Terror in the Mind of God by
Beneath the histories of religious traditions--from biblical wars to crusading ventures and great acts of martyrdom--violence has lurked as a shadowy presence. Images of death have never been far from the heart of religion's power to stir the imagination. In this wide-ranging and erudite book, Mark Juergensmeyer asks one of the most important and perplexing questions of our age: Why do religious people commit violent acts in the name of their god, taking the lives of innocent victims and terrorizing entire populations? This, the first comparative study of religious terrorism, explores incidents such as the World Trade Center explosion, Hamas suicide bombings, the Tokyo subway nerve gas attack, and the killing of abortion clinic doctors in the United States. Incorporating personal interviews with World Trade Center bomber Mahmud Abouhalima, Christian Right activist Mike Bray, Hamas leaders Sheik Yassin and Abdul Azis Rantisi, and Sikh political leader Simranjit Singh Mann, among others, Juergensmeyer takes us into the mindset of those who perpetrate and support violent acts. In the process, he helps us understand why these acts are often associated with religious causes and why they occur with such frequency at this moment in history. "Terror in the Mind of God" places these acts of violence in the context of global political and social changes, and posits them as attempts to empower the cultures of violence that support them. Juergensmeyer analyzes the economic, ideological, and gender-related dimensions of cultures that embrace a central sacred concept--cosmic war--and that employ religion to demonize their enemies. Juergensmeyer's narrative is engaging, incisive, and sweeping in scope. He convincingly shows that while, in many cases, religion supplies not only the ideology but also the motivation and organizational structure for the perpetrators of violent acts, it also carries with it the possibilities for peace. "Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of 2000"
Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, Set by
The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America harvests the fruits of 25 years of scholarship on the history and current state of women's religious experience in North America. The result of a five-year project led by Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruether and funded by the Lilly Endowment and the Henry Luce Foundation, the encyclopedia marshals the talents of more than 150 scholars to produce the most comprehensive and up-to-date description and analysis of women and religion in North America. The encyclopedia is interreligious, interracial, and multicultural and is aimed at a broad general audience. Instead of hundreds of short entries, this encyclopedia features more than 145 longer essays that enable major themes to be developed more fully. The articles focus on institutions, movements, and ideas. The authors weave biographical sketches into their articles to give them a more personal and humanizing quality, and to recognize the women responsible for the gains made over the centuries. The essays demonstrate that neither the story of women nor the story of religion in North America can be accurately told unless the religious experience of women is integrated into the center of women's and religious history. These well-illustrated volumes will be an essential reference for all of those interested in the role of women in North America's vibrant and complex religious life.
Religion in America Since 1945 by
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.
The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief by
Successor to the highly acclaimed Encyclopedia of Unbelief (1985), edited by the late Gordon Stein, the New Encyclopedia of Unbelief is a comprehensive reference work on the history, beliefs, and thinking of America's fastest growing minority: those who live without religion. All-new articles by the field's foremost scholars describe and explain every aspect of atheism, agnosticism, secular humanism, secularism, and religious skepticism. Topics include morality without religion, unbelief in the historicity of Jesus, critiques of intelligent design theory, unbelief and sexual values, and summaries of the state of unbelief around the world. In addition to covering developments since the publication of the original edition, the New Encyclopedia of Unbelief includes a larger number of biographical entries and much-expanded coverage of the linkages between unbelief and social reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the labor movement, woman suffrage, anarchism, sex radicalism, and second-wave feminism. More than 130 respected scholars and activists worldwide served on the editorial board and over 100 authoritative contributors have written in excess of 500 entries. The distinguished advisors and contributors--philosophers, scientists, scholars, and Nobel Prize laureates--include Joe Barnhart, David Berman, Sir Hermann Bondi, Vern L. Bullough, Daniel Dennett, Taner Edis, the late Paul Edwards, Antony Flew, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Peter Hare, Van Harvey, R. Joseph Hoffmann, Susan Jacoby, Paul Kurtz, Gerd Lüdemann, Michael Martin, Kai Nielsen, Robert M. Price, Peter Singer, Victor Stenger, Ibn Warraq, George A. Wells, David Tribe, Sherwin Wine, and many others. With a foreword by evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins, this unparalleled reference work provides comprehensive knowledge about unbelief in its many varieties and manifestations.
