The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America.(Brief article)(Book review)

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, June, 2008

THE GOD STRATEGY:

HOW RELIGION BECAME A

POLITICAL WEAPON IN AMERICA

by David Domke and Kevin Coe

Oxford University Press,

240 pages, $30

The book is much less polemical than the title suggests. Domke heads the school of journalism at the University of Washington and the massively documented book provides interesting data on the increased prominence of religion in political discourse since the Reagan presidency, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush receiving the lion's share of attention. The authors conclude with the hope that politicians will increasingly calibrate their message in a way that "appeals both to devout believers and the broader citizenry."