The first thing I thought when I finished reading Stephen Carter's recent book, The Culture of Disbelief, was: This guy needs to get out of New Haven more often. Anybody who believes that America does not take religion seriously cannot possibly be looking at all of America.

When I look at America, I apparently see a very different culture from the one Carter identifies. The divergence in our perceptions is not merely an empirical disagreement; rather, this divergence in fact masks a basic doctrinal difference. I am suggesting, in other words, that it is because we have such different views of legal doctrine that we perceive the place of religion in our society so differently.

This is a legal essay, however. Its subject is thus primarily the doctrinal issues; these issues occupy Parts 3 through 6 below (and, to a lesser extent, Part 2). I argue that American culture is like a religion, with its own texts, its own authorities, and its own values. One of these values is that other religions must remain in their own sphere. While my focus here is legal doctrine, insofar as it is accurate to maintain that doctrinal differences in the realm of religion and the law can significantly drive divergent perceptions of religious reality, then it may be useful to underscore Carter's own view of reality as well as my rather different perception; such an underscoring is the objective of Parts 1 and 2.