ABSTRACT
The United States is a nation steeped in religion and religious beliefs, a condition of national life that brings both a sense of common values and the prospect of deep political divisions. Ninety percent of Americans state a belief in God, a huge level of support for a Supreme Being, when compared with much of Europe, where only sixty percent of the French, British and Germans have such a belief. However, the strong belief in God among Americans is only part of the picture of a uniquely religious country. A recent poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 72% of those Americans polled agreed with the statement “The President should have strong religious beliefs.” In that same study, 51% of the respondents said, “churches should express views on political matters.”1 For many Americans organized religion and deeply held religious beliefs cannot be divorced from the arena of politics. Others however, see
religion and religious beliefs as a private matter and are determined to keep government decisions free of religious influence. These opponents of religion in public life, often called secularists, view the development of public policy as requiring a neutral point of view, not influenced by one particular religious position. The clash between these two opposing views serves as the backdrop for much of the debate surrounding religion and politics in the United States.
