Can Religion Save Democracy?

How More Faith--Not Less--Can Heal Our Public Life

Matthew Kaemingk, Shadi Hamid

• Publisher: Brazos Press
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493456444
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Democracy

What Secularism Got Wrong--and How Religion Can Help Set Things Right

"This book is original and profound."--David Brooks, New York Times bestselling author

"Keep religion and politics separate!" For decades, scholars and public intellectuals assumed that less religion would lead to a more peaceful and unified form of politics. The evidence suggests otherwise. As religion has receded from public life, our politics have grown more polarized, anxious, and unstable.

In Can Religion Save Democracy?, two friends and colleagues--a Christian theologian and a Muslim political scientist--make a bold case: If American democracy is going to survive, it will require more religion, not less. Drawing on wisdom from their respective religious traditions, they explore
 
● why secularism has only deepened our divides,
● what ancient insights from Christianity and Islam can strengthen our common life,
● how spiritual practices contribute critical virtues to democratic life, and
● how citizens can navigate a new world of deep polarization and mistrust.

This is not a call for theocracy or religious authoritarianism. It's a hopeful, clear-eyed vision showing how religious faith offers vital tools to renew the soul of democracy in a divided nation.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. We Can’t Quit Religion
• 2. Conflict Is Inevitable
• 3. God Only Knows
• 4. Make Politics Mundane Again
• 5. The Case for Hell
• 6. From Cancel Culture to Covenant Culture
• 7. Schools of Democracy
• 8. Praying for Democracy
• A Deeper Democratic Hope
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Cover Flaps
• Back Cover