Politics, Religion and Other Stuff...

Politics, Religion and Other Stuff... PDF Author: Dan Tolva
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1640820876
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
Risky reading So how many family gatherings have been ruined by someone bringing up a particularly touchy subject and obnoxiously pressing it until relatives and friends either fled or committed assault and battery? How many Thanksgiving dinners have been spoiled by ugly political conversations or graphic descriptions of various medical problems? Well, Facebook is a lot like those family gatherings, except with a whole bunch of strangers invited. On Facebook, so-called friends do battle every day over all kinds of controversial issues, and things get so out of hand that often the most dreaded penalty imaginable in society today is imposed: “un-friending.” Such a fate befell retired newspaper editor Dan Tolva, whose conservative political bent got him detached from the page of a beloved but passionately liberal granddaughter. As a result, Tolva, who has been posting on Facebook for several years with the object of compiling his pieces for an eventual book, decided to do just that. Here’s the result, Politics, Religion and Other Stuff We’re Not Supposed to Discuss in Polite Society. Most of the topics are volatile enough that this book probably should not be brought to your next family gathering. You have been warned.

Politics, Religion and Other Stuff...

Politics, Religion and Other Stuff... PDF Author: Dan Tolva
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1640820876
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
Risky reading So how many family gatherings have been ruined by someone bringing up a particularly touchy subject and obnoxiously pressing it until relatives and friends either fled or committed assault and battery? How many Thanksgiving dinners have been spoiled by ugly political conversations or graphic descriptions of various medical problems? Well, Facebook is a lot like those family gatherings, except with a whole bunch of strangers invited. On Facebook, so-called friends do battle every day over all kinds of controversial issues, and things get so out of hand that often the most dreaded penalty imaginable in society today is imposed: “un-friending.” Such a fate befell retired newspaper editor Dan Tolva, whose conservative political bent got him detached from the page of a beloved but passionately liberal granddaughter. As a result, Tolva, who has been posting on Facebook for several years with the object of compiling his pieces for an eventual book, decided to do just that. Here’s the result, Politics, Religion and Other Stuff We’re Not Supposed to Discuss in Polite Society. Most of the topics are volatile enough that this book probably should not be brought to your next family gathering. You have been warned.

Religion and Politics in the Contemporary United States

Religion and Politics in the Contemporary United States PDF Author: R. Marie Griffith
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801895316
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 750

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection of essays from a special issue of American Quarterly explores the complex and sometimes contradictory ways that religion matters in contemporary public life. Religion and Politics in the Contemporary United States offers a groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary conversation between scholars in American studies and religious studies. The contributors explore numerous modes through which religious faith has mobilized political action. They utilize a variety of definitions of politics, ranging from lobbying by religious leaders to the political impact of popular culture. Their work includes the political activities of a very diverse group of religious believers: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and others. In addition, the book explores the meanings of religion for people who might contest the term—those who are spiritual but not religious, for example, as well as activists who engage symbols of faith and community but who may not necessarily consider themselves members of a specific religion. Several essays also examine the meanings of secular identity, humanist politics, and the complex evocations of civil religion in American life. No other book on religion and politics includes anything like the diversity of religions, ethnicities, and topics that this one does—from Mormon political mobilization to attempts at Americanizing Muslims in the post-9/11 United States, from César Chávez to James Dobson, from interreligious cooperation and conflict over Darfur to the global politics surrounding the category of Hindus and South Asians in the United States.

From Politics to the Pews

From Politics to the Pews PDF Author: Michele F. Margolis
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022655581X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 307

Get Book Here

Book Description
One of the most substantial divides in American politics is the “God gap.” Religious voters tend to identify with and support the Republican Party, while secular voters generally support the Democratic Party. Conventional wisdom suggests that religious differences between Republicans and Democrats have produced this gap, with voters sorting themselves into the party that best represents their religious views. Michele F. Margolis offers a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom, arguing that the relationship between religion and politics is far from a one-way street that starts in the church and ends at the ballot box. Margolis contends that political identity has a profound effect on social identity, including religion. Whether a person chooses to identify as religious and the extent of their involvement in a religious community are, in part, a response to political surroundings. In today’s climate of political polarization, partisan actors also help reinforce the relationship between religion and politics, as Democratic and Republican elites stake out divergent positions on moral issues and use religious faith to varying degrees when reaching out to voters.

