"And No One Will Keep that Light from Shining"

Book excerpt: After September 11, news media reported that U.S. president George W. Bush used overly religious language. The "theologian in chief" was believed to promote his personal agenda as a born again Christian. Such views, however, are a striking misinterpretation. This study shows that Bush's references to God and the idea that America must fulfill God's work on earth can all be explained through the concept of American civil religion. "...is likely to reinvigorate and expand discursive studies dedicated to understanding contemporary instantiations of American civil religion. That she (Janz) has been able to refocus and reframe international attention on such an important and unique American phenomenon is all the better". Steven R. Goldzwig, Marquette Univ., Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2012.