Embattled We Are: How America's Leaders Use Civil Religion to Justify War?

By Ryan O'Leary

This book offers an examination of the intersection of American civil religion, religious nationalism, and American militarism. Tracing civil-religious themes like American chosenness, America's place in the unfolding design of Providence, the dedication to freedom at home and abroad, and the memory of the soldier's sacrifice. This book analyses the speeches of American presidents from Washington and Lincoln to Kennedy, Reagan, Bush, and Obama, showing how they have consistently used these themes to justify and promote American militarism. Contributing to the growing body of scholarship on American civil religion by conceptually demarcating American civil religion, religious nationalism, and Christian nationalism. This adds a dimension of cultural analysis to some existing works that approach similar topics. It is an interesting read for scholars of civil religion.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3032143683
• ISBN13: 9783032143686
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 406 Pages