Public vision, private lives rousseau, religion, and 21st-century democracy

Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-283) and index.

Religion, democracy, and modernity : the case for progressive spiritual democracy -- Preparing for the journey : an introduction -- I. From the garden to the city : the tragic passage. Nature's garden ; Revisiting the garden's solitaires ; From the garden to the blessed country : the precarious passage ; The rush to slavery -- The city : life in the ousted condition ; Overcoming moral evil : Rousseau at the crossroads -- II. Paths to redemption. Reforming the city : the extreme public path ; Evading the city : the private path ; The mountain village : the path to family, work, community, and love ; Reconciling citizen and solitaire : religious dimensions of the middle way ; Residual conflict : democracy and ineluctable friction -- A way forward : Rousseau and 21st-century democracy.