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Event Recap

Philip Gorski, professor of sociology and religious studies at Yale University, spoke at the Boisi Center on September 16 about the nation鈥檚 civil religious tradition. This American synthesis of prophetic religion and civil republicanism bridges the cultural divide between religious nationalists and radical secularists. His talk was based on his forthcoming book from Princeton,听A Republic of Prophets: Civil Religion and Culture Wars听from Winthrop to Obama.

Gorski, also co-director of Yale鈥檚 Center for Comparative Research and co-director of the MacMillan Center鈥檚 Initiative on Religion, Politics and Society, began his talk by exploring the rhetoric of President Obama in his 2008 presidential campaign and in his recent eulogy for slain Charleston pastor Clementa Pinckney. By using a sermonic style, Obama鈥檚 eulogy, in particular, demonstrated that the prophetic side of the civil religious tradition is still strong.

Gorski traced the rise and fall of civil religion in the United States and compared it to rival traditions. These include religious nationalism, which is manifested today in certain apocalyptic evangelical circles, on one extreme, and radical secularism, with its emphasis on stark individualism, on the other. The civil religious tradition has an important place in American politics and society, according to Gorski. He concluded his talk arguing for a distinction between religious nationalism and the civil religion.

While civil religion is rooted in Puritan beliefs, it has evolved greatly over time into an inclusive and adaptable tradition that includes far more than just Protestants. Catholics, Jews, women, African-Americans and social progressives have all drawn from and contributed to the tradition. Today the civil religious tradition is most visible in black churches and in the African-American community.