As America begins to turn its attention to the upcoming Presidential election, America's Religious Wars: The Embattled Heart of Our Public Life by Kathleen M. Sands, seems like a timely publication for those seeking to learn about the historical intersection between religion and politics.  Beginning with some of the earliest philosophical musings of the Founding Fathers, America's Religious Wars is a thoroughly researched and at times engaging compilation of analyses on how religious issues have been treated over time by political leadership and the courts.  The book is divided into three parts.  The first section focuses on defining religion and how early political leaders, namely George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, delicately balanced separating religion from government.  The second part analyzes how conflicts between religions have played out over time and the cultural impact that occurs when religious minorities strive to assimilate into the American mainstream.  The last part discusses the role secularism has had in reforming a number of institutions, particularly the public school system.  

While caste as a book about religion, America's Religious Wars could have just as easily been titled America's Race Wars.  Sands analysis often conflates the two issues in such a manner that distracted from the primary topic of the book - religion.  A more naïve reader might surmise after reading America's Religious Wars that escaping religious persecution in America is primarily grounded on a groups ability to convince Euro-Protestants that they are white too. In Chapter 3, when describing the conflicts between Protestants and Mormons, Sands notes that Mormons were  "constantly compared to Asians, Africans and indigenous people."   It wasn't until they formally rejected polygamy and "offered portraits of large, healthy white families" that they begin to "look and feel patriotic."

Sands also uses subtleties in language that betray her liberal leanings, which, while innocent enough, may cause readers to question whether bias impacts her carefully researched analysis.  Chapter Four provides an in-depth review of the federal government's dispute with the Lakota tribe over land in the Dakotas during President Theodore Roosevelt's Administration. Sands describes Nicholas Black Elk, is a "Lakota warrior, healer, and visionary."  He is clearly the protagonist in the story.  While Roosevelt, the antagonist, is described as being mired in "weakness and effeminacy" until purchasing a ranch in the Dakotas allowed him to "reintroduce himself to eastern society as a muscled, suntanned cowboy."  Her bias is a little obvious.

Once you get past the rhetoric, America's Religious Wars is an engaging read with a depth and range of research that would compliment any library.