Film Analysis: God in America: Six: Of God and Caesar
. Why did conservative evangelicals reject political engagement for decades, and why did they re-enter politics? 2. Ronald Reagan famously spoke of America as ″a shining city on a hill,″ recalling and embellishing John Winthrop′s desсrіption of the ″city upon a hill″ he and his fellow Puritans intended to find. The phrase ″city on a hill″ is from the New Testament. Why do you think Reagan invoked a biblical allusion made by Winthrop in 1630? Does America still understand itself this way? Should it? What do you think Winthrop and Reagan each meant by this phrase? What does it mean in the 21st century for America to be a ″city on a hill″? Randall Balmer says Americans ″have a sense that America occupies a unique niche in the divine economy. I don′t see that abating any time soon.″ Do you agree? 3. What role do you see non-Christian religions and new immigrant faith communities playing in American politics and public life? What evidence of their involvement do you observe in your own community? How has the presence of Muslims, Latinx people, and Hispanic Catholics in particular influenced the American religious and political landscape? 4. Has religion in America changed since 9/11? How? 5. Do you think America is a Christian nation? In the midst of great religious diversity, how can the country find national unity?
