God, Religion and Civil Governance

This volume, God, Religion, and Civil Governance, aims to confirm that

liberty and autonomy are essential to contemporary Western democratic

societies. However, so is religion. Religious freedom actually serves

as the most basic liberty that protects our other freedoms and human

rights, while serving the common good. Religious freedom, in this view,

cannot be reduced to the freedom to worship the God of the universe.

It also includes recognizing the moral structure of the universe and the

moral principles that honor the basic dignity of each human person

from conception to death. Although Christianity has influenced Western

civilization's notion of God, religious freedom, its laws, and forms

of governance, the effect of secularization and extreme views on the

separation of church and state have created new challenges for Western

civilization. Claims about certain individual rights and governmental

prerogatives have been used to limit religious and other basic freedoms

and rights. This volume addresses the major issues concerning God,

religion, and civil governance in a way that offers guidance for a civic

culture that seeks both a sure sense of its roots and a level measure for

governance supported by just law, human dignity, and virtuous character.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Craig Steven Titus is Associate Professor and Director of Integrative Studies

at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences (Arlington, VA) and is the author of

Resilience and the Virtue of Fortitude: Aquinas in Dialogue with the Psychosocial

Sciences (CUA Press, 2006) and numerous articles and book chapters. He has edited

14 books.