Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook468 pages4 hours
Secular Faith: How Culture Has Trumped Religion in American Politics
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
When Pope Francis recently answered “Who am I to judge?” when asked about homosexuality, he ushered in a new era for the Catholic church. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a pope to express tolerance for homosexuality. Yet shifts of this kind are actually common in the history of Christian groups. Within the United States, Christian leaders have regularly revised their teachings to match the beliefs and opinions gaining support among their members and larger society.
Mark A. Smith provocatively argues that religion is not nearly the unchanging conservative influence in American politics that we have come to think it is. In fact, in the long run, religion is best understood as responding to changing political and cultural values rather than shaping them. Smith makes his case by charting five contentious issues in America’s history: slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women’s rights. For each, he shows how the political views of even the most conservative Christians evolved in the same direction as the rest of society—perhaps not as swiftly, but always on the same arc. During periods of cultural transition, Christian leaders do resist prevailing values and behaviors, but those same leaders inevitably acquiesce—often by reinterpreting the Bible—if their positions become no longer tenable. Secular ideas and influences thereby shape the ways Christians read and interpret their scriptures.
So powerful are the cultural and societal norms surrounding us that Christians in America today hold more in common morally and politically with their atheist neighbors than with the Christians of earlier centuries. In fact, the strongest predictors of people’s moral beliefs are not their religious commitments or lack thereof but rather when and where they were born. A thoroughly researched and ultimately hopeful book on the prospects for political harmony, Secular Faith demonstrates how, over the long run, boundaries of secular and religious cultures converge.
Mark A. Smith provocatively argues that religion is not nearly the unchanging conservative influence in American politics that we have come to think it is. In fact, in the long run, religion is best understood as responding to changing political and cultural values rather than shaping them. Smith makes his case by charting five contentious issues in America’s history: slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women’s rights. For each, he shows how the political views of even the most conservative Christians evolved in the same direction as the rest of society—perhaps not as swiftly, but always on the same arc. During periods of cultural transition, Christian leaders do resist prevailing values and behaviors, but those same leaders inevitably acquiesce—often by reinterpreting the Bible—if their positions become no longer tenable. Secular ideas and influences thereby shape the ways Christians read and interpret their scriptures.
So powerful are the cultural and societal norms surrounding us that Christians in America today hold more in common morally and politically with their atheist neighbors than with the Christians of earlier centuries. In fact, the strongest predictors of people’s moral beliefs are not their religious commitments or lack thereof but rather when and where they were born. A thoroughly researched and ultimately hopeful book on the prospects for political harmony, Secular Faith demonstrates how, over the long run, boundaries of secular and religious cultures converge.
Unavailable
Read more from Mark A. Smith
"No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar": Sherman's Carolinas Campaign from Fayetteville to Averasboro, March 1865 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"To Prepare for Sherman's Coming": The Battle of Wise's Forks, March 1865 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Secular Faith: How Culture Has Trumped Religion in American Politics Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5American Business and Political Power: Public Opinion, Elections, and Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Right Talk: How Conservatives Transformed the Great Society into the Economic Society Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Engineering Security: The Corps of Engineers and Third System Defense Policy, 1815–1861 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Secular Faith
Related ebooks
Putting Liberalism in Its Place Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaithful Republic: Religion and Politics in Modern America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, the Roaring Twenties and Today's Culture Wars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Electing Not to Vote: Christian Reflections on Reasons for Not Voting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEconomy, Difference, Empire: Social Ethics for Social Justice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCity of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Capitalist-Christian Contradiction: God Against Greed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligion in America Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Church and Religious Persecution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSub-merge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRedeeming America: Piety and Politics in the New Christian Right Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGods and Arms: On Religion and Armed Conflict Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristian Ethics as Witness: Barth's Ethics for a World at Risk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOpen for Liberation: An Activist Reads the Bible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust Peace Theory Book One: Spiritual Morality, Radical Love, and the Public Conversation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Spiritual Capital Matters: Activating Latent Resources in Your Organizational Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligion and Violence: A Dialectical Engagement through the Insights of Bernard Lonergan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of White Trash: by Nancy Isenberg | Includes Analysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrossing the Divide: A Call To Embrace Diversity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFort Dodge: 1850 to 1970 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMethodism and American Empire: Reflections on Decolonizing the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristian Socialism: The Promise of an Almost Forgotten Tradition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCritical Thinking and Defending the Biblical Worldview Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Messenger: Friendship, Faith, and Finding One’s Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Deal & Modern American Conservatism: A Defining Rivalry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCulture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For a Better Worldliness: Abraham Kuyper, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Discipleship for the Common Good Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChanging Borders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Politics For You
The Anarchist Cookbook Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Spook Who Sat by the Door, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race: The Sunday Times Bestseller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Closing of the American Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Secular Faith
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
2 ratings0 reviews