Religion in America Since 1945

by Allitt, Patrick

• ISBN13: 9780231121552
• ISBN10: 0231121555
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Moving far beyond the realm of traditional "church history," Patrick Allitt here offers a vigorous and erudite survey of the broad canvas of American religion since World War II. Identifying the major trends and telling moments within major denominations and also in less formal religious movements, he asks how these religious groups have shaped, and been shaped by, some of the most important and divisive issues and events of the last half century: the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, feminism and the sexual revolution, abortion rights, the antinuclear and environmentalist movements, and many others. Allitt argues that the boundaries between religious and political discourse have become increasingly blurred in the last fifty years. Having been divided along denominational lines in the early postwar period, religious Americans had come by the 1980s to be divided along political lines instead, as they grappled with the challenges of modernity and secularism. Partly because of this politicization, and partly because of the growing influence of Asian, Latino, and other ethnic groups, the United States is anomalous among the Western industrialized nations, as church membership and religious affiliation generally increased during this period. Religion in America Since 1945 is a masterful analysis of this dynamism and diversity and an ideal starting point for any exploration of the contemporary religious scene.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Anxious Victory: 1945--1952	1	(20)
The War's End	1	(4)
The American Religious Landscape	5	(7)
Cold War of the Spirit	12	(4)
Spiritual Peace in the 1940s	16	(5)
Religion and Materialism: 1950--1970	21	(22)
Fighting Godless Communism	21	(5)
Religious Intellectuals in the 1950s	26	(5)
Eisenhower Spirituality	31	(2)
Church Buildings	33	(10)
Religion, Respect, and Social Change: 1955--1968	43	(22)
African American Religion	44	(3)
The Civil Rights Movement Begins	47	(5)
White Christians and Civil Rights	52	(3)
Nonviolence in Decline	55	(4)
Mormon America	59	(6)
New Frontiers and Old Boundaries: 1960--1969	65	(22)
The Catholic President	65	(3)
The Supreme Court and Religion in Schools	68	(2)
Vietnam, Part I	70	(2)
Radical Theology	72	(8)
Catholic Reform	80	(7)
Shaking the Foundations: 1963--1972	87	(29)
American Judaism	87	(13)
Vietnam, Part II	100	(7)
Catholic Challenges to Church Discipline	107	(4)
African American Religion After King	111	(5)
Alternative Religious Worlds: 1967--1982	116	(32)
Space Travel	116	(6)
Feminism and Ministry	122	(5)
Feminist Theology	127	(6)
New Religions, ``Cults,'' and Their Critics	133	(7)
Asian Spirituality in American Dress	140	(8)
Evangelicals and Politics: 1976--1990	148	(22)
Jimmy Carter and the Evangelical Presidency	148	(2)
The New Christian Right and the Reagan Campaign	150	(9)
The Abortion Controversy	159	(5)
Wives and Mothers	164	(6)
The Christian Quest for Justice and Wisdom: 1980--1995	170	(21)
The Antinuclear Movement	171	(3)
Sanctuary	174	(6)
Creationism and Evolution	180	(5)
Christian Academies and Home Schooling	185	(6)
Profits, Profligates, and Prophets: 1987--1995	191	(17)
The Evangelical Scandals	191	(4)
A Minister in the White House?	195	(3)
American Islam	198	(10)
The New World Order: 1989--1999	208	(23)
End of the Cold War	208	(4)
Religion and Violence	212	(5)
Environmental Spirituality	217	(10)
Megachurches	227	(4)
Fears, Threats, and Promises: 1990--2000	231	(21)
Homosexuality and Religion	231	(10)
Promise Keepers	241	(5)
Millennial Expectation	246	(6)
The New Millennium: 2001	252	(15)
Religion at Ground Zero	252	(7)
Conclusion	259	(8)
Notes	267	(18)
Bibliography	285	(16)
Index	301