Renewing the Soul of Democracy, an Online Conversation with Matthew Kaemingk and Shadi Hamid

From the nation’s founding to today, Americans have wrestled with a fundamental question: What role should faith play in a democratic society? Many have argued that we should keep faith and politics separate–that less religion in public life would lead to a more peaceful and unified democratic nation. Yet in reality, as religious practice has decreased, our nation has grown increasingly polarized, anxious, and unstable. Can faith help us recover the trust and shared purpose that holds our diverse society together?

Matthew Kaemingk and Shadi Hamid argue that it can in their new book, Can Religion Save Democracy? How More Faith–Not Less–Can Heal Our Public Life. Across their differences in faith, they find hopeful common ground, explaining how secularism has deepened our divides and how the resources of faith can help us rebuild our commitment to democracy.

Special thanks to Brazos Press for co-hosting this event

Join us for an Online Conversation on October 9 at 1:30pm ET.

Matthew Kaemingk is a professor of Public Theology at Theological University Utrecht in the Netherlands, a Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown University, and founder of the Worship for Workers Initiative. He has authored and co-authored books including Leading Worship for Workers: How to Design Liturgies for All of Life,  and was the editor of Reformed Public Theology: A Global Vision for Life in the World. His articles can be found in Christianity Today, Comment Magazine, and Plough.

Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post and a Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown University. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. His books include The Case for American Power, The Problem of Democracy, Islamic Exceptionalism, and Temptations of Power.