This volume, God, Religion, and Civil Governance, aims to confirm thatliberty and autonomy are essential to contemporary Western democraticsocieties. However, so is religion. Religious freedom actually servesas the most basic liberty that protects our other freedoms and humanrights, while serving the common good. Religious freedom, in this view,cannot be reduced to the freedom to worship the God of the universe.It also includes recognizing the moral structure of the universe and themoral principles that honor the basic dignity of each human personfrom conception to death. Although Christianity has influenced Westerncivilization's notion of God, religious freedom, its laws, and formsof governance, the effect of secularization and extreme views on theseparation of church and state have created new challenges for Westerncivilization. Claims about certain individual rights and governmentalprerogatives have been used to limit religious and other basic freedomsand rights. This volume addresses the major issues concerning God,religion, and civil governance in a way that offers guidance for a civicculture that seeks both a sure sense of its roots and a level measure forgovernance supported by just law, human dignity, and virtuous character.ABOUT THE EDITOR

Craig Steven Titus is Associate Professor and Director of Integrative Studiesat the Institute for the Psychological Sciences (Arlington, VA) and is the author ofResilience and the Virtue of Fortitude: Aquinas in Dialogue with the PsychosocialSciences (CUA Press, 2006) and numerous articles and book chapters. He has edited14 books.