Religion and politics are never far from the headlines, but their relationship remains complex and often confusing. This book offers an engaging, accessible, and balanced treatment of religion in American politics. It explores the historical, cultural, and legal contexts that motivate religious political engagement and assesses the pragmatic and strategic political realities that religious organizations and people face. Incorporating the best and most current scholarship, the authors examine the evolving politics of Roman Catholics; evangelical and mainline Protestants; African-American and Latino traditions; Jews, Muslims, and other religious minorities; recent immigrants and religious "nones"; and other conventional and not-so-conventional American religious movements. New to the Sixth Edition * Covers the 2016 election and assesses the role of religion from Obama to Trump. * Expands substantially on religion's relationship to gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class, and features the role of social media in religious mobilization. * Adds discussion questions at the end of every chapter, to help students gain deeper understanding of the subject. * Adds a new concluding chapter on the normative issues raised by religious political engagement, to stimulate lively discussions.

Religion and politics are never far from the headlines, but their relationship remains complex and often confusing. This book offers an engaging, accessible, and balanced treatment of religion in American politics. It explores the historical, cultural, and legal contexts that motivate religious political engagement and assesses the pragmatic and strategic political realities that religious organizations and people face. Incorporating the best and most current scholarship, the authors examine the evolving politics of Roman Catholics; evangelical and mainline Protestants; African-American and Latino traditions; Jews, Muslims, and other religious minorities; recent immigrants and religious "nones"; and other conventional and not-so-conventional American religious movements. New to the Sixth Edition * Covers the 2016 election and assesses the role of religion from Obama to Trump. * Expands substantially on religion's relationship to gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class, and features the role of social media in religious mobilization. * Adds discussion questions at the end of every chapter, to help students gain deeper understanding of the subject. * Adds a new concluding chapter on the normative issues raised by religious political engagement, to stimulate lively discussions.

This volume investigates some of the most visible issues in American politics today, including gay marriage and race, along with ongoing concerns that often fly below the radar of the mass media, such as healthcare and homelessness. The book uncovers and explores the political motivations, effectiveness, and interplay of organized religious interests as they confront public problems in their local communities.