For God and Country?
Thinking about Religion and Citizenship
Theology 748601
Boston College, Spring 2015
Professor Erik Owens
Class meets: Thursdays 2:00-5:00pm
email: erik.owens@bc.edu
Office: Boisi Center, 24 Quincy Rd.
Office Hours: Mon. 10am - 12pm & by appt.
Office phone: (617) 552-1861
Course description:
This course explores the religious and ethical dimensions of citizenship, with particular attention to the
points at which religious and political allegiances conflict or appear to conflict. With an eye toward the
contemporary American context, we will draw upon diverse political philosophies, faith traditions,
historical periods and geographic regions for insight. We will consider the nature of this conflict between
God and country, attempts to resolve it in theory and practice, and contemporary issues that exemplify
it. Among the many questions we will ask: Are patriotism and faith compatible? What is the difference
between a good person and a good citizen? (Can we be one but not the other?) What are the limits of
religious tolerance in a diverse society? How can we educate the next generation to sustain the values
and institutions we hold dear?
Course requirements:
1. Participation (25%): Active and informed participation is crucial to understanding this material, so you
will be graded on a balance of quality and quantity of participation. Diverse points of view will be
presented in the course readings, and they are likewise welcomed in the ensuing discussion. The
baseline expectation is that students will attend every class, complete all the required reading,
contribute to class discussions, and submit assignments on time. In addition, you are expected to:
a. Lead/begin class discussion of the readings at least once during the semester, drawing from your
reflection paper (see below);
b. Initiate 5 substantial discussions on our course web site and write a substantial comment on 5
others (by 5pm May 1);
c. Attend two evening events (5:30-7:00pm) about religion/public life following our class meetings on
Feb 12 (theologian Charles Marsh on Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and April 23 (State Dept official and
theological ethicist Shaun Casey, on US foreign policy). Details on the Canvas site.
2. Weekly summary/reflection papers (25%): Each week students will write a one-page single-spaced
paper reflecting on the assigned reading for that class. The paper will begin with an overview of the
main theses (usually three or four) of the readings, followed by reflections and questions that the texts
inspired. [More details about these papers will be given in the first class.]
3. Final paper (50%): due Friday May 8 before 5pm, via Canvas. Doctoral students will write 20-25 pages
(5,000-6,000) words; Masters students will write approximately 15 pages (~3,750 words).
The grading scale:
A = excellent work (A= 94-100; A- = 90-93)
B = good work (B+ = 87-89; B = 84-86; B- = 80-83)
C = adequate work (C+ = 77-79; C = 74-76; C- = 70-73)
D = poor work (D = 60-69)
F = inadequate or insufficient work (59 & below)
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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Laptop policy:
Laptops, tablets and other electronic devices should only be used in class to access electronic
class assignments, not for note-taking, web surfing, email or social media. Extensive research over the
last decade has proven that students better comprehend and retain material from classroom lectures and
conversations when they write notes on paper than when they type notes on laptops or tablets. Digital
distraction is only part of the issue; there is a large benefit to cognition and retention when you are forced
to summarize more quickly and to physically write your notes.
Disability services:
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course,
please contact Kathy Duggan (617.552.8093 or dugganka@bc.edu) at Connors Family Learning Center
regarding learning disabilities and ADHD; or Paulette Durrett (617.552.3470 or paulette.durrett@bc.edu) in
the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities, including temporary disabilities.
Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for accommodations.
Academic integrity:
I don’t need to elaborate on the obvious seriousness of academic integrity in an ethics course. It is your
responsibility to familiarize yourself with the university’s policy on this matter at www.bc.edu/integrity.
Violations of academic integrity will be reported to your class dean and judged by the College’s academic
integrity committee. If you are found responsible for violating the policy, penalties may include a failing
grade as well as possible probation, suspension, or expulsion, depending on the seriousness and
circumstances of the violation. Please talk to me or your class dean about any questions you may have.
Course Texts:
Most of the course readings are posted electronically on our Canvas course site; others will be
available as e-books through the library or as digital files from the authors themselves. Many of the
assigned books well be on reserve at the library, as a backup to the electronic copy. I have not
ordered books through the bookstore, but rather leave it to students to determine if they would
rather purchase copies of some books that are otherwise available electronically.
