Benne on Religion and Politics - Part 2

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm reading Good and Bad Ways to Think about Religion and Politics by Dr. Robert D. Benne. As I read through this book, I'll be using a Study Guide developed by John T. Pless, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary.

Here are a couple of quotes from Benne in Chapter 1...

There is nothing greater than indignation to stimulate a writer to write, and my outrage has been stirred mightily by reading so many wrongheaded "takes" on how religion and politics ought to be related. In this book I will describe and analyze the bad ways and then offer what I consider to be a better way. I am so bold as to think that the Christian tradition from which I write - the Lutheran tradition - offers such a better way. (p. 1)

The question is not so much whether American religion will have political effects. It most definitely will. The more serious questions are: Should it? How should it? Certainly some modes of religious involvement are harmful to both the religious organizations and society. But perhaps the worst damage is done to religion itself. (p. 6)

Watch for more updates as I read through the book.