The Relgious Right has become a powerful force in American politics and society over the past 30 years. It has influenced presidential elections, sponsored constitutional amendments, and worked towards re-creating the United States along a more evangelical, fundamentalist Christian vision. Reviewed here are some recently published books about the movement and various groups and people involved.
Nowadays Christian fundamentalists play an important role in American politics, yet that hasn't always been the case - for decades they isolated themselves from the political scene. All of that changed, in the 1970s, but why did it change, and how did fundamentalism itself change because of it?
Most people realize that one of the central features of modern American fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism is a distinctive vision of gender roles both in society at large and in the family in particular. When fundamentalists are criticized, it is often on the basis of their perceived reactionary ideas about women, sex, and gender.
What is the "Bible Belt" and how did it originate? Why is it that the location of the most conservative strains of Christianity moved from New England down to the South? Much has been written about Southern evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity in America, some of it positive and some of it negative. But not a lot has been written about its very earliest origins - how a mostly Anglican region based upon money and commerce was converted to the Baptist and Methodist denominations.
Who were the "Enemies of the Enlightenment," and why it matter what they said and thought? The answers to both are intriguing, at least as presented by Darrin M. McMahon in his new book. Of particular relevancy to many will be the ways in which people today have similar motivations and goals as the "enemies" described in McMahon's book. The case against the Enlightenment has not been finalized.
Both religion and race have played important - and sometimes deeply interconnected - roles in American history. Religion was used to justify both slavery and abolition; likewise it was used to justify both segregation and desegregation. Today even conservative Christians support equality between the races, but that doesn’t mean that everything is settled or peaceful...
The Christian Right has evolved into a powerful force in American politics during the past thirty years, moving from a purely outsider movement to the ultimate insiders. How did they achieve their gains - and, in fact, what sort of real gains have they actually managed to reach?
The Christian Right in America has a deliberate agenda that involves remaking the nation into a far more religious society. They would like to transform culture, government, and family life on a fundamental level which would not be entirely consistent with democratic standards. What might be the consequences if they were actually successful?
Conflict in the Middle East has resulted in untold death, destruction and suffering. Although many have offered plausible arguments as to the social, political, and economic origins of the various conflicts, inevitably everything keeps coming back to religion: the disagreement and violence between Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This means that understanding the role of religion in these disagreements is necessary to understanding the violence itself...
When televangelists came upon the American scene in the 1980s, they had an enormous impact upon not only American culture, but also upon the wider public perception of Christianity. However, neither their methods nor their acts were original - they can in large part be traced back to Billy Sunday.
Is the separation of church and state really just a myth, something the founders never actually intended? Was the United States founded as a 'Christian Nation,' thus meaning that the current trend towards secularism represents an unacceptable break with our own history? According to the Religious Right, the answers to these questions are an unqualified 'Yes.'