That being said, some of the books will be useful in class and beyond (especially if you are beginning
to build a library in this area), and I encourage you to consider purchasing them. We will discuss this
in our first class meeting.
Suggested readings are also provided for each class session. While I do in fact suggest that you read
each of these articles or books at some point, doing so each week would be an outsized
accomplishment. I list them here primarily to offer additional bibliographical support for your research
papers.
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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Course Schedule
(1) Jan 15:
Setting the Stage
Required reading:
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E.J. Dionne, “Theologies of Democracy in a New Century,” Reflections 94.2 (Fall 2007): 10-15 [special
issue on Faith and Citizenship in Turbulent Times].
Patrick Deneen, “A Catholic Showdown Worth Watching,” The American Conservative 2.6.2014.
Yuval Levin, “Taking the Long Way: Disciplines of the Soul are the Basis of a Liberal Society,” First
Things, October 2014.
William Galston, "The Christian Heart of American Exceptionalism," WSJ 12.30.2014
Recommended:
•
Erik Owens, "Separation of Church and State," Boisi Papers on Religion & American Public Life, no.2.
[This is a primer on American church/state law. The complete set of primers in the Boisi Center Papers
is here.]
(2) Jan 22:
Problems of American citizenship, in theory and practice
Required reading:
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Michael McConnell, “Believers as Equal Citizens” in Rosenblum, ed., Obligations of Citizenship,
Demands of Faith (Princeton 2000), p. 90-110.
Michael Schudson, The Good Citizen: A History of American Civic Life (Harvard, 1998), p. 1-10, 294314.
Rogers Smith, Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in American History (Yale, 1997), p. 1-39
(Intro/Chap. 1).
Recommended:
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Russell Dalton, The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation is Reshaping American Politics (CQ
Press, 2007), p. 1-52.
Harry Stout, “In Search of Christian America,” Reflections 94.2 (Fall 2007): 21-25.
Sigal Ben-Porath, "Citizenship in Wartime," chap. 1 of Citizenship Under Fire: Democratic Education in
Times of Conflict (Princeton, 2006).
Philip Hamburger, Separation of Church and State (Harvard 2002).
(3) Jan 29:
Liberal theories of citizenship
Required reading:
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Craig Calhoun, "Secularism, Citizenship and the Public Sphere," The Hedgehog Review 10.3 (Fall
2008): 7-21.
Ronald Beiner, "Citizenship as a Comprehensive Doctrine," The Hedgehog Review 10.3 (Fall 2008):
23-33.
William Galston, Liberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and Practice
(Cambridge, 2002), p. 3-11.
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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Recommended:
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Michael Ignatieff, “The Myth of Citizenship,” in Beiner, ed., Theorizing Citizenship (SUNY 1995), 53-77.
Derek Heater, A Brief History of Citizenship, p. 65-87.
John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration (1685).
John Rawls, Political Liberalism (Columbia, 1993).
Jürgen Habermas, “Religion in the Public Sphere,” European Journal of Philosophy 14.1:1–25.
Will Kymlicka and Wayne Norman, eds. Citizenship in Diverse Societies (Oxford, 2000).
Alan Wolfe, The Future of Liberalism (Knopf, 2009).
Stephen Macedo, Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy (Harvard, 2000).
Eamonn Callan, Creating Citizens: Political Education and Liberal Democracy (Oxford, 1997).
(4) Feb 5:
Civic republican theories of citizenship
Required reading:
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Iseult Honohan, Civic Republicanism (Routledge, 2002): introduction (1-14); selections from chaps 1-4;
chap 5 (145-79). [71 pp total]
Michael Sandel, Democracy’s Discontent, chap 1(3-24) and Conclusion (317-351) [55 pp total]
Recommended:
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J.G.A. Pocock, “The Ideal of Citizenship Since Classical Times,” in Theorizing Citizenship, p. 29-52.
Derek Heater, A Brief History of Citizenship (NYU, 2004), p. 1-41 (skim), 55-64.
Cass Sunstein, Republic.com 2.0 (Princeton, 2007), p. xi-xii, 212-223.
