Religion in the National Agenda: What We Mean by Religious, Spiritual, Secular

In this highly provocative investigation, C. John Sommerville examines common linguistic uses of the terms 'religion,' 'religious,' 'spiritual,' and 'secular' in order to discern understandings of these words in contemporary American culture. Sommerville then uses these definitions to examine the ways that institutions in the fields of education, science, law, politics and religion are affected often in unexpected ways by a shared set of assumptions about what these words mean.