The Politics of Religion and the Religion of Politics: Looking

The Politics of Religion and the Religion of PoliticsLooking at Israel\nAuthor(s): Ira Sharkansky\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, United States\nImprint: Lexington Books\nISBN-13: 9780739101094, 978-0739101094\nSynopsis\nProminent political theorist Ira Sharkansky looks at the intersection of religion and politics, using the case of Israelwhere a chief rabbi officiates along with a prime ministerto examine how the two inform each other.\nFocusing more on similarities than differences, Sharkansky demonstrates that both religion and politics can justify their position on the moral high ground. Both are involved in shaping our values and standard of living; however, neither religion nor politics can claim a monopoly of virtue: Political demagogues have their religious equivalents in self-serving prophets and false messiahs, and politicians and religious leaders both may violate the morality that they preach. Sharkansky examines the place of intellectual certaint.