American Covenant, A History Of Civil Religion From The Puritans To The Present. By Philip Gorski
It's not an easy read. The author is a professor of sociology and religious studies at Yale, and the book reads like something a professor would write. But I did find parts of it interesting. I heard the guy interviewed by Charlie Rose, but only caught part of it, but enough to be interested and get the book.
Don't bother with it if you're a true believer in either side of the political debate these days.
He gives background on the different influences over time that have caught on in America. He shoots down the extremes from Religious Nationalism to Secular Liberalism and gives reasons for the need for a balanced middle ground between church and state.
If those terms, Religious Nationalism and Secular Liberalism, sound contrived, well, that's just a taste of how this book reads. He says he dumbed it down some for public consumption, but I admit I struggled. But I was still interested enough to finish it.
I have opinions about what's happening these days, but I have enough doubts to want to hear both sides, at least until the true believers start in. If you do too, you might like it. You might want to skip over parts of it too, he will tell you to do this too. Some chapters are only for other academics. I wish I'd skipped some parts like he said.