Religion and politics Books

Book SynopsisA look inside one of America''s most politically consequential churchesMark Driscoll, the founding pastor of Seattle''s Mars Hill Church, indelibly impacted American evangelicalism. Driscoll''s brash, authoritarian, and profanity-laden leadership grew Mars Hill Church into one of the fastest growing, most innovative, and most influential churches in the country--not an easy task in one of America''s most secular cities. Driscoll''s gender theology put men at the forefront of American Christianity, rebranding Jesus from a gay hippie in a dress to a sword-carrying, robe-dipped-in-blood warrior. This type of rhetoric paved the way for evangelicals'' embrace of hypermasculine Christianity, priming the pump for their unprecedented support of Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections.Making Christianity Manly Again places Driscoll''s gender theology in its social and historical contexts and analyzes the contemporary social patterns that explain how a hypermasculine theology heTrade ReviewMaking Christianity Manly Again is a powerful addition to the literature on American evangelicalism, gender, and Christian nationalism in the Trump era. McKinney's meticulous analysis of Mark Driscoll's sermons and writings generates an illuminating picture of his misogynistic theology and view of the U.S. as a "pussified nation." Her in-depth interviews show how Mars Hill church members experienced and lived out that theology (successfully or not) in their daily lives. An impressively researched and highly informative book. * R. Marie Griffith, author of Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics *As US politics increasingly reveals intertwined relations of religion and masculinity, there is a great need for careful social analysis. In Making Christianity Manly Again, Jennifer McKinney—one of the most seasoned observers of this scene—provides a careful and detailed account of the high-profile rise and fall of an icon of the times. Its pages reveal deep insights into broad questions that should concern us all. * Stewart M. Hoover, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Media Studies and the Department of Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder *Jennifer McKinney's Making Christianity Manly Again is a devastating account of a cultural car wreck. The man driving the car, Mark Driscoll, is both the maestro and engineer of its demise, with enough talent to attract money and followers, but with an ego that consumes everything in its tracks. McKinney shows the self-destructive and catastrophic nature of how a religion of the poor and peacemaker became an engine for money and manhood. This must-read book startles with details and testimony to the tragedy of an American evangelical church and its whoring after power, treasure, and empire. * Jim Wellman, author of High on God: How Megachurches Won the Heart of America *This is a solid study of a very influential church, resting on an interesting theoretical foundation. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Pussified Nation Chapter One: Evangelicals and Gender: The Road to Mars Hill Chapter Two: Real Men (Don't Wear Sweater-Vests) Chapter Three: Real Women: Wives, Mothers, and Lovers Chapter Four: Real Family: Dating and Marriage Chapter Five: Real Consequences Conclusion: Question Mark Notes Appendix A Bibliography

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Book SynopsisLearning how to live in today''s new social and cultural environment will require examination, trial and error, and adaptation over time. But there are ways to live with integrity and follow Christ today, even in a negative world.From a peak in church attendance in the mid-20th century, Christianity has been on a trajectory of decline in the United States. Once positive toward Christianity and Christian moral teachings, cultural shifts toward the mid-90s led many to adopt a more neutral tone toward the Christian faith, seeing it as one option among many in a pluralistic public square. Today, however, Christianity is viewed negatively, and being known as a Christian often means a lower social status in elite society. Christian morality is openly repudiated and viewed as a threat to the new moral order.In Life in the Negative World, author Aaron M. Renn looks at the lessons from Christian cultural engagement over the past 70 years and suggests s

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Book SynopsisThe basic point of the secular in the modern West is to liberate certain pursuits--the state, the economy, science--from the authority of religion. This is also assumed to be the goal and meaning of secular in Islam. Sherman Jackson argues, however, that that assumption is wrong. In Islam the secular was neither outside religion nor a rival to it. Religion, in Islam was not identical to Islam''s sacred law, or shari''ah. Nor did classical Muslim jurists see shari''ah as the all-encompassing, exclusive means of determining what is Islamic. In fact, while, as religion, Islam''s jurisdiction was unlimited, shari''ah''s jurisdiction, as a sacred law, was limited. In other words, while everything remained within the purview of the divine gaze of the God of Islam, not everything could be determined by shari''ah or on the basis of its revelatory sources. Various aspects of state-policy, the economy, science, and the like were differentiated, from shari''ah and its revelatory sources, without

