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This paper examines why the press has failed to adequately understand and report on the role of religion in American politics. The author argues that certain shortcomings and limitations of the press- including its short attention span and its emphasis on immediacy - often undermine the press's ability to see the broader picture and to recognize that something happening now connects to something that happened before. In order to identify and explain the impact of religious and moral values on our national politics and policy-making, journalists need to better understand the faith-based center of the country and how religion informs the day-to-day political attitudes and behavior of citizens and readers. The paper analyzes why the press has been unable to get its arms around moral and religious centrism.

"This title aims to both point out the unhealthy chasm of polarization in the nation and also describe with empathy why people of good will can hold such divergent beliefs and values while still ascribing to the motto on our currency: "e pluribus unum/from many one." It describes and appreciates the dearly held values of the left and the right, liberals and conservatives, and help each side realize that the progress of the nation toward "a more perfect union" only happens when we tack to the center"--

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Introduction: America's Divided Heart -- Notes -- Chapter 1: The Religion Factor -- U.S. Foreign Policy and Misunderstanding the Faith Factor -- The Apocalyptic Mind-Set -- Presidential Politics -- God in the White House in the Twentieth Century -- Controversies Over the Cross -- President George W. Bush's Faith-Based Initiative -- Miscalculations Over Artificial Contraception -- The Civil War Over Abortion -- Religion's Gay Rights Dilemma -- Evolution Versus Creation Science -- Readin', Writin', 'Rithmatic…and Religion? -- Islam and Islamism -- Islam at Ground Zero -- The Roots of Fundamentalism -- Fundamentalism in Non-Christian Faiths -- Does Religion Cause Wars? -- Can the World's Diverse Faiths Cooperate for the Common Good? -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 2: What People Think and Believe Religiously -- Two Gaps: Politics and Beliefs -- Polar Nation -- Teddy Bears at the Border -- A Price for Political Speech -- Lessons from the Hobby Lobby Case -- Notes -- Chapter 3: What People Think and Believe Politically -- Religious Versus Secular Outlooks -- "God Awaits Our Discovery" -- We Don't See, But We're Right -- Our Predictable Patterns -- The Great Ideas Divide -- Depth of Our Differences -- Notes -- Chapter 4: America's Great Debates—Immigration, Gun Rights, and Climate Change -- Part I: Immigration -- The Senate Immigration Bill -- A New Crisis: Children at the Border -- Seeking a Middle Ground -- Part II: Gun Rights -- Interpreting the Second Amendment -- An Emotional Debate -- The Brady Act -- The NRA's Position -- Part III: Climate Change -- The Scientific Consensus -- The Skeptics -- Some General Conclusions -- Notes -- Chapter 5: America and the World—Religiosity and the American Character -- The Evolution of American Religiosity