Embattled We Are: How America’s Leaders Use Civil Religion to Justify War

This book offers an examination of the intersection of American civil religion, religious nationalism, and American militarism. Tracing civil-religious themes like American chosenness, America’s place in the unfolding design of Providence, the dedication to freedom at home and abroad, and the memory of the soldier’s sacrifice. This book analyses the speeches of American presidents from Washington and Lincoln to Kennedy, Reagan, Bush, and Obama, showing how they have consistently used these themes to justify and promote American militarism. Contributing to the growing body of scholarship on American civil religion by conceptually demarcating American civil religion, religious nationalism, and Christian nationalism. This adds a dimension of cultural analysis to some existing works that approach similar topics. It is an interesting read for scholars of civil religion.

Ryan T. O’Leary, Ph.D., is a Wisconsin native who enjoys exploring that state’s unique landscape by trail and kayak. He lives in Marshfield, Wisconsin, with his wife Doreen and their three sweet, spoiled, and sassy cats, Priscilla, Pixel, and Scully. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, where he studied philosophical theology and modern religious thought, and he has been teaching with the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point for over a decade, where he has won awards for his teaching and scholarship. Dr. O’Leary’s current research takes place at the intersection of religion, American culture, and political discourse. His publications on American civil religion include “From Anglo-Saxon Nativism to Executive Order: Civil Religion and Anti-Immigration Rhetoric,” “The Irony of the Secular: Violent Communication at the Limits of Tolerance,” and “The Freedom Narrative and the War on Terror: Civil-Religious Idolatry for the 9/11 Generation.” This is his first book.