God Is Not Great

God Is Not Great PDF Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551991764
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

When Religion Becomes Lethal

When Religion Becomes Lethal PDF Author: Charles Kimball
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118030567
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
A compelling look at today's complex relationship between religion and politics In his second book, bestselling author Charles Kimball addresses the urgent global problem of the interplay between fundamentalist Abrahamic religions and politics and moves beyond warning signs (the subject of his first book) to the dangerous and lethal outcomes that their interaction can produce. Drawing on his extensive personal and professional knowledge of, experience with and access to all three traditions, Kimball's explanation of the multiple ways religion and politics interconnect within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam will illuminate the problems and give readers a hopeful vision for how to chart a safer course into a precarious future. Kimball is the author of When Religion Becomes Evil, one of the most acclaimed post 9/11 books on terrorism and religion Reveals why religion so often leads to deadly results The author has scholarly knowledge and expertise and extensive personal experience with the peoples, cultures, and leaders involved Readable and engaging, this book gives a clear picture of today's complex political and religious reality and offers hope for the future.

Evangelical Worship

Evangelical Worship PDF Author: Melanie C. Ross
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019753077X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
Say the words "evangelical worship" to anyone in the United States -- even if they are not particularly religious -- and a picture will likely spring to mind unbidden: a mass of white, middle-class worshippers with eyes closed, faces tilted upward, and hands raised to the sky. Yet despite the centrality of this image, many scholars have underestimated evangelical worship as little more than a manipulative effort to arouse devotional exhilaration. It is frequently dismissed as a reiteration of nineteenth-century revivalism or a derivative imitation of secular entertainment -- three Christian rock songs and a spiritual TED talk. But by failing to engage this worship seriously, we miss vital insights into a form of Protestantism that exerts widespread influence in the United States and around the world. Evangelical Worship offers a new way forward in the study of American evangelical Christianity. Weaving together insights from American religious history and liturgical studies, and drawing on extensive fieldwork in seven congregations, Melanie C. Ross brings contemporary evangelical worship to life. She argues that corporate worship is not a peripheral "extra" tacked on to a fully-formed spiritual, political, and cultural movement, but rather the crucible through which congregations forge, argue over, and enact their unique contributions to the American mosaic known as evangelicalism.

For God's Sake

For God's Sake PDF Author: Antony Loewenstein
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Aus.
ISBN: 1743289138
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 359

Get Book Here

Book Description
Four Australian thinkers come together to ask and answer the big questions, such as: What is the nature of the universe? Doesn't religion cause most of the conflict in the world? and Where do we find hope? We are introduced to the detail of different belief systems - Judaism, Christianity, Islam - and to the argument that atheism, like organised religion, has its own compelling logic. And we gain insight into the life events that led each author to their current position. Jane Caro flirted briefly with spiritual belief, inspired by 19th century literary heroines such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontë sisters. Antony Lowenstein is proudly culturally, yet unconventionally, Jewish. Simon Smart is firmly and resolutely a Christian, but one who has had some of his most profound spiritual moments while surfing. Rachel Woodlock grew up in the alternative embrace of Baha'i belief but became entranced by its older parent religion, Islam. Provocative, informative and passionately argued, For God's Sake encourages us to accept religious differences but to also challenge more vigorously the beliefs that create discord.

One Faith No Longer

One Faith No Longer PDF Author: George Yancey
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479808660
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
Irreconcilable differences drive the division between progressive and conservative Christians—is there a divorce coming? Much attention has been paid to political polarization in America, but far less to the growing schism between progressive and conservative Christians. In this groundbreaking new book, George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk offer the provocative contention that progressive and conservative Christianities have diverged so much in their core values that they ought to be thought of as two separate religions. The authors draw on both quantitative data and interviews to uncover how progressive and conservative Christians determine with whom they align themselves religiously, and how they distinguish themselves from each other. They find that progressive Christians emphasize political agreement relating to social justice issues as they determine who is part of their in-group, and focus less on theological agreement. Among conservative Christians, on the other hand, the major concern is whether one agrees with them on core theological points. Progressive and conservative Christians thus use entirely different factors in determining their social identity and moral values. In a time when religion and politics have never seemed so intertwined, One Faith No Longer offers a timely and compelling reframing of an age-old conflict.

American Grace

American Grace PDF Author: Robert D. Putnam
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416566732
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 720

Get Book Here

Book Description
Based on two new studies, "American Grace" examines the impact of religion on American life and explores how that impact has changed in the last half-century.

In Defence of Politics

In Defence of Politics PDF Author: Bernard R. Crick
Publisher: Chicago : University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226120645
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Get Book Here

Book Description