God's Democracy: American Religion after September 11

by Emilio Gentile

In God's Democracy , Emilio Gentile argues that the presidency of George W. Bush sought to alter the way religion functions in American political life. Prior to the events of 9/11, the national government operated under a civil religious regime that placed a sacred umbrella over the entire country and its leading political figures. American civil religion was not only an inclusive faith, but one that provided ample room for citizens with different politics and different world views. But in the wake of 9/11, President Bush used religion to differentiate Americans on partisan lines. Relying heavily on his evangelical Christian base, he attempted to substitute for the inclusivism of the traditional American civil religion an exclusivist political religion in which Democrats were portrayed as hostile to religious values and incapable of dealing with the country's foreign enemies. This book provides the historical context for this attempted transformation, and shows in a detailed way how the Bush administration pursued it. Gentile concludes by posing the question of whether this radical shift in the way Americans understand themselves religiously will prove permanent.

Unlike other works that strive to show how religion has generally come to be treated in American politics, this new book looks more squarely at the Bush Administration and its attempt to shut out Democrats from the political process by invoking religious language and ideals. He goes on to consider the political exclusivism and whether or not it will persist beyond Bush's tenure.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Emilio Gentile (born 1946 in Bojano) is an Italian historian specializing in the ideology and culture of fascism. Gentile is considered one of Italy's foremost cultural historians of fascist ideology. He studied under Renzo De Felice and wrote a book about him.

Gentile is a professor at the Sapienza University of Rome. He considers fascism a form of political religion. He also applied the theory of political religion to the United States after the September 11 attacks.

Reviews

[PoveroNicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un saggio che, inconsapevolmente, pur parlando di eventi circoscrivibili al primo quinquennio del nuovo millennio, ci dice molto su dinamiche e ragioni della più recente e drammatica storia politica e sociale degli USA.
Emilio Gentile ripercorre gli eventi dell'11 settembre 2001, rilevando come la presidenza di Bush abbia saputo utilizzare la tragedia terroristica per riaccendere il fuoco sacro della religione civile americana sulla base di divisioni manichee tra il bene e il male.
I miti di fondazione degli Stati Uniti, incarnati nella retorica del destino manifesto e della "città sulla collina", rivivono nella politica dei primi anni del 2000, grazie a un sapiente intreccio tra religione e politica, orchestrato dal partito Repubblicano e sostenuto dai milioni di membri della destra religiosa, nonché dai fondamentalisti cristiani.
Pur essendo una lettura vezzata da un'estrema ridondanza, consiglio altamente questo saggio a chiunque voglia capire l'impatto su lungo periodo prodotto dall'attacco al World Trade Center, specialmente alla luce del momento e contesto storico in cui è stato compiuto.