Author Of:
WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE:
The Rise of the Religious Right in America
William Martin is the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Professor of Religion and Public Policy in the Department of Sociology at Rice University, where he has taught since 1969. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Abilene Christian University in 1958 and 1960. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1963 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1969. During his years at Rice, he has received numerous teaching awards, including a Lifetime Award for Excellence in Teaching. His articles, most dealing with various aspects of religion and popular culture, have appeared in such publications as "The Atlantic," "Harper's," "Esquire," and "Texas Monthly," as well as in scholarly journals. His book, A Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story, for which he had Graham's full cooperation, wa published by William Morrow in 1991 and won Christianity Today's Critics' Choice Award that year. Another book, My Prostate and Me: Dealing With Prostate Cancer, was published in September 1994 by Cadell and Davies. He is frequently called upon to comment on various religious phenomena and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline, Today, CBS This Morning, 20/20, Frontline, The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, All Things Considered, The Diane Riehm Show, and numerous other national and local news and interview programs. He and his wife, Patricia (Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Internatonal Education at Rice University) live in Houston.
Book Reviews
WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE:
The Rise of the Religious Right in America
Publisher's Weekly
August 12, 1996
(Special Starred Review)
"The confluence of politics and religion in American life is explored with insight and style in this important new book from Martin (A Prophet With Honor), a professor of sociology at Rice University. Focusing on the modern era, the author analyzes the significance of church and clergy in the tradition of social action, from the civil rights movement through the growth of the Christian Coalition. In a blend of fast-paced journalism and in-depth scholarship, the text incorporates numerous interviews with, and personal accounts by, key figures, weaving together many frayed threads of meaning in contemporary American political life. Scrupulously fair, pointing out what he sees as the media's biases and double standards, Martin details the events and personalities that have infused our politics with religious fervor. From JFK's Catholicism to Billy Graham's flirtation and subsequent disillusionment with politicians; from Jimmy Carter's born-again candidacy to the rise of evangelical political action groups; from Ronald Reagan's courtship of the Moral Majority to the current configuration of the surprisingly diverse religious right, Martin deftly guides the grand tour, putting the fiery social issues of our time-- abortion, AIDS and gun control --in the context of the conservative Christian agenda. Martin concludes with a masterful essay on the subtle interpretation of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison regarding separation of church and state, affirming their non-ironic proposition that the health of America's religious communities derives from being apart from the corrupting power of politics.
FYI: With God on Our Side is a companion volume to a six-hour PBS series of the same name, airing in the fall."
