Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Journal Articles Publications 1994 Review Essay: Stephen Carter and Religion in America Thomas L. Shaffer Notre Dame Law School,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship Recommended Citation Thomas L. Shaffer, Review Essay: Stephen Carter and Religion in America, 62 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1601 (1994). Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/1260 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Publications at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. REVIEW ESSAY: STEPHEN CARTER AND RELIGION IN AMERICA THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: How AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRVrAZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION. By Stephen L. Carter. New York: Basic Books, 1993. Pp. 328. $25.00. Reviewed by Thomas L. Shaffer* Professor Carter dedicates his treatment of religion in American law and (North) American society, The Culture of Disbelief,' to his chil- dren-"who should be able to live in a world that respects your choices instead of tolerating them." His book is a lengthy, widely read, widely reviewed, 2 manifestly popular, and eloquent complaint. Although most of what he subjects to analysis is aimed at power bro- kers who either claim no faith or make sure that whatever faith they have makes no difference, the most cutting part of his criticism is of his fellow Christians in the mainline church. In each of these moods, and in both of them, Professor Carter takes on the policy of toleration that he hopes to protect his children from, as he also hopes for an American society that is religiously pluralistic, in which religious * Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame; Supervising Attorney, Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic; Member of the Indiana Bar.