When we think about faith as a relationship with god, rather than a set of propositional beliefs, this changes the way we think about ethics. We think about ethics more as a set of practices and orientations than as rules. The chapter considers this claim through examining the way evangelical Christians come to understand their relationship with Jesus, and more briefly through Catholics who seek to understand what it is to be a modern Mexican, through Amazonian shamans who want to know their spirits, and modern magicians. When we focus on religion as something people do, rather than just what they believe, we must approach ethics as a series of incremental interpretations of how people make sense of who they have become in the world, rather than a carefully considered set of logical arguments.

Shows that although Secularists are concentrated in Democratic ranks, secularism and nonreligiosity both matter within the GOP as well. Among Republicans, there is a small but vocal group of Secularist libertarians. Like the Secularists on the political left, they have sharply defined ideological views. Even larger is the number of Non-Religionists who found favor with Donald Trump – less consistently ideological, perhaps, but no less passionate.