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The first few decades after the founding of the United States represented a time of intense political and religious struggle. Prof. Jonathan den Hartog (University of Northwestern in St. Paul, MN) discusses this conflict and how it shook out. Based upon his new book “Patriotism and Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation,” Prof. den Hartog illuminates how a group of American thinkers sought to strengthen the role religion played in American civil society and how that affected the way we govern ourselves.

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What do Martin Luther King Jr., Fulton Sheen, and Jerry Falwell have in common? Other than being religious figures in the 20th century, most folks might struggle to and an answer to that question. However, this week’s guess — Dr. James Patterson — explains what these charismatic figures have in common and how they are different. We focus on their religious and political foundations and how this played out in their mass media strategies.

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As ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other radical forms of political Islam take center stage in the news and policy circles, can we learn anything about the broad-based movement known as Islamism from the history of Europe? Prof. John Owen IV discusses how the West has dealt with its own radical ideological struggles and the parallels we can draw to the present situation in the Middle East and North Africa. Does a Scottish rebellion in the 1560s have anything worth informing us about the Taliban? Find out!

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We kick off the new year with a look at Pope Francis and why he has been so enormously popular. Dr. Rusty Reno, editor of “First Things,” provides his impression of the first two years of the Jesuit from Argentina and the way he resembles his namesake, Francis of Assisi. Rusty points out the “way of poverty” and “the way of literalism” are important aspects of this pontiff’s style, as well as a penchant for provocative comments. We also chat about the challenging task of reforming the Curia and why an outsider is important.

Make a new year’s resolution to listen to Research on Religion weekly via iTunes or another RSS feed. Thanks!

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