In Religioso, Ma Non Troppo, Glenn Harlan Reynolds looks at America’s attitude toward religion in politics:
In fact, the traditional American attitude toward religion — and especially religion in politics — might be summed up this way: ‘Religious, but not too much.’This is captured in two provisions from the Tennessee Constitution, adopted in 1796. Article IX, Section 2 provides that ‘No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.’
On the other hand, Article IX, Section 1 provides that: ‘no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature.’
Religious — but not too much.
Why Reynolds doesn’t see religion becoming too strong a political force:
But Americans really don’t like busybodies telling them what to do. The decline of the Left as a political force in America coincided precisely with its shift from a politics of individual freedom to that of tut-tutting politically-correct nanny-statism. I suspect that if the religious Right decides to emulate the Left in this regard, its influence will evaporate in similar fashion.Religious, yes. But not too much.