The most prominent voices in contemporary American political discourse may be those from the religious right and the secular left; but when it comes to advancing a liberal agenda, Steven Shiffrin, professor of constitutional law, says that a third contingent -- the religious left -- is often overlooked and seriously underestimated.

Shiffrin spoke about his new book, "The Religious Left and Church-State Relations" (Princeton University Press), at a panel discussion in his honor in Myron Taylor Hall Oct. 30.

In the book, which Kent Greenawalt of Columbia Law School called a "readable, eloquent, illuminating text [based on an] underlying deep, comprehensive and penetrating scholarship," Shiffrin examines constitutional law and political discourse on a broad range of issues related to church-state relations.

The book, aimed primarily at an audience of secular liberals and moderates, covers topics including school vouchers, the teaching of evolution in public schools, religious symbols in government and state funding of religious institutions.

Among Shiffrin's conclusions: Maintaining a strict separation between religion and the state is as important for religion as it is for government; and linking the two would cause significant harm to religious vitality.

But while many liberals feel obliged to leave religion out of political discussions, Shiffrin writes, doing so cedes religion to the conservatives and often sacrifices opportunities for productive debate.

"I'm trying to convince secular liberals that they really should be less contemptuous of religious liberals; that they should recognize that an alliance with [religious] liberals would be valuable for what they want to attain," Shiffrin said. "And if I got them to the point that they realized that there's a choice between how much bashing of religion they're going to do and the political negatives that are associated with that, I would regard the book as an amazing success."

Bernadette Meyler, Cornell professor of law, praised her colleague for bringing the religious left -- a group as large as the religious right, Shiffrin noted -- to public attention.

The book "revitalizes the notion of a religious left that might engage in the civic arena without checking religion at the door," Meyler said.

"If Steve's own writings from the religious left vantage point provide even a partial model for future work, I have no doubt that many, many important contributions from the religious left will follow."