What Is The Role Of Religion in US Political Life?

How does religion interact with politics in the US? Tim Stanley, an expert observer of the political scene across the pond, invites us to look at a bigger picture than we usually see.

When we think of religion in US politics we might first think of the Christian right. Yet there are — and have always been — many ways in which religious belief and political action have combined in the country that describes itself as “one nation under God”. Can we, from a cultural and geographical distance, get any realistic picture of the interaction of these two systems of ideas, both of which are extremely complex and hotly contested? Is religion’s role in US politics ultimately incomprehensible? Or do we have a duty to do our best understand it, given its enormous importance? And what (if anything) can our efforts to engage with these questions tell us about the British or European situations, which are clearly quite different?

Tim Stanley is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Royal Holloway’s History Department. He has written a biography of Ted Kennedy and is currently working on one on Pat Buchanan. As well as doing academic research, Tim has written for a variety of national newspapers and magazines and appeared on TV and radio.

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