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Book SynopsisClaire McGettrick is an Irish Research Council postgraduate scholar at the School of Sociology at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her research interests focus on adoption, so-called historical abuses, and related injustices in twentieth-century Ireland. She is cofounder of Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA). She jointly coordinates the multi-award-winning CLANN project with Dr Maeve O'Rourke, as well as the Magdalene Names Project (MNP), which has recorded the details of over 1,900 women who lived and died in Ireland's Magdalen laundries. Katherine O'Donnell is Associate Professor, History of Ideas, UCD School of Philosophy, Ireland, and has published widely on the history of sexuality and gender and the intellectual history of eighteenth-century Ireland. She has been principal investigator on a number of funded research projects, including gathering an archival and oral history of the Magdalen institutions funded by the Irish Research Council. Her teaching awards include the UCD President's Gold Medal for Teaching Excellence and the British Universities' Learning On-Screen Award. She has gained academic honours, including a Fulbright Fellowship and the University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor's Prize for Prose. As a member of Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR), she has shared in activist honours, including the Irish Labour Party's Thirst for Justice Award.Maeve O'Rourke is lecturer in human-rights law at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, and a graduate of University College Dublin, Harvard Law School, and Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham. She is also a barrister (England and Wales) and attorney-at-law (New York). Since 2009 she has provided pro bono legal assistance to Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and is currently co-director of the CLANN project, an evidence-gathering and advocacy collaboration between JFMR, Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA), and Hogan Lovells International, LLP. She was named UK Family Law Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2013.James M Smith is an associate professor in the English department at Boston College. He has published articles in Signs, The Journal of the History of Sexuality, Éire-Ireland, and ELH. His book, Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment (Notre Dame UP), was published in 2007 and was awarded the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Book by the American Conference for Irish Studies. With Maria Luddy, he coedited a double special issue of Éire-Ireland (Spring/Summer 2009) and the collection Children, Childhood, and Irish Society: 1500 to the Present (Four Courts Press, 2014). He recently coedited a double special issue of Éire-Ireland (Spring/Summer 2020) and the essay collection REDRESS: Ireland and Justice in Transition (forthcoming) on Transitional Justice and institutional abuse in Ireland. He is a member of the advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR).Mari Steed was one of more than 2,000 children exported from Ireland to the United States, and was born in the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork, where she also endured being part of the vaccine trials. Mari's mother spent time in a Magdalen laundry. She serves as U.S. coordinator with the Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA). In 2003 Mari cofounded Justice for Magdalens/Research (JFMR), an advocacy organisation that successfully campaigned for a state apology and restorative justice for survivors of Ireland's Magdalen laundries. She currently serves on the group's executive committee. She also serves as vice-president on the executive committee of U.S. adoptee-rights organisation Bastard Nation.Trade ReviewIn many ways, the book is a toolkit for any campaigner engaging with the political system. It exposes a political culture which can too often be frustrating, intransigent, and even cynical when faced with uncomfortable truths. * Dublin Review of Books *[A] significant, moving and powerful account ... The book is a model of social justice campaigning that uses academia, advocacy and activism. * Irish Legal News *Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries: A Campaign for Justice is rightly, lucidly and incisively critical of governmental investigations that have been inefficient and unethical. In short, this book is vital for anyhow interested in the historical arc of social policy in relation to pariah groups. It also highlights the enormous efforts of the JFMR and their continued struggle for justice. * Critical Social Policy *This is a challenging and powerfully repetitive book replete with narrative detail. By far the most compelling elements are where the authors rely on survivor experience to propel their verdict of the insouciance and imprudence of the Irish government. The authors succeed in their ambition of restoring power to the survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries. * Irish Studies *Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries: A Campaign for Justice details the group's efforts to gain apologies to Magdalene survivors from both the Catholic Church and Irish state, financial redress and comprehensive health care for survivors, and access to church and state archives for survivors seeking their personal records. * National Catholic Reporter *This brave book is an archive of an unfinished movement, a survey of the continuing harms of so-called 'historical abuse', and a set of demands for law reform and political change. In places, it is also a love letter to those who survived Ireland's Magdalene laundries. In devastating detail, it shows how Irish politicians, professionals and members of religious orders have resisted demands that these women be recognised as victims of human rights abuse. More than a description of Justice for Magdalenes' campaigning and research, it is an important challenge to official histories and excuses that stubbornly carry undeserved weight in Irish public discourse. * Máiréad Enright, University of Birmingham *The campaign for justice for the girls and women incarcerated in Magdalene laundries is one of the greatest acts of truth-telling in the recent history of Ireland. The walls of institutional denial have had to be demolished slowly and painfully, brick by brick. The experiences of those most involved in this task, so vividly detailed in this vital book, tell us so much, not just about a history that was shamefully obscured, but about the imperative for every society to really know itself. In helping the survivors to reclaim their dignity, this indispensable book also helps the rest of us to reclaim the true meaning of shared citizenship and common humanity. * Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times Journalist and Orwell Prize winner *It is impossible to describe the toxic fog of shame, distortion and indifference these writers worked through so the truth of the Magdalen Laundries could be seen in a proper light. No one wanted to know. They are my heroes. * Anne Enright, Author and winner of the 2007 Booker Prize *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Abbreviations Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and the Lives Lived There Chapter 2: Survivors Begin to Be Heard Chapter 3: Anatomy of a Campaign: The Strategies Chapter 4: Anatomy of a Campaign: Developing a Human Rights and Justice Agenda Chapter 5: Publication of the IDC Report: The Campaign Within the Campaign Chapter 6: Never Tell, Never Acknowledge (…everyone knew, but no one said) Chapter 7: Ex Gratia ‘Redress’ Chapter 8: Bringing up the Dead: Burials and Land Deals at High Park Chapter 9: Conclusion: Who Do We Want to Be? Bibliography

