Americans have long considered their country to be good—a nation "under God" with a profound role to play in the world. Yet nothing tests that proposition lik

Peter Gardella explores the monuments, texts, and images that embody the spirit of the United States.

The long battle between exclusionary and inclusive versions of the American story Was America founded as a Christian nation or a secular democracy? Neither, arg

"An important concept that scholars have used to help understand the relationship between religion and the American nation and polity has been 'civil religion.'

The tie that binds all Americans, regardless of their demographic background, is faith in the American system of government. This faith manifests as a form of c