No Separation: Christians, Secular Democracy, and Sex

Through a potent mix of authoritarianism, heterosexism, xenophobia, and ethnoracial nationalism, powerful illiberal Christian movements have upended liberal democracies in countries that were once seen as paradigms of secular governance. Ludger H. Viefhues-Bailey offers new insight into the foundations of these movements, demonstrating how they emerge from the contradictions at the intersection of secularism and democracy. No Separation examines recent conflicts that link national identity, religion, and sexuality: debates over Muslim veiling practices in Germany, same-sex marriage in France, and migration and abortion in the United States. In each case, illiberal Christianities portray popular sovereignty as threatened at the same time as they display an obsessive concern with the politics of sex and reproduction. Underlying these conflicts, No Separation shows, is the fundamental tension of democracy—who belongs to “the People.” Viefhues-Bailey argues that when secularism and democracy meet, cultural religions appear, seeking control over women’s bodies, national borders, and the racialized reproduction of the People in defense of the ideal of popular sovereignty. Connecting political theology, political philosophy, and the sociology of religion with gender and sexuality studies, No Separation is a deeply original analysis of the crisis of democracy and the limits of secularism. It also suggests alternative ways of imagining the People, proposing a more humane vision of borders, sexualities, and social bonds.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Germany, Cultural Christianity, and the Veil 2. Philosophical Interlude on Making the Bonds That Unite Us 3. France, Republican Catholicism, and Marriage for All 4. American Cultural Christianities from Animus to Eros 5. Democracy Without Moral Monsters? Reproducing a Community of Care Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Ludger H. Viefhues-Bailey is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Gender, and Culture at LeMoyne College and the author of Between a Man and a Woman? Why Conservatives Oppose Same-Sex Marriage (Columbia, 2010).

Review :
No Separation is revelatory. Viefhues-Bailey uses three case studies—in Germany, France, and the U.S.—to illustrate the fragile and harmful mix of Christianity and sexual norms that undergird secular democracy, and to envision a more resilient and compassionate way forward. Mind-blowing and clear, this book is essential reading. A leading voice working at the intersection of religion, politics, and critical theory, Ludger Viefhues-Bailey probes today’s most nettlesome religious freedom dilemmas. His book moves between textured accounts of on-the-ground conflicts and sophisticated analysis, yielding a compelling account of the various ways political Christianities are entangled with populist movements today. Why does sex matter to politics in the name of the people? Ludger Viefhues-Bailey argues that political Christianities both effect and emerge in the regulation of the direct and discursive reproduction of 'the people.' And he charts a way out of the crisis of democracy: the people need to put communities of care at the core of their democracies, so that more compassionate political Christianities can come about.