Download or read book Faith in Nation written by Anthony W. Marx and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-04-21 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Common wisdom has long held that the ascent of the modern nation coincided with the flowering of Enlightenment democracy and the decline of religion, ringing in an age of tolerant, inclusive, liberal states. Not so, demonstrates Anthony W. Marx in this landmark work of revisionist political history and analysis. In a startling departure from a historical consensus that has dominated views of nationalism for the past quarter century, Marx argues that European nationalism emerged two centuries earlier, in the early modern era, as a form of mass political engagement based on religious conflict, intolerance, and exclusion. Challenging the self-congratulatory geneaology of civic Western nationalism, Marx shows how state-builders attempted to create a sense of national solidarity to support their burgeoning authority. Key to this process was the transfer of power from local to central rulers; the most suitable vehicle for effecting this transfer was religion and fanatical passions. Religious intolerance--specifically the exclusion of religious minorities from the nascent state--provided the glue that bonded the remaining populations together. Out of this often violent religious intolerance grew popular nationalist sentiment. Only after a core and exclusive nationality was formed in England and France, and less successfully in Spain, did these countries move into the "enlightened" 19th century, all the while continuing to export intolerance and exclusion to overseas colonies. Providing an explicitly political theory of early nation-building, rather than an account emphasizing economic imperatives or literary imaginings, Marx reveals that liberal, secular Western political traditions were founded on the basis of illiberal, intolerant origins. His provocative account also suggests that present-day exclusive and violent nation-building, or efforts to form solidarity through cultural or religious antagonisms, are not fundamentally different from the West's own earlier experiences.
Download or read book One Nation Under God written by Kevin M. Kruse and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The provocative and authoritative history of the origins of Christian America in the New Deal era We're often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the belief that America is fundamentally and formally Christian originated in the 1930s. To fight the "slavery" of FDR's New Deal, businessmen enlisted religious activists in a campaign for "freedom under God" that culminated in the election of their ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. The new president revolutionized the role of religion in American politics. He inaugurated new traditions like the National Prayer Breakfast, as Congress added the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance and made "In God We Trust" the country's first official motto. Church membership soon soared to an all-time high of 69 percent. Americans across the religious and political spectrum agreed that their country was "one nation under God." Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how an unholy alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.
Download or read book How the Nations Rage written by Jonathan Leeman and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can the church move forward in unity amid such political strife and cultural contention? As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even within our congregations we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward? In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we can return to the church’s unchanging political task: to become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be and offer the hope of his kingdom to the nations.
Download or read book Fighting for Faith and Nation written by Cynthia Keppley Mahmood and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2010-08-03 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ethnic and religious violence that characterized the late twentieth century calls for new ways of thinking and writing about politics. Listening to the voices of people who experience political violence—either as victims or as perpetrators—gives new insights into both the sources of violent conflict and the potential for its resolution. Drawing on her extensive interviews and conversations with Sikh militants, Cynthia Keppley Mahmood presents their accounts of the human rights abuses inflicted on them by the state of India as well as their explanations of the philosophical tradition of martyrdom and meaningful death in the Sikh faith. While demonstrating how divergent the world views of participants in a conflict can be, Fighting for Faith and Nation gives reason to hope that our essential common humanity may provide grounds for a pragmatic resolution of conflicts such as the one in Punjab which has claimed tens of thousands of lives in the past fifteen years.
Download or read book Nations Under God written by Luke M Herrington and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-16 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Nations under God: The Geopolitics of Faith in the Twenty-First Century' is a timely contribution to the on-going discussion on religion and politics. The volume brings together over thirty leading scholars from a variety of disciplines such as political science, international relations theory, sociology, theology, anthropology, and geography. Utilising case studies, empirical investigations, and theoretical examinations, this book focuses on the complex roles that religions play in world affairs. It seeks to move beyond the simplistic narratives and overly impassioned polemics which swamp the discourse on the subject in the media, on the internet, and in popular nonfiction, by acting as a vessel for scholarly research on religion. The book presents a balanced analysis of the multifaceted roles taken on by religions, and religious actors, in global politics. Contributors: Stephen Dawson, Jodok Troy, Gertjan Dijkink, John A. Rees, Mark S. Cladis, Fabio Petito, Linda Woodhead, Jonathan Fox, Brendan Sweetman, Don Handelman, Scott W. Hibbard, Ruy Llera Blanes, Fang-long Shih, Kaarina Aitamurto, Mona Kanwal Sheikh, Lee Marsden, Shireen T. Hunter, Nilay Saiya, Dan G. Cox, Pauline Kollontai, Franc ois Foret, James L. Guth, Brent F. Nelsen, Paul S. Rowe, J. Paul Martin, Allen D. Hertzke, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Jonathan Benthall, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd and Timothy Fitzgerald."