Jonathan Laurence & Justin Vaisse, “From Muslims into French Citizens,” in Integrating Islam: Political
and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France (Brookings, 2006), p.135-191.
(5) Feb 12:
Prophetic republicanism and American civil religion
Required reading:
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Philip S. Gorski, Prophetic Republicanism: America’s Civil Religious Tradition from John Winthrop to
Barack Obama (Yale, forthcoming 2016), excerpts.
Tiffany Stanley, "The Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Interview with Charles Marsh," Religion and
Politics, 7.30.2014.
Recommended:
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Robert Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” Dædalus 96.1 (Winter 1967): 1-21.
Alan Wolfe, “Civil Religion Revisited: Quiet Faith in Middle-Class America,” in Obligations of
Citizenship, p. 32-72
Charles Marsh, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Knopf 2014).
Eric Metaxis, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Thomas Nelson 2010)
Required lecture:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Prophetic Citizenship
The 14th Annual Prophetic Voices Lecture
Charles Marsh, University of Virginia
Thursday, February 12, 2015 • 5:30-7:00PM • Higgins 300
Sponsored by the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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(6) Feb 19:
Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism and "Global Citizenship"
Required reading:
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Richard J. Ellis, To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance (Kansas, 2005), p. ix-xiv
(preface) and 209-222 (conclusion).
Martha Nussbaum et al., For Love of Country: Debating the Limits of Patriotism, Joshua Cohen, ed.
(Beacon, 1996), p. vii-xiv (preface/intro), 1-37 (Nussbaum, Appiah, Barber), 66-71 (Gutmann), 78-84
(McConnell), 111-121 (Sen, Taylor), and 131-44 (Nussbaum). [~75 pp.]
Peter Gomes, “Patriotism Is Not Enough,” Memorial Church, Harvard University, 6 October 2002.
Recommended:
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William Willimon, “Can Christians be Patriots?” in Michael Long and Tracy wegner Sadd, eds., God
and Country? Diverse Perspectives on Christianity and Patriotism (Palgrave, 2007), p. 97-107.
Alasdair MacIntyre, "Is Patriotism a Virtue?" The Lindley Lecture, Univ. of Kansas (1984).
Summaries of Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) and West Virginia State Board of Ed. v.
Barnette (1943)
Watch “Religious Freedom and the Pledge of Allegiance” online at Boston College Front Row.
Frederick Douglass, “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” (1852).
(7) Feb 26:
The Benedict option
Required reading:
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Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (Notre Dame, 1981), selections
Stanley Hauerwas, “A Christian Critique of Christian America,” in John Bekman and Michael
Cartwright, eds., The Hauerwas Reader, (Duke, 2001), p. 459-480.
Rod Dreher, "Benedict Option," The American Conservative, 12.12.2013.
Paul Griffiths, “Religious Allegiance and Political Sovereignty: An Irreconcilable Tension?” in John
Carlson and Erik Owens, eds., The Sacred and the Sovereign: Religion and International Politics
(Georgetown, 2003), p. 247-55.
Recommended:
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Stanley Hauerwas & William Willimon, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony (Abingdon, 1989).
Michael Sattler, “The Schleitheim Confession” (aka Schleitheim Articles), in Oliver O’Donovan and
Joan Lockwood O’Donovan, eds., From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political
Thought 100-1625 (Eerdmans, 1999), p. 631-37.
Peter J. Leithart, “Witness unto Death: Christian Martyrdom Conquers the Pretensions of Worldly
Power,” First Things January 2013
(8) Mar 12:
Christian Realism
Required reading:
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Reinhold Niebuhr, selections from Love and Justice: The Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr
(Westminster/JKP 1992)
Robin Lovin, Christian Realism and the New Realities (Cambridge, 2008), 1-18.
Recommended:
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Robin Lovin, Reinhold Niebuhr and Christian Realism (Cambridge 1995)
Richard Harries and Stephen Platten, eds., Reinhold Niebuhr and Contemporary Politics (Oxford 2010)
Martin Luther, “On Temporal Authority” (1523).
