Winnifred Fallers Sullivan

Prison and evangelical religion have been linked throughout US history; but when a faith-based rehabilitation program compels prisoners to memorize Bible verses, boundaries get blurred.

A new book by four leading intellectuals (Talal Asad, Judith Butler, Saba Mahmood, and Wendy Brown) brings attention to the ongoing failures of the Euro-American liberal legal order in the face of the conflict between religious and secular values—and in doing so puts those very categories into question.

Even as it talks about inclusion and admits nonbelievers into the ranks of upstanding citizenry, the new administration, like the last one, has a plan to use religion to further its political goals.