Product Description
“People who take God seriously will not remain silent about their faith. They will often disagree about doctrine or policy, but they won’t be quiet. They can’t be. They’ll act on what they believe, sometimes at the cost of their reputations and careers. Obviously the common good demands a respect for other people with different beliefs and a willingness to compromise whenever possible. But for Catholics, the common good can never mean muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity. Christian faith is always personal but never private. This is why any notion of tolerance that tries to reduce faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public, will always fail.”—From the IntroductionFew topics in recent years have ignited as much public debate as the balance between religion and politics. Does religious thought have any place in political discourse? Do religious believers have the right to turn their values into political action? What does it truly mean to have a separation of church and state? The very heart of these important questions is here addressed by one of the leading voices on the topic, Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver. While American society has ample room for believers and nonbelievers alike, Chaput argues, our public life must be considered within the context of its Christian roots. American democracy does not ask its citizens to put aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs for the sake of public policy. In fact, it requires exactly the opposite. As the nation’s founders knew very well, people are fallible. The majority of voters, as history has shown again and again, can be uninformed, misinformed, biased, or simply wrong. Thus, to survive, American democracy depends on an engaged citizenry —people of character, including religious believers, fighting for their beliefs in the public square—respectfully but vigorously, and without apology. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the nation’s health. Or as the author suggests: Good manners are not an excuse for political cowardice.American Catholics and other persons of goodwill are part of a struggle for our nation’s future, says Charles J. Chaput. Our choices, including our political choices, matter. Catholics need to take an active, vocal, and morally consistent role in public debate. We can’t claim to personally believe in the sanctity of the human person, and then act in our public policies as if we don’t. We can’t separate our private convictions from our public actions without diminishing both. In the words of the author, “How we act works backward on our convictions, making them stronger or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.”Vivid, provocative, clear, and compelling, Render unto Caesar is a call to American Catholics to serve the highest ideals of their nation by first living their Catholic faith deeply, authentically.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 64 reviews)

Render Unto God and there's none left for politics by L. Helw (Chicago, Illinois)

1 Stars
September 04, 2009
I read this short book, and saw the good bishop speak too. Although some will derive pleasure from his positioning, there was far too much divisive worldly politics in his view of Catholicism compared to what we were taught about the Magisterium. Many of us long for a book by a Catholic holy man who has love, like Jesus, for all. This book isnt it... it conveys speech, and a political point of view found on most talk shows, but not love. It is written articulately, like an academic thesis, not like a saintly letter, and could have used quite a bit more tight editing for repetitions. It is a book seeming by a church administrator, one who appears to want to lead only one section of the one holy, Catholic, and Universal church. That's alright. There are a lot of different kind of Bishops out there. But Pope Benedict says these very same things, in fact, said them first, and developed these same ideas far more deeply over his years on earth... and in far better ways with far broader reach.... and with far more tenderness toward others. In that sense, this book is a pale derivative. I'd recommend most any of the Pope's books over this one... they are far more feeling, and factual (the Pope has a scientifically trained mind) and the Pope touches not on the cultural outrage in people, but to the divine love in people, and is thereby far more uniting of souls.

A defense of Catholic positions in political sphere. by Bojan Tunguz (Greencastle, IN USA)

5 Stars
July 15, 2009
Every two years or so, whenever the US electoral cycle gets back in full swing, there seems to be a renewed interest and controversy concerning the Catholic attitudes and positions in the electoral process. The media seems to be obsessing over the conflicts, real and imaginary, between Catholic politicians and their Church. The lay Catholics seem to be confused and torn between their support for a politician or a cause, and the official teaching of their Church. Various civil liberties groups decry the undue influence that religion has on the political process, and spend considerable time and effort at silencing those who dare to use their faith in the public square. It is partly this cacophony of voices that Charles Chaput, OFM Cap, the current Archbishop of Denver, has in mind when he chose to write "Render Unto Caesar." It is a book that had a particular relevance during the 2008 election season, but will continue to have significance for many years to come. Archbishop Chaput is very clear and exacting when it comes to stressing the importance of certain core Catholic moral beliefs in context of the political sphere, most importantly in case of value and dignity of human life. He is also a vocal defendant of the role of religion in public sphere, and supports his argument from both Christian beliefs and traditions, and from a purely secular point of view. He is also very careful to give a nuanced position on the response of bishops to catholic politicians who publicly defy the teachings of the Church and endorse and support policies that go clearly against those teachings. Overall, this is a very well written and informative book that would be invaluable to all Catholics in guiding them to form their own political positions.

You must read this book! by Theresa E. Garcia (denver, co)

5 Stars
June 18, 2009
This book is a very insightful way of looking at the catholic church's perspective on modern times...a must read!

Chaput is a man of courage by EMorin

5 Stars
May 21, 2009
Archbishop Chaput is one of the true gems in the American Catholic Church today. If more bishops of the past 50 years had half as much courage as him, our country would be a different and better place today. He does a marvelous job of presenting in rational terms the necessity of actually living out what one holds to be true without compromise. The martyr today looks different than she or he did in the early days of the Church, but we are called to be faithful in the same way. He is the perfect mirror opposite of someone like the late Fr. Robert Drinan, SJ, who was a member of the House of Representatives (D-MA). Although Drinan believed abortion to be "virtual infanticide," he was still an outspoken supporter of abortion rights. Shockingly, Drinan spoke out in support of President Bill Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 1996. Archbishop Chaput, unlike the contemporary Drinans (Fr. Jenkins of Notre Dame?), is serious about what he believes whether it is popular or not. That is why I loved his book and respect him as a courageous man.

Prophetic! by D. Flinn (Colorado, USA)

5 Stars
May 16, 2009
Archbishop Chaput has written a thoughtful and thought-provoking book about the proper role of religion in the public square. Does the average American desire freedom "for" religion or freedom "from" religion. Consider this book seriously if you want to know whether your conscience should have a voice in the world today.

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