The author's ©central metaphor, the naked public square, refers to thepublic forum in American life, which is perceived as naked or empty because religion and religious values have been systematically excluded from consideration in the determination of public policy. {He believes that} the enemy that accomplished this, the ideology of secularism, has thus far been successful despite the fact that most Americans, whose ultimate values are deeply religious, never debated or assented to such an exclusion.©