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Book SynopsisInside the rise of the political party, once subordinate to the IRA, that is on the brink of taking power in Ireland Sinn Féin, long widely-regarded as the political wing of the Provisional IRA, is the most popular political party in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. A movement once synonymous with a paramilitary campaign is on the brink of taking real power through purely democratic means. But if Sinn Féin has mastered the art of electoral politics, it remains strangely opaque. Who really runs the party? How is it funded? And what can we expect of it as a party of government?Aoife Moore, Irish Journalist of the Year 2021. explores these and other burning questions in The Long Game. Drawing on exclusive interviews with current and former members of Sinn Féin, she builds up a picture of a party undergoing a profound, and still incomplete, transformation. She looks at the key individuals and moments that put the party on its present course, and she explores tensions within the party and the wider republican movement.Packed with revelatory details, The Long Game is a groundbreaking telling of contemporary Ireland''s biggest and most elusive political story.

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Book SynopsisIn this rallying cry for a phlegmatic and fun brand of masculinity, Sam Delaney makes the case for a happier way of living.

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Book SynopsisIlluminates how the Rastafari movement managed to evolve in the face of severe biases Misunderstood, misappropriated, belittled: though the Rastafari feature frequently in media and culture, they have most often been misrepresented, their political and religious significance minimized. But they have not been vanquished.Charles Price's Rastafari: The Evolution of a People and Their Identity reclaims the rich history of this relatively new world religion. Charting its humble and rebellious roots in Jamaica's backcountry in the late nineteenth century to the present day, Price explains how Jamaicans' obsession with the Rastafari wavered from campaigns of violence to appeasement and cooptation. Indeed, he argues that the Rastafari as a political, religious, and cultural movement survived the biases and violence they faced through their race consciousness and uncanny ability to ride the waves of anti-colonialism and Black Power. This social movement travelTrade Review"Well-written and engaging . . . breaks new ground both in the data it analyzes and the theory it advances. Price deftly demystifies the ‘sudden’ appearance of Rastafari by showing how it is rooted in notions of black identity and African redemption." -- Ennis B. Edmonds, Donald L. Rogan Professor of Religious Studies, Kenyon College"In clear prose and with a storyteller’s disposition, Charles Price offers a detailed analysis of the emergence of collective identity of the Rastafari in Jamaica, illustrating how that collective identity is an ever-changing phenomenon, with variations across time and space. Will be a lasting contribution to the field." -- Anita Waters, Denison University"Fascinating and a pleasure to read. Charles Price makes a distinctive contribution by detailing how a Rastafari cultural gestalt emerges. Price shows how cultural patterns can have multiple origins, influences, and significance. Rastafari is a new and necessary reframing of Rastafari culture." -- Richard Salter, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