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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(9) Mar 19:
Augustinian Christian republicanism
** Seminar paper proposals due **
Required reading:
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Charles Mathewes, A Theology of Public Life
(Cambridge, 2007), p. 1-28 (Introduction), 145213 (“The Liturgy of Citizenship”).
Recommended:
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Charles Mathewes, The Republic of Grace:
Augustinian Thoughts for Dark Times (Eerdmans
2010)
Augustine, The City of God, esp. book XIX
(10) Mar 26: Augustinian civic liberalism
Required reading:
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Eric Gregory, Politics and the Order of Love: An
Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship
(Chicago 2008)
Recommended:
(11) Apr 9:
Civic education and religious
freedom
Required reading:
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Michael McConnell, “Education Disestablishment: Why Democratic Values Are Ill-Served by
Democratic Control of Schooling,” in Macedo and Tamir, eds., Moral and Political Education, NOMOS
XLIII (NYU, 2002), p. 87-146.
Stephen Macedo, Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy (Harvard, 2000),
excerpt.
Brief summaries of Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972); Mozert v. Hawkins City Board of Ed. (1987); Zelman v.
Simmons-Harris (2002); Locke v. Davey (2004).
Recommended:
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Kent Greenawalt, Does God Belong in Public Schools? (Princeton, 2005), 1-34.
Erik Owens, “Religion and Civic Education in American Public Schools,” in Karin Johnston, ed.
Religion, Politics and Policy in the United States and Germany, vol. 5 (Washington: American Institute
for Comparative German Studies, 2007).
Stephen Macedo, “Liberal Civic Education and Religious Fundamentalism: The Case of God vs. John
Rawls?” Ethics 105 (April 1995): 468-96.
Eamonn Callan, Creating Citizens: Political Education and Liberal Democracy (Oxford, 1997).
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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(12) Apr 16: The politics of religion and citizenship
Required Reading:
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Barack Obama, “A Call to Renewal” (2006) and “A More Perfect Union” (2008)
Mitt Romney, “Faith in America” (2007)
John F. Kennedy, “Address to the Greater
Houston Ministerial Association” (1960)
Mario Cuomo, “Religious Belief and Public
Morality: A Catholic Governor’s Perspective”
(1984)
Voters Guides:
o “An Evangelical Manifesto: A Declaration of
Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment”
(2008)
o U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, “Forming
Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” (2007).
o Catholic Answers Action, “Voters Guide for
Serious Catholics” (2006).
o Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,
“Get out the Vote 2008.”
o Council on American-Islamic Relations,
“CAIR Universal Voter Guide” (2008).
Recommended:
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Robert Audi and Nicholas Wolterstorff, Religion in the Public Square: The Place of Religious
Convictions in Political Debate (Yale, 1997), p. 1-55, 67-80, 111-119.
Jimmy Carter, "Crisis of Confidence" (1979)
(13) Apr 23: Political Organizing as Faithful Citizenship
** Seminar paper outlines due **
Required reading:
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Luke Bretherton, Resurrecting Democracy (Cambridge UP, 2015), excerpts.
Recommended:
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Jeffrey Stout, Blessed Are the Organized (xxx), 1-xx.
Ernesto Cortes, “Prophetic Action and Imagination.” Prophetic Voices Lecture @ BC 3.26.2013.
Luke Bretherton, Christianity and Contemporary Politics (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
(14) Apr 30: Prophetic religion and civil disobedience
Required reading:
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Packet of theological/political responses to Ferguson 2014/2015 (from Ta Nahisi-Coates, Cornell
West, Michael Eric Dyson, and others)
David Chappell, A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow (UNC, 2004), p. 1-8,
67-104, 179-90.
Martin Luther King, Jr., “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)
Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence (1776)
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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Recommended:
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Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream” (1963).
Mohandas K. Gandhi, The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work and
Ideas, ed. Louis Fischer (Vintage, 2002).
Susan B. Anthony, Speech at her trial for voting (1873), in Witte/Alexander, eds., The Teachings of
Modern Christianity vol.2 (Columbia, 2006), p.248-9, 261-3.
Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” (1849)
May 8:
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Final papers due
Upload seminar papers to Canvas by 4pm
TH 748601 syllabus (Spring 2015)
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