In recent decades Protestant evangelicalism has become a conspicuous and--to many Americans, worrisome--part of this country's cultural and political landscape. But just how unified is the supposed constituency of the Christian Coalition? And who exactly are the people the Christian Right claims to represent? In the most extensive study of American evangelicals ever conducted, Christian Smith explores the beliefs, values, commitments, and goals of the ordinary men and women who make up this often misunderstood religious group. The result is a much-needed contribution to the discussion of issues surrounding fundamental American freedoms and the basic identity of the United States as a pluralistic nation. Based on data from a three-year national study, including more than 200 in-depth interviews of evangelicals around the country, Christian America? assesses the common stereotype of evangelicals as intolerant, right-wing, religious zealots seeking to impose a Christian moral order through political force. What Smith finds instead are people vastly more diverse and ambivalent than this stereotype suggests. On issues such as religion in education, "family values," Christian political activism, and tolerance of other religions and moralities, evangelicals are highly disparate and conflicted. As the voices of interviewees make clear, the labels "conservative" and "liberal" are too simplistic for understanding their approaches to public life and political action.
And yet, as Richard T. Hughes reveals in this powerful book, the biblical vision of the "kingdom of God" stands at odds with the values and actions of an American empire that sanctions war instead of peace, promotes dominance and oppression ...
"The founder and CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and columnist for the Atlantic describes how white Protestant Christians have declined in influence and power since the 1990s and explores the effect this has had on America, ...
The omens of a domestic dictatorship were clear, Senator Albert Hawkes agreed. “After careful examination of the records during the past ten years, one can only conclude that there is the objective of the assumption of greater power and ...
Through careful historical and contemporary analysis, the authors address such issues as how much Christian action is required to make a whole society Christian; incorrect views of America's history for effective Christian involvement in ...
Spence, Lester, Todd C Shaw, and Robert Brown. 2005. “True to Our Na— tive Land: ... Steensland, Brian, lerry Z. Park, Mark D. Regnerus, Lynn D. Robinson, W Bradford Wilcox, and Robert Woodberry. 2000. “The Measure of Ameri— can ...
Judaism and Christianity obviously share tenets, texts, and beliefs that have strongly influenced American democracy. In this ambitious book, however, K. Healan Gaston challenges the myth of a monolithic Judeo-Christian America.
Readers on both sides of the issues will appreciate that this book occupies a middle ground, noting the good points and the less-nuanced arguments of both sides and leading us always back to the primary sources that our shared American ...
Explores the political ambitions of the Christian right, discussing how their agenda gained momentum through alternative networks, schools, and publishers, and warns that another national crisis may enable the Christian right to seize ...
... 6 (Summer 1996): 161–194; Barris Mills, “Hawthorne and Puritanism,” New England Quarterly 21 (March 1948): 78–102; Meacham, American Gospel, 39. 4. Anson Phelps Stokes and Leo Pfeffer, Church and State in the United States, rev. ed.
In general, Christians and conservatives are not nearly as informed as they may think when it comes to understanding black history in the United States and the black saga it contains.The Problem of Slavery in Christian America aims at ...