Islam in America by
This richly textured, critically acclaimed portrait of American Muslims introduces the basic tenets of the Muslim faith, surveys the history of Islam in North America, and profiles the lifestyles, religious practices, and worldviews of Muslims in the United States. The volume focuses specifically on the difficulty of living faithfully and adhering to tradition while adapting to an American way of life and addresses the role of women in Muslim culture, the raising and education of children, appropriate dress and behavior, and incidences of prejudice and unfair treatment. The second edition of Islam in America features a new chapter on post-9/11 realities, which covers infringements on civil rights and profiling, participation in politics, transformations in Islamic law, pluralism and identity issues, foreign influences, anti-Islamic sentiment, intra-Islamic tensions, and the quest for a moderate Islam. Source notes, glossary, and additional resources also reflect recent developments and scholarship.
Why Waco?: Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America by
"[This] intelligent, thoroughly documented study, is especially important given the battle for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Congressional hearings on Waco." --Library Journal
A Religious History of the American People by
This classic work, winner of the 1973 National Book Award in Philosophy and Religion and Christian Century's choice as the Religious Book of the Decade (1979), is now issued with a new chapter by noted religious historian David Hall, who carries the story of American religious history forward to the present day." (2004)
The Politics of Latino Faith by
Faith-based organizations appear to inform daily life and politics in Latino communities to a considerable degree. Wilson concentrates on urban areas in the South Bronx, Philadelphia, and Chicago to provide a systematic look at the spiritual, social, and cultural influence Latino faith-based organizations have provided in American life and how pivotal religious identity is in understanding Latino social and political involvement in the United States.
Mormon America by
In this candid examination of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of America's leading religion journalists covers every aspect of this community of faith whose family values, business success, and evangelistic missions have helped it become one of the world's fastest growing religions.
Plain Diversity: Amish Cultures and Identities by
"Plain and simple. American popular culture has embraced a singular image of Amish culture that is immune to the complexities of the modern world: one-room school houses, horses and buggies, sound and simple morals, and unfaltering faith. But these stereotypes dangerously oversimplify a rich and diverse culture."
New Historical Atlas of Religion in America by
This latest edition of a classic reference work is a portrait of the growth, development, and diversity of America's communities of faith across nearly 400 years. Here is a vastly more complex American religious life--from the decline of mainstream Protestantism to the emergence of evangelical churches and the growing influence of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other faiths.
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An Act of Love by
This award-winning film addresses the emotional intersections of religious tradition, LGBTQ rights, and family ties.
America's First Synagogues
"Tells the story of the Jewish pilgrims who founded Congregation Shearith Israel-a 'Remnant of Israel'-in 1654 in the Dutch trading post of New Amsterdam, modern day New York City. Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI, built in 1763, is the oldest continual Jewish house of worship in the U.S. Viewers will also learn about the history of Sephardic Jews who fled to the New World to escape the Spanish Inquisition...."
American Conscience The Reinhold Niebuhr Story by
"Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer remains one of the most quoted writings in American literature. Yet Niebuhr's impact was far greater, as presidents and civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. often turned to Niebuhr's writings for guidance and inspiration on the most volatile political and social issues of the 20th century. Niebuhr rose from a small Midwest church pulpit to become the nation's moral voice - an American conscience -during some of the most defining moments in American history."
American Jesus: by
"A vivid mosaic of personalities and conflicting points of view that emerges as a portrait of an America yearning for solace and meaning in the modern world, this film is a chronicle of the sometimes bizarre relationship between faith, materialism, politics and personal passions in this uniquely American tableaux."
An American Mosque by
"When the Islamic Center of Yuba City, CA, was burned to the ground in 1994, it was the first arson to destroy a mosque in US history. The film's narrators speak to Muslims' trust in the Constitution and how the rebuilding of their mosque is a lived testament to religious liberty. The film frames this small town story as representative of a larger struggle to protect America's core values."
American Mystic by
"...braids together the stories of three young Americans who have chosen to sacrifice comforts in order to embrace the fringes of alternative religion. The subjects include Chuck, a Lakota Sioux sundancer in the badlands of South Dakota; Morpheus, a pagan priestess living off the grid in northern California!s old mining country; and Kublai, a Spiritualist medium in the former revivalist district of upstate New York.."
The Amish: People of Preservation by
"Mennonite historian John L. Ruth takes us sympathetically into the Amish mindset. Appreciative neighbors, a well-known physician, an artist, and respected scholar John A. Hostetler, author of Amish Society, provide insightful commentary on the survival of an alternative to the kind of world we have made."
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America by
With their use of the Yiddish language, their distinctive clothes and their strict observance to Jewish ritual and law, the Hasidim are considered by many an insular people with little connection to mainstream America. And yet their values are those that many Americans find most precious: family, community and a life of meaning.
Mooz-lum by
Pulled between his strict Muslim upbringing by his father and the normal social life he's never had, Tariq Mahdi enters college in a state of confusion. New relationships with Muslims and non-Muslims alike challenge his already shaken ideals, but when the attacks of 9/11 happen, he is forced to face his past.