Download or read book Faith in Freedom written by Andrew R. Polk and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-15 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Faith in Freedom, Andrew R. Polk argues that the American civil religion so many have identified as indigenous to the founding ideology was, in fact, the result of a strategic campaign of religious propaganda. Far from being the natural result of the nation's religious underpinning or the later spiritual machinations of conservative Protestants, American civil religion and the resultant "Christian nationalism" of today were crafted by secular elites in the middle of the twentieth century. Polk's genealogy of the national motto, "In God We Trust," revises the very meaning of the contemporary American nation. Polk shows how Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, working with politicians, advertising executives, and military public relations experts, exploited denominational religious affiliations and beliefs in order to unite Americans during the Second World War and, then, the early Cold War. Armed opposition to the Soviet Union was coupled with militant support for free economic markets, local control of education and housing, and liberties of speech and worship. These preferences were cultivated by state actors so as to support a set of right-wing positions including anti-communism, the Jim Crow status quo, and limited taxation and regulation. Faith in Freedom is a pioneering work of American religious history. By assessing the ideas, policies, and actions of three US Presidents and their White House staff, Polk sheds light on the origins of the ideological, religious, and partisan divides that describe the American polity today.
Download or read book Divided by Faith written by Michael O. Emerson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2001 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a nationwide survey, the authors of this study conclude that US Evangelicals may actually be preserving the racial chasm, not through active racism, but because their theology hinders their ability to recognise systematic injustice.
Download or read book Was America Founded as a Christian Nation written by John Fea and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2011-02-16 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fea offers an even-handed primer on whether America was founded to be a Christian nation, as many evangelicals assert, or a secular state, as others contend. He approaches the title's question from a historical perspective, helping readers see past the emotional rhetoric of today to the recorded facts of our past. 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 history comprises.
Download or read book Faith in the Wilderness written by Hannah Nation and published by Kirkdale Press. This book was released on 2022-04-27 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If we want revival in our communities, then let us learn from those being revived." For many Western Christians, the experience of suffering and persecution is remote. For Chinese Christians, on the other hand, persecution is a regular aspect of the Christian life. If a Christian from the West was transported to a Chinese house church, the topic of suffering would be ever--present in preaching and conversation. With decades of persecution under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party and a rich theology of suffering, the Chinese house church movement has much to contribute theologically to the global church. In Faith in the Wilderness, editors Hannah Nation and Simon Liu pull together the insights of the Chinese Church for the West. These sermonic letters from Chinese Christians will awaken readers to the reality of the gospel--the ground of our hope--in the midst of darkness. Readers will be convicted, encouraged, and edified by the testimony of these Chinese Christians.
Download or read book Religion and Politics in America written by Robert Booth Fowler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-04 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religion and politics are never far from the headlines, but their relationship remains complex and often confusing. In this fifth edition of Religion and Politics in America, the authors offer a lively, accessible, and balanced treatment of religion in American politics. They explore the historical, cultural, and legal contexts that underlie religious political engagement while also highlighting the pragmatic and strategic political realities that religious organizations and people face. Incorporating the best and most up-to-date scholarship, the authors assess the politics of Roman Catholics; evangelical, mainline, and African American Protestants; Jews; Muslims and other conventional and not-so-conventional American religious movements. The author team also examines important subjects concerning religion and its relationship to gender, race/ethnicity, and class. The fifth edition has been revised to include the 2012 elections, in particular Mitt Romney's candidacy and Mormonism, as well as a fuller assessment of the role of religion in President Obama's first term. In-depth treatment of core topics, contemporary case studies, and useful focus-study boxes, provides students with a real understanding of how religion and politics relate in practice and makes this fifth edition essential reading for courses in political science, religion, and sociology departments.
Download or read book Jesus and John Wayne How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation written by Kristin Kobes Du Mez and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2020-06-23 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The “paradigm-influencing” book (Christianity Today) that is fundamentally transforming our understanding of white evangelicalism in America. Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism—or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.” As acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. Many of today’s evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they’ve read John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex—and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes—mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of “Christian America.” Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done. Challenging the commonly held assumption that the “moral majority” backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.
Download or read book Forged in Faith written by Rod Gragg and published by Howard Books. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true drama of how faith motivated America’s Founding Fathers, influenced the Declaration of Independence and inspired the birth of the nation. This fascinating history, based on meticulous research into the correspondence and documentation of the founding fathers leading up to and encompassing the crafting of the Declaration of Independence, sheds light on how the Judeo-Christian worldview motivated America’s founding fathers, influenced national independence, inspired our foundational documents, and established the American nation. Written with the pacing and drama of an enticing drama, Forged in Faith is crafted for popular appeal with a compelling mix of dramatized story and action-driven narrative, yet with the authenticity and academic verity of historian Rod Gragg.
