The Conflict Between Secular and Religious Narratives in the United States uses the theory of social construction and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein to examine the current divide between religious and secular narratives in the United States. Sumser analyzes how Americans apply religious and secular reasoning to contemporary social problems, and explains the resurgence of religious worldviews and the simultaneous growth of an assertive form of atheism in America. This book is recommended for scholars of communication studies, religious studies, sociology, philosophy, and history.

"This is the second book I have heavily underlined and thoroughly enjoyed by this author . . . The book would be a good central text or companion text for an upper-division undergraduate communication course, be it narrative theory, philosophy of communication, conflict, argumentation, or communication and society . . . . Anyone with a desire to understand why communication in not a panacea should read this book because it offers a clear understanding of why the cultural wars over topics like gay rights and abortion that occur in religious and secular narratives in public discourse will never satisfactorily resolve. By the end, I had a better understanding and was immediately able to communicate more productively when faced with fundamentalist expressions." - Communication Research Trends