Today's New York Times Book Review section carries an essay titled Church Meets State by University of Chicago Professor Mark Lilla . In it, he discusses the understanding of religious psychology held by the Founding Fathers of the United States . He says: "The British and Americans made two wagers. The first was that religious sects, if they were guaranteed liberty, would grow attached to liberal democracy and obey its norms. The second was that entering the public square would liberalize them doctrinally, that they would become less credulous and dogmatic, more sober and rational. " He goes on to argue that today, religion in the United States, and especially Protestantism, is moving in the opposite direction.
He concludes: "The fascination with the ''end times,'' the belief in personal (and self-serving) miracles, the ignorance of basic science and history, the demonization of popular culture, the censoring of textbooks, the separatist instincts of the home-schooling movement -- all these developments are far more worrying in the long term than the loss of a few Congressional seats. No one can know how long this dumbing-down of American religion will persist. But so long as it does, citizens should probably be more vigilant about policing the public square, not less so."
