Naked Public Square or Crumbling Wall of Separation? Evidence from Legislative Hearings in Wisconsin

Abstract

REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH, 2000, VOLUME 42:2, PAGES 175 - 192 In recent years, we have seen an escalation of the rhetoric in the debate some would call it a "culture war" -over the appropriate relationship between Church and State in the United States. Scholars should approach this issue as an empirical question to be answered through systematic research on the actual relationship between religion and politics in American society. This paper considers the actual role of religion in American public life by empirically examining the way in which faith-based advocacy organizations engage in political debates in one important arena, public hearings before the Wisconsin State Legislature. In doing so, it seeks to negotiate the Scylla of those who lament the crumbling of the revered "wall of separation" and the Charybdis of those who decry the religious "nakedness " of the public square. Analysis of testimony given by religious advocacy organizations demonstrates that, although they do participate actively in this public-political arena, they do so very much on the political system s own terms, frequently - though not exclusively - employing non-religious legitimations for their public policy positions.