Download or read book Faith in the Dream written by Deval Patrick and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The American Dream is founded on the ideals of equality, opportunity, and fair play. These are moral reference points for Americans, matters of conscience. History has shown us time and again that these ideals are motivating. My own life, and the lives of millions of Americans through generations, has demonstrated their power. We need to stop confining our ideals to national holidays and static monuments, and bring them back into our conversations and our politics. We need to let them lead us to the right choices and away from the wrong ones. This is the essence of patriotism. As we decide what kind of country we want to live in, it is time for America's true patriots, by whatever political label, to shape the fate of the nation." Faith in the Dream is a short but powerful eBook and a call to action by one of the nation's most inspirational public figures, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Our country is at a critical crossroads and Americans of all political persuasions sense that something significant is at stake. In this first-of-its-kind eBook, designed to launch a nationwide online conversation, Governor Patrick shows how and why the American Dream itself--the ability of future generations to inherit a country and a life better, more prosperous, and more progressive than that of their forbears--is today very much up for grabs, and what we must all do to restore it. The challenges are daunting, but we cannot sink into anger, defeat, or despair; we must rise to the challenge of protecting the American Dream at all costs. Governor Patrick offers us a path for the future that is built on the best time-honored values of our past and on the powerful role that citizens can play when they come together in support of the common good. Rather than attack government, give up on it, or take it for granted, Patrick heralds our responsibility as Americans to reclaim it, and demand that political leaders stay true to our country's most fundamental values. Capitalizing on the power of our digital age, Faith in the Dream serves as a launching point for a new nationwide dialogue with readers, who are encouraged to share their thoughts and success stories at www.faithinthedream.com regarding what they, and other advocates and leaders they know, are currently doing to improve their communities and country. Offering a modern twist on the time-honored tradition of political pamphlets and perfectly timed for this election season, this is a must-read book--and a stirring invitation to participate--for anyone who cares about the fate of our nation and the sanctity of the American Dream.
Download or read book Conceived in Doubt written by Amanda Porterfield and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-04-23 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans have long acknowledged a deep connection between evangelical religion and democracy in the early days of the republic. This is a widely accepted narrative that is maintained as a matter of fact and tradition—and in spite of evangelicalism’s more authoritarian and reactionary aspects. In Conceived in Doubt, Amanda Porterfield challenges this standard interpretation of evangelicalism’s relation to democracy and describes the intertwined relationship between religion and partisan politics that emerged in the formative era of the early republic. In the 1790s, religious doubt became common in the young republic as the culture shifted from mere skepticism toward darker expressions of suspicion and fear. But by the end of that decade, Porterfield shows, economic instability, disruption of traditional forms of community, rampant ambition, and greed for land worked to undermine heady optimism about American political and religious independence. Evangelicals managed and manipulated doubt, reaching out to disenfranchised citizens as well as to those seeking political influence, blaming religious skeptics for immorality and social distress, and demanding affirmation of biblical authority as the foundation of the new American national identity. As the fledgling nation took shape, evangelicals organized aggressively, exploiting the fissures of partisan politics by offering a coherent hierarchy in which God was king and governance righteous. By laying out this narrative, Porterfield demolishes the idea that evangelical growth in the early republic was the cheerful product of enthusiasm for democracy, and she creates for us a very different narrative of influence and ideals in the young republic.
Download or read book Politicization of Religion the Power of Symbolism written by G. Ognjenovic and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-12-17 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role religion played in the dismantling of Yugoslavia; addressing practical concerns of inter-ethnic fighting, religiously-motivated warfare, and the role religion played within the dissolution of the nation.
Download or read book The World is About to Turn written by Rick Rouse and published by Chalice Press. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In these increasingly divisive times, how does God intend for us to live well together in the common life? Drawing from scripture as well as writings from a variety of other faith traditions and contemporary theologians, The World is About to Turn offers a practical guide for dialogue and mutual understanding for leaders of faith organizations, schools, and member of faith communities; everyone who hopes to make a positive difference in our corporate life together. Chapters include: The Failure of the American Religious Experiment; When Justice Rolls Down: Finding the Moral Courage to Do What is Right; Love One Another: Practicing Mercy and Compassion; Walking Humbly with God: Repentance and Reconciliation as a Path to a More Civil Society; Values Matter: Discovering Common Values in Many Faith Traditions; Embracing Differences: The Gift of Religious Pluralism; and Building Bridges of Hope: Ten Ways Forward with Multicultural and Inter Religious Dialogue. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter, as well as an appendix with liturgical worship resources, make this hopeful book perfect for small group study, class usage, and congregational leadership.
Download or read book Letter to a Christian Nation written by Sam Harris and published by Alfred A. Knopf. This book was released on 2006 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A criticism of Christianity from the secularist point of view.
