Faith in the New Millennium: The Future of Religion and American Politics

by Matthew Avery Sutton (Editor), Darren Dochuk (Editor)

Overview

The Statue of Liberty--depicted on a roadside billboard--did not carry her customary torch and tablet. Instead, she shielded her eyes from words that towered beside her, words that highway drivers could not possibly avoid: "We are no longer a Christian nation." Underneath was the name of the man who spoke them, the nation's president, Barack Obama. He had made the original statement--"Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation, at least not just"--four years earlier. Since then those words had appeared, in one form or another, not just on billboards but in a host of other venues, a visible symbol of America's divide over religion and politics. In Faith in the New Millennium, a group of leading historians explores the shifting role of religion in American politics in the age of Obama, shedding new and fascinating light on the interplay of faith and politics. Each of the sixteen contributors examines a contemporary issue, controversy, or policy through a historical lens. In an age of the 24-hour-news-cycle, where complexity is often buried under bluster, these essays make a powerful case for understanding the stories behind the news. They tackle such topics as immigration reform, racial turmoil, drone wars, foreign policy, and the unstoppable rise of social media. Taken together, they reveal how faith is shaping modern America, and how modern America is shaping faith.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199372720
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/24/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	878 KB

About the Author

Matthew Avery Sutton is the Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of History at Washington State University. He is the author of, most recently, American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism. Darren Dochuk is Associate Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors Introduction I. POLITICS 1. The Founding Fathers in Modern America by Kate Carte Engel 2. Slavery and Religion in (Not Just) a Christian Nation by Edward J. Blum 3. Religion and the "Outsider" Candidates by Charles F. Irons 4. African American Religious Conservatives in the New Millennium by Anthea Butler 5. Barack Hussein Obama: America's First Muslim President? by Rebecca Anne Goetz II. POLICY 6. From Drone War to Indian War: Protecting (and Liberating) Innocent Women and Children by Jennifer Graber 7. Crude Awakenings in the Age of Oil by Darren Dochuk 8. The Welfare of Faith by Alison Collis Greene 9. Latino/a Religious Communities and Immigration in Modern America by Arlene Sanchez-Walsh 10. Teaching about Religion in Red State America by Mark Chancey 11. America's World Mission in the Age of Obama by Andrew Preston III. RELIGION 12. Between Hope and Despair: Obama and Evangelical Politics by Steven P. Miller 13. Secrets and the Making of Mormon Moments by J. Spencer Fluhman 14. Preparing for Doomsday by Matthew Avery Sutton 15. The Rise of the Nones by Matthew S. Hedstrom 16. The Blessings of American Pluralism and Those Who Rail Against It by Kevin M. Schultz Afterword: Amanda Porterfield

Editorial Reviews

"[B]oth scholarly and popular audiences will benefit from the ways in which Faith in the New Millennium demonstrates the complexities and contingencies of religion in public life. In contrast to sensationalized accounts of contemporary secularization, the book proves that religion remains an evolving rather than eroding force in twenty-first century American politics. For those seeking a deep understanding of the causes and consequences of recent trends and transformations in the roles of religion in politics, Faith in the New Millennium will prove an accessible and incisive resource."—Brantley W. Gasaway, Journal of Church and State

"This very fine collection highlights the need for even more scholarship on the future of religion and politics-or even, for that matter, its present."—Reading Religion

"In this outstanding collection, two leading scholars of religion and politics in America's past have brought together an all-star roster of historians to discuss religion and politics in our present. Brimming with expertise and insights, Faith in the New Millennium is scholarship-in-action at its very finest." —Kevin M. Kruse, author of One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

"If such a volume is to succeed, it must be anchored by strong essays by established scholars, the academic equivalent of ringers. The editors, Darren Dochuk and Matthew Avery Sutton, more than amply fill that role, complemented by such luminaries as Edward J. Blum and Jennifer Graber." -The Christian Century

"Faith in the New Millennium provides a nuanced, comprehensive, and effective overview of the continuities and discontinuities in religion's role in American politics."—Sociology of Religion

From the Publisher