Professor of History and American Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Philip Goff (Editor)
Philip Goff is Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture and Chancellor’s Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

This is a rich and provocative discussion of the meaning of American civil religion fifty years after Robert Bellah’s famous essay.

Kristy Nabhan-Warren, University of Iowa:
Makes a strong case for the usability and enduring relevance of ‘civil religion.’ An important and timely book that should reach a wide readership.

Matthew Hedstrom, University of Virginia:
A profound and necessary book. A half-century since Robert Bellah’s seminal essay re-launched the study of civil religion, the United States is facing an alarming growth in religious nationalism and political polarization. The formidable team of scholars assembled here shed much needed light on what binds us together and what drives us apart. Even more, this book sets the agenda for the next generation of scholarship on US civil religion.

Ruth Braunstein, University of Connecticut:
Is the concept of civil religion still relevant, more than fifty years after Robert Bellah made the term famous? According to the stellar cast of interdisciplinary scholars who contributed to this volume, the answer is yes—but only by going ‘beyond Bellah.’ Civil Religion Today makes a compelling case for keeping civil religion in our conceptual toolkit if we are to understand enduring conflict over the meaning of America.