Gary Wills, writing in Under God, makes some surprising conclusions following 380 pages of fascinating anecdotes about the competition between politics and religion for leadership, and power in the United States. He builds a strong case for complete separation of church and state on the basis that such a separation makes both institutions stronger. He says one of the American paradoxes of which we can be most proud is the increased influence of religion because churches are independent of government. That, more than anything else, made the United States a new thing on earth ... disestablishment, the complete separation of church and state was and is a unique U.S. creation, according to Willis. He cites examples of diminished religious influence in nations where the ties of church and state are strongest.

Another conclusion I found interesting is his though that the several incidences of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism in U.S. history indicates that we do not have a "Judeo Christian Heritage," but rather a "Protestant" heritage.

The author attributes a "representation of stability" as the appeal of Ronald Reagan, his "clinging uncritically to notions that reassured people, despite their lack of practical impact." He says, "Reagan made it possible to live with change while not accepting it." Willis explains Reagan's religion without denomination as a vital part of his mass public appeal. "President Reagan was constantly praised as 'a great communicator' without giving enough emphasis to what he was communicating. He communicated religious attitudes (despite his absences from church on Sunday); he communicated appreciation of the conventional family (despite his own family's messy interrelationships."

On the subjects of pornography, abortion and censorship Wills cites a variety of religious attitudes and supports persuasion rather than coercion. "We should have some freedom to do so."

If you need a mental jolt on how far we humanists are from the mainstream of religious Protestantism I suggest you read "Under God," and encounter the subjects of creationism, evangelism, fundamentalism, millennialism, and rapturism.

--Flo Wineriter