Taming the gods [electronic resource] : religion and democracy on three continents / Ian Buruma.

Why religion must be separated from politics if democracy is to thrive around the world

For eight years the president of the United States was a born-again Christian, backed by well-organized evangelicals who often seemed intent on erasing the church-state divide. In Europe, the increasing number of radicalized Muslims is creating widespread fear that Islam is undermining Western-style liberal democracy. And even in polytheistic Asia, the development of democracy has been hindered in some countries, particularly China, by a long history in which religion was tightly linked to the state.

Ian Buruma is the first writer to provide a sharp-eyed look at the tensions between religion and politics on three continents. Drawing on many contemporary and historical examples, he argues that the violent passions inspired by religion must be tamed in order to make democracy work.

Comparing the United States and Europe, Buruma asks why so many Americans--and so few Europeans--see religion as a help to democracy. Turning to China and Japan, he disputes the notion that only monotheistic religions pose problems for secular politics. Finally, he reconsiders the story of radical Islam in contemporary Europe, from the case of Salman Rushdie to the murder of Theo van Gogh. Sparing no one, Buruma exposes the follies of the current culture war between defenders of "Western values" and "multiculturalists," and explains that the creation of a democratic European Islam is not only possible, but necessary.

Presenting a challenge to dogmatic believers and dogmatic secularists alike, Taming the Gods powerfully argues that religion and democracy can be compatible--but only if religious and secular authorities are kept firmly apart.

Author Notes

Ian Buruma is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism at Bard College. His many books include Anglomania (Random House), Inventing Japan (Modern Library), and Murder in Amsterdam (Penguin), which won a Los Angeles Times Book Award. He is a regular contributor to many publications, including the New York Review of Books , the New Yorker , the Guardian , and the Financial Times .

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The place of organized religion in the public square is well-trammeled territory; in this brief volume, journalist and Bard College professor Buruma (Murder in Amsterdam) adds to the discussion with political and cultural analyses from the United States, Europe, and Asia. By examining the history of church/state relations in the U.S. and Europe, the role of religion in the politics of China and Japan, and the growing role of Islam in contemporary Europe, Buruma makes "an attempt to sort out, in different cultures, how democracies have been affected... by these tensions [between religious and secular authorities]." One of his most provocative investigations involves secular, liberal Europeans, some of whom now find common ground with conservatives in their opposition to Islam out of fear that it will roll back the progressive gains of the past decades. Buruma takes issue with theocrats and "strict secularists" alike, using the example of Martin Luther King Jr. to argue instead that "expressions of religious beliefs in politics are legitimate as long as those beliefs inform positions that are subject to reason." Some readers may have difficulty following the thread of Buruma's thesis through the dense weave of historical data. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

At least two of Buruma's three chapters on the fraught relations of religion and government may greatly enlighten most readers. Within a framing sketch of U.S. evangelism based on Sinclair Lewis' satiric Elmer Gantry, Full Tents and Empty Cathedrals synopsizes Western European-American church-state separation. Philosophically, three different political bases for separation stem from Hobbes (enlightened tyranny), Spinoza (democracy), and Hume (traditionalism). Practically, the concept of so-called civil religion, especially in its American and Dutch versions, has facilitated long-term stability. Oriental Wisdom dispels many myths about religion and state in China and Japan, demonstrating a greater connection between them in both nations despite the ancient and still powerful secular ethical influence of Confucianism. Perhaps this chapter's most surprising revelation for modern Westerners is the revolutionary, often democratizing role Christianity has played in the Far East. The concluding chapter on Islam and democracy covers more familiar ground with the considerate moderation Buruma has exemplified all along. Because of Buruma's clarity and temperance, a most informative primer on systems of church-state rapprochement in the modern era.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

Many people know Buruma (Bard College) for his book Murder in Amsterdam. Taming the Gods can be viewed as a sequel that explores Islamic fundamentalism in Europe in light of the Enlightenment tradition of secular tolerance and religious disestablishment. The book is organized into three stimulating and challenging essays on church and state relations in Europe and the US, Confucianism as a religion or a civic religion, and Islam in Europe. Buruma discusses each in search of a response to Alexis de Tocqueville's pursuit of the cement (other than civic participation, defined as freedom of speech and the right to vote) that will hold a secular democracy together. The answer to de Tocqueville's concern is explored and the rule of law, common values, ethics, mores, and religion emerge as possibilities. Buruma seeks an open society that is tolerant but wise enough to know that toleration has limits. His discussions of the issues take readers through the views of political theorists such as Hobbes, Locke, and Spinoza as well as Chinese and Japanese culture and philosophy. However, the author has difficulty explaining how to achieve his goal without instituting repression. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. A. J. Waskey Dalton State College

Introduction	p. 1
Chapter 1 Full Tents and Empty Cathedrals	p. 11
Chapter 2 Oriental Wisdom	p. 47
Chapter 3 Enlightenment Values	p. 83
Notes	p. 127

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