Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life: A Dialogue with Ambassador Douglas W. Kmiec

How can religion contribute to democracy in a secular age? What can the millennia-old Catholic tradition say to Church-state controversies in the United States and globally? This book is a dialogue between Douglas W. Kmiec, a leading scholar of American constitutional law and Catholic legal thought, and experts from a range of fields and countries. The book delves into the tensions of Church-state jurisprudence, sociological changes in the practice of religion, and developments in Catholic legal thought. This diverse group provides insight for both understanding religion's beneficial relationship to political life and recognizing the limits to religious influence in political life. The chapters bring together current events in Catholic life, recent social theory, and a concern for their writings' relevance to migration, the Arab Spring, and social change.