20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America

by Ryan P. Burge

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2022

Overview

The way most people think about religion and politics is only loosely linked to empirical reality, argues Ryan P. Burge in 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America. Instead, our thinking is based on anecdotes, a quick scan of news headlines, or worse, flat-out lies told by voices trying to push a religious or political agenda on a distracted public.

Burge sees this fundamentally flawed understanding of the world around us and our misperceptions about where we fit into the larger fabric of society as caustic for the future of American politics and religion. Without an accurate picture of our society, when we subscribe to only caricatures of what our country looks like, we never really address the problems facing us.

Striving to be an impartial referee, Burge describes with accessible and engaging prose--and illustrates with dozens of clear, helpful graphs--what the data says. Step by step, he debunks twenty myths, using rigorous data analysis and straightforward explanations. He gives readers the resources to adopt an empirical view of the world that can help all of us, religious and nonreligious alike, get past at least some of the unsupported beliefs that divide us.

Key Features

• Flats-out lies told by voices trying to push a religious or political agenda.
• Sees our misperceptions about where we fit into the future of American politics and religion.
• Debunks twenty myths, using rigorous data analysis and straightforward explanations.

Praise for 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America

Burge’s books and articles are truly essential.

--Perry Bacon Jr., The Washington Post

There is nothing like facts to get in the way of our opinions, and I’m especially a fan of Ryan Burge’s ability to blow the lid off of cherished but mistaken thinking. Each of these twenty myths is worthy of debunking.

--Scot McKnight, Northern Seminary

Americans love bad statistics--particularly the kind that prove what we already feel. But math does not care about our feelings, so sometimes we need a reminder of the facts. Ryan Burge’s 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America is just the book we need to set the record straight and help us better understand the facts today.

--Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College

Product Details

• Title: 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America
• Author: Ryan P. Burge
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Pages: 249
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• ISBNs: 9781506482026, 1506482023
• Resource ID: LLS:MYTHSRLGNPLTMRC
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-08T18:49:59Z

About Ryan P. Burge

Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science and the graduate coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. He teaches in a variety of areas, including American institutions, political behavior, and research methods. His research focuses largely on the intersection between religiosity and political behavior, especially in the American context.

Previously, Burge completed an appointment as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale, Illinois. While there, he was an adviser on survey methodology and polling, and provided data collection and analysis.

He has published more than a dozen articles in well-regarded peer-reviewed journals, including Politics & Religion; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Review of Religious Research; Journal of Religious Leadership; Representation, Politics, Groups, and Identities; Journal of Communication and Religion; and Social Science Computer Review.

In addition, his research has been covered in a variety of media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Vox, 538, Christianity Today, Religion News Service, The Daily Mail, Deseret News, and C-SPAN. He is cofounder and frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience.

Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church, having served his current congregation for more than fourteen years.