Idols of the State

Secularists Want All Religion Out of the Public Square, Except Theirs
by James Hitchcock

The great historian Christopher Dawson claimed that every culture has a religion at its core, a claim that has been borne out by virtually all empirical studies. Thus, the most significant historical eras are those in which one religion is being superseded by another, as in the late Roman Empire.

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James Hitchcock is Professor emeritus of History at St. Louis University in St. Louis. He and his late wife Helen have four daughters. His most recent book is the two-volume work, The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life (Princeton University Press, 2004). He is a senior editor of Touchstone.

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