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Book SynopsisThe first major book on the uprisings in Iran in 2022 and 2023Trade Review'A document of real optimism, and a thoughtful examination of the layers of work on which political change is built.' Guardian'The question on many policymakers’ lips at the moment is: "What does Iran want?" In the past few weeks the regime has launched missile strikes on Iraq, Syria and Pakistan … But this book by the Iranian-American historian Arash Azizi seeks to answer a different question — what do Iranians want?' The Times'In What Iranians Want, Arash Azizi achieves what has eluded many historians and journalists. His retelling of historical events is precise, illuminating, while his narrative style stays informal and accessible. What Iranians Want is an important achievement and a great addition to the rich library on modern Iran.' Maziar Bahari, author of Then They Came For Me'Deeply moving, thoughtful and thought-provoking, What Iranians Want is a homage to the Iranian people, especially women, and their struggles for life and freedom.' Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran'Iran is an enigma for many people, not least because the Western media usually only scratches the surface of this multi-layered society. Arash Azizi’s book is a guide for the perplexed. Not only does he deliver on the promise that the book’s title suggests, but he also goes beyond that by trying to explain "why" Iranians are fighting for women’s rights, freedom of expression, peace…and a "normal life". A truly absorbing and enlightening book for general readers and scholars alike!' Erfan Sabeti, editorial board member, Aasoo.org‘This passionate book… the author lays out the situation in a cleareyed manner, and readers will leave with a deeper understanding of Iran’s historical and current circumstances… In a brave, disturbing book, Azizi exposes the nature of the Iranian regime and applauds the courage of its opponents.’ Kirkus Reviews'We’re told history is written by the victors – if that’s the case, the Iranian people will win out. Arash Azizi’s new book is a passionate and urgent examination of the Women, Life, Freedom movement. Azizi lays out how this movement is a culmination of events – years of the Iranian people beating back and rising above their oppressors. Not only does Azizi study the root causes of the movement, but he shows people who are yearning to be who they are, who are standing firm in their ancient history, determined to save their country, even as they retain and celebrate their diversity. This is required reading.' Neda Toloui-Semnani, author of They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents‘An Iranian in exile, Azizi reveals his love for home and country in this exposé that supports the protest movement as much as it takes a critical stance… With insider insights into the Iranian protests for freedom and dignity, What Iranians Want declares love for people who refuse to cower.’ Foreword Reviews‘A popular book that addresses an authoritarian, possibly totalitarian regime, in the Middle East is a welcome addition to the field… this book decentralised the story of Iran away from the West.’ History With Jackson

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Book SynopsisMany American Christians have come to understand their relationship to other Christian denominations and traditions through the lens of religious persecution. This book provides a historical account of these developments, showing the global, theological, and political changes that made it possible for contemporary Christians to claim that there is a global war on Christians. This book, however, does not advocate on behalf of particular repressed Christian communities, nor does it argue for the genuineness (or lack thereof) of certain Christians’ claims of persecution. Instead, this book is the first to examine the idea that there is a “global war on Christians” and its analytical implications. It does so by giving a concise history of the categories (like “martyrs”), evidence (statistics and metrics), and theologies that have come together to produce a global Christian imagination premised upon the notion of shared suffering for one’s faith. The purpose in doing so is not to deny certain instances of suffering or death; rather, it is to reflect upon the consequences for thinking about