Contemporary American Religion An Ethnographic Reader

by Edgell, Penny; Eiesland, Nancy L.

• ISBN13: 9780761991960
• ISBN10: 0761991964
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-11-11
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

No single narrative or theory can describe the varieties of religious experience in North America today. The tidy dichotomies of liberal/ conservative, public/private, local/global, and renewal/secularization make little sense once specific congregations are examined closely. To understand the shifting boundaries of contemporary religious expressions, new tools are needed. Contemporary American Religion collects qualitative, on-the-ground studies of local congregations by up-and-coming religious scholars. Ethnography combined with more traditional sociological methods, help make sense of complex religious communities--from Messianic Jews to evangelical feminists, from Gospel Hour at a gay bar to exurban megachurches. This collection covers a wide span of the religious landscape, always trying to uncover new theoretical insights. Essential reading for classes in sociology of religion, contemporary American religion, and anthropology of religion.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 7
About the Authors	p. 9
Introduction: Developing Interpretations: Ethnography and the Restructuring of Knowledge in a Changing Field	p. 15
Managing Strain, Contradictions, and Fluidity: Messianic Judaism and the Negotiation of a Religio-Ethnic Identity	p. 25
Struggles for Mutual Reverence: Social Strategies and Religious Stories	p. 51
The Gospel Hour: Liminality, Identity, and Religion in a Gay Bar	p. 79
To Stay or to Leave? Organizational Legitimacy in the Struggle for Change among Evangelical Feminists	p. 99
What is Right? What is Caring? Moral Logics in Local Religious Life	p. 121
Splitting Interests or Common Causes: Styles of Moral Reasoning in Opposing Abortion	p. 147
The Church and the Street: Race, Class, and Congregation	p. 169
Contending with a Giant: The Impact of a Megachurch on Exurban Religious Institutions	p. 191
The Religious Construction of a Global Identity: An Ethnographic Look at the Atlanta Baha'i Community	p. 221
Conclusion: The Cultural Turn: Stories, Logics, and the Quest for Identity in American Religion	p. 245
Index	p. 267
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