After reviewing the materials on civil religion (PPT slides and the Professor Gorski interview, along with reading C. Lippy, pp. 50-52, and any additional research), answer the following questions:

1. Define civil religion in its various aspects. Within your definition consider if this is in fact “religion” or only the appearance of religion invoked for an emotional response.
2. How does civil religion function as a means of justifying and promoting American ideals? How might this be helpful, and how might this be harmful?
3. Lippy noted that political leaders often used “religious language and images to talk about the meaning of America and the corporate identity of the new republic…” Even political leaders who were tepid, indifferent, or ambiguous about religion “spoke in almost sacred terms” about the founding and forming of the new republic.
   a. What do you think of this incorporation of religious rhetoric? For instance, might it be manipulative? If so, how? If not, what might be the underlying intention?
   b. Might it be legitimate to consider building a stable republic for the good of its citizens a “sacred duty”? Why or why not?