REL 461 - Issues in Religion & Politics

In this discussion-based course, we will examine sites in contemporary culture where politics and religion interact. How do political and religious convictions inform each other? How shall we understand the complex synergy between political and religious impulses? The end-time theology of many American evangelicals drives much American foreign policy towards Israel-Palestine. Attitudes (and policies) towards the environment are likewise influenced by religious beliefs and convictions. Some readers of the Bible argue that Donald Trump is a latter-day Cyrus, the Persian king who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Make Jerusalem Great Again!). Each week, we’ll examine a different case. While the course is offered at the seminar level, there are no expectations that students come with a background in the theory and method of Religious Studies or of Political Science. We will acquire these tools along the way.