Religion And Public Life In The Southern Crossroads

An overview of public religion in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The South has always been one of the most distinctive regions of the United States, with its own set of traditions and a turbulent history. Although often associated with cotton, hearty food, and rich dialects, the South is also noted for its strong sense of religion, which has significantly shaped its history. Dramatic political, social, and economic events have often shaped the development of southern religion, making the nuanced dissection of the religious history of the region a difficult undertaking. For instance, segregation and the subsequent civil rights movement profoundly affected churches in the South as they sought to mesh the tenets of their faith with the prevailing culture. Editors Walter H. Conser and Rodger M. Payne and the book’s contributors place their work firmly in the trend of modern studies of southern religion that analyze cultural changes to gain a better understanding of religion’s place in southern culture now and in the future. Southern Crossroads: Perspectives on Religion and Culture takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach that explores the intersection of religion and various aspects of southern life. The volume is organized into three sections, such as “Religious Aspects of Southern Culture,” that deal with a variety of topics, including food, art, literature, violence, ritual, shrines, music, and interactions among religious groups. The authors survey many combinations of religion and culture, with discussions ranging from the effect of Elvis Presley’s music on southern spirituality to yard shrines in Miami to the archaeological record of African American slave religion. The book explores the experiences of immigrant religious groups in the South, also dealing with the reactions of native southerners to the groups arriving in the region. The authors discuss the emergence of religious and cultural acceptance, as well as some of the apparent resistance to this development, as they explore the experiences of Buddhist Americans in the South and Jewish foodways. Southern Crossroads also looks at distinct markers of religious identity and the role they play in gender, politics, ritual, and violence. The authors address issues such as the role of women in Southern Baptist churches and the religious overtones of lynching, with its themes of blood sacrifice and atonement. Southern Crossroads offers valuable insights into how southern religion is studied and how people and congregations evolve and adapt in an age of constant cultural change.

In July 2002 chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court had a two-ton monument of the Ten Commandments placed into the rotunda of the Montgomery state judicial building. But this action is only a recent case in the long history of religiously inspired public movements in the American South. From the Civil War to the Scopes Trial to the Moral Majority, white Southern evangelicals have taken ideas they see as drawn from the Christian Scriptures and tried to make them into public law. But blacks, women, subregions, and other religious groups too vie for power within and outside this Southern Religious Establishment. Religion and Public Life in the South gives voice to both the establishment and its dissenters and shows why more than any other region of the country, religion drives public debate in the South.

Not just in the middle geographically, the Midwest represents the American average in terms of beliefs, attitudes, and values. The region's religious portrait matches the national religious portrait more closely than any other region. But far from making the Midwest dull, "average" means most every religious group and religious issue are represented in this region. Unlike other volumes in the series, Religion and Public Life in the Midwest includes a chapter devoted to a single city (Chicago), a chapter on a single Mainline Protestant denomination (Lutherans), and a chapter on religious variations in urban, surburan, and rural settings. This fourth book in the Religion by Region series does not neglect the pervasive image of the "typical" Midwesterner, but it does let the region's marbled religious diversity come through.

An overview of public religion in Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC.

This book is the seventh and final volume in the Global Story of Christianity series. The volume’s chapters, written by major scholars in the field, spotlight vital episodes and themes for understanding the historical development of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Serving as an accessible text for students and an informative volume for scholars, the book provides new insights into Christianity’s development in North America, offering fresh perspectives on topics frequently overlooked by scholars. The book situates the history of North American Christianity within broader themes associated with Christianity’s role as a global religion.

Although stoical New Englanders may not be showy about it, religion continues to play a powerful role in their culture. In fact, their very reticence to discuss religion may stem from long-standing religious divisions in the region. Examining Catholics and Protestants, as well as Conservative Protestants, African Americans, and Jews, this third volume in the Religion by Region series provides a very readable account of religion in this most regional of U.S. regions.

Over the last 25 years, there has been much talk of the presumed decline in religious participation in America. In addition, from the 1960s on, surveys that mark the influence of religion in American life have shown a mixed response. Many suggest that religion is losing influence in the culture as a whole; others indicate that while organized religion may be experiencing challenges, spirituality is on the upswing. At the same time, however, there have been signs that religious life in the U.S. is extraordinarily healthy. But religion in America has changed, to be sure, in a number of ways. And it has changed us and our culture in return. This timely set looks at the major forces that are changing the shape of religion in American life. With an influx of immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and other regions, the diversity of religion has grown to include Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and other faiths. Latin American and African American communities have experienced changes in the ways they practice their faith and in turn influence American culture in general. Women have entered the clergy in record numbers, and the push for allowing women and gays to enter the clergy in religions that limit or prohibit their roles is on the increase. In addition, gay couples are leading the same-sex marriage movement, and other social issues such as abortion, stem-cell research, end of life care, etc., are still being debated. Interest over how people actually live out their religion or spirituality has mushroomed in recent decades, thanks in part to the information revolution and popular culture. What folks do when they gather together to worship, and where they come together, has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet and the role of sports in American life. So much has changed, and faith in America has become more important than ever—as part of our culture, our way of life, and the way we relate to each other and the world around us. The essays found in these pages shed light on our understanding of these transformations and help us comprehend the enormous role of religion in our society and in our world.