In 1984, a Lutheran pastor named Richard John Neuhaus published The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America. The book’s timing coincided with the rise of the Religious Right and the midpoint of the two-term Reagan presidency. Neuhaus was concerned over the diminishing role of religion in American public life. While Americans were just as religious as ever, trends in the political and judicial arenas were seeking to relegate that influence to the private sphere. He did not see the methods of the Religious Right as the answer.
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Revisiting the Naked Public Square
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In 1984, a Lutheran pastor named Richard John Neuhaus published The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America. The book’s timing coincided with the rise of the Religious Right and the midpoint of the two-term Reagan presidency. Neuhaus was concerned over the diminishing role of religion in American public life. While Americans were just as religious as ever, trends in the political and judicial arenas were seeking to relegate that influence to the private sphere. He did not see the methods of the Religious Right as the answer.