RELIGION AND THE OF POLITICS TOLERANCE Marie Ann Eisenstein How Christianity Builds Democracy Eisenstein RELIGION AND THE POLITICS OF TOLERANCE Challenging a widespread belief that religious people are politically intolerant, Marie Ann Eisenstein offers compelling evidence to the con- trary. She thoroughly reexamines previous studies and presents new research to support her argument that there is, in fact, a positive corre- lation between religious belief and practice and political tolerance in the United States. Eisenstein utilizes sophisticated new analytical tools to reevaluate earlier data and offers persuasive new statistical evidence to support her claim that religiousness and political tolerance do, indeed, mix—and that reli- giosity is not the threat to liberal democracy that it is often made out to be. Professor Eisenstein has provided a valuable addition to the literature on political tolerance. She demonstrates theoretical sophistication and methodological innovation as she modifies our understanding of the relationship between religion and tolerance. This is an important book. —Ted G. Jelen, Professor and Chair of Political Science, University of Nevada at Las Vegas A valuable study by a very promising new scholar of religion and politics. Using a variety of sources—including surveys, focus group research, and a thorough literature review—Eisenstein nicely demonstrates how mod- ern religion and political tolerance work hand-in-hand to foster the val- ues of a liberal democracy in the U.S. This book therefore makes a strong case against the common assumption of many observers that religion fos- ters intolerance and that it undermines liberal democratic values. —Mark J. Rozell, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University Marie A. Eisenstein (Ph.D. Purdue University) is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs- Political Science, Indiana University Northwest. ISBN 978-1-932792-84-3 baylorpress.com Religion and the Politics of Tolerance h Religion and the Politics of Tolerance How Christianity Builds Democracy Marie A. Eisenstein Baylor University Press © 2008 by Baylor University Press Waco, Texas 76798 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other- wise, without the prior permission in writing of Baylor University Press. Cover Designer: Stephanie Blumenthal Cover Image: Cartoon# 0076063 from The Granger Collection. Used by Permission Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eisenstein, Marie Ann. Religion and the politics of tolerance : how Christianity builds democracy / Marie Ann Eisenstein. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-932792-84-3 (alk. paper) 1. Religion and politics United States. 2. Democracy Religious aspects. 3. Toleration Religious aspects. I. Title. BL2525.E418 2008 261.7 dc22 2007026447 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper with a minimum of 30% pcw recycled content. To the G-d of all creation, the G-d who encompasses all and is all and who is the author and creator of everything. h vii Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 The Politics of Tolerance 13 2 Christian Political Tolerance in Contemporary America 33 3 What Do Christian Congregants Say about Themselves? 61 4 Issue Attitudes, Religion, and Political Tolerance 93 5 Political Intolerance: Is It Really not about Religion? 115 Appendices 131 A Survey 131 B Focus Group Session Script 141 C “Your Help Is Needed” Flier 143 D Phone Script 144 E Informed Consent Statement 145 F Political Attitudes Questionnaire 147 Notes 153 References 165 Index 173 h ix List of Tables and Figures Tables Table 2.1 Demographics of My Data Set 37 Table 2.2 Content-Controlled Political Tolerance Scale Items 39 Table 2.3 Respondents Least-Liked Group 44 Table 2.4 Respondents Least-Liked Group by Religious Tradition 45 Table 2.5 Political Party by Religious Tradition 46 Table 3.1 Focus Group Session Information 67 Table 4.1 Issue Attitude Question Writing 91 Table 4.2 Factorial ANOVA Design (Context by Religious Tradition with Religious Commitment) 104 Table 4.3 Context by Religious Tradition (As a Single Predictor Variable) 106 Table 4.4 Mean Issue Attitude Scores (Tradition by Context) 107 Table 4.5 Political Tolerance 109 Table 4.6 Political Tolerance Factorial ANOVA Design (Context by Issue Attitude) 110 Table 4.7 Political Tolerance Factorial ANOVA Design (Context by Level of Opposition) 111 [...]... consistently the most intolerant The greater the level of religious commitment, the less tolerance one has for others of dissimilar beliefs Therefore, the individual of high religious commitment is less likely to promote liberal democracy and its requirement of tolerance especially when he or she is in power The theoretical logic of the arguments that have held sway against religion and the democratic value of. .. democratic politics was for the public arena and religion was for the private arena The dichotomy that politics is for the public arena and religion for the private arena has not only defined American perception of the First Amendment, but it also has made modern political science a component of modern democratic theory Intolerance is the major threat to both the establishment of liberal democracy and the. .. part and parcel of our national identity in discussions regarding the religious clauses in the First Amendment With the 1879 Reynolds v United States case, the Supreme Court for the first time employed the “wall of separation” metaphor in one of its decisions Reynolds, a case about the free exercise of religion as opposed to the establishment clause, stands as one of the few cases  Religion and the Politics. .. to the survival of the society, then those opinions can be limited Finally, federalist democracy theory relies neither upon the spread of a tolerant ideal among the citizens (as does representative democratic theory) nor does it rely on a sophisticated elite (as does elitist democratic theory), rather the theory relies on a diverse constitutional structure and numerous 22 Religion and the Politics of. .. of gender and racial tolerance has continued today in many of the evangelical churches where racial integration is the norm and women preachers have full equality We owe to these individuals the enhancement of our understanding of religions’ role in the United States in its relationship to the nature of political tolerance in particular and liberal democracy in general The central argument of this book... hear, in their own words, what individuals of faith have to say about the relationship between faith and democracy Therefore, I turn to a qualitative assessment of the linkage between modern Christian congregants and their understanding of the relationship between Introduction 11 their faith and their role as citizens in a liberal democracy The primary purpose of this chapter is to explore how religious... ascribed by the Jeffersonian enlightenment These are the central themes of this book  Religion and the Politics of Tolerance Religious Faith and Tolerance The historical expressions of intolerance by identifiably religious individuals are well known What is frequently overlooked and therefore not attributed to religious faith is its responsibility for major acts of tolerance in American history Abolition... view through a brief review of the extant political tolerance literature, I integrate the mainstream political tolerance literature—vis-à-vis the religion and politics literature that addresses political tolerance and discuss how the relationships and linkages between religion and political tolerance have not been carefully examined This is followed by a discussion of the other two fronts on which I... establishment of religion After Everson, many cases regarding the religious clauses of the First Amendment came before the Supreme Court; however, issues regarding the public school system were most important both in terms of number of cases and the substance of Court decisions Writing in 1979 about the place of religion within the context of public education, James E Wood Jr stated: “During the past thirty... acceptance of another’s values or perspectives; it requires tolerance (Eisenstein 2005) Understanding what tolerance is and what tolerance is not is central to any meaningful assessment of how religion and political tolerance intersect Given the centrality of political tolerance, its meaning and application, the first task is to give a definition to this important concept Defining Tolerance Political tolerance . Science, Indiana University Northwest. ISBN 978-1-932792-84-3 baylorpress.com Religion and the Politics of Tolerance h Religion and the Politics of Tolerance How Christianity Builds Democracy Marie. RELIGION AND THE OF POLITICS TOLERANCE Marie Ann Eisenstein How Christianity Builds Democracy Eisenstein RELIGION AND THE POLITICS OF TOLERANCE Challenging a widespread. cases 4 Religion and the Politics of Tolerance dealing with either of the religious clauses of the First Amendment during the rst 150 years of American history. In a thorough and engaging scholarly