Render Unto Caesar is a story of private, religious beliefs elevated to the law of the land. In an America caught in the grip of theological absolutism one woman must find a way to rekindle the cause of freedom and liberty, not only in a country torn apart by unending rebellion, but within herself as well. Sarah Carlyle, a rebel leader, finds she has lost her belief in the cause she has been fighting for it has deteriorated into a continual stalemate of retaliation. She wants the fighting to stop. Yet, the more she seeks to distance herself from the battle, the deeper she finds herself in the conflict. When she does find her cause, her belief, it is not the goals of religious freedom or democratic government. It is the lives of a young couple and their, as yet, unborn child.
The study of the relationship between religion and the history of our country has fascinated me since my college days. Render Unto Caesar is the by product of this historical study. We, as a nation, need not look too far from our own backyards to understand the influences religion has on how our civil government functions. It influences our culture and every fabric of our society. Still, I believe, the belief in the separation of church and state, which has sustained us for over two hundred years, must be maintained. The line between these two institutions, over the course of the last few decades, has blurred. Render Unto Caesar, as a work of fiction, relates what can happen when religious extremism replaces a government based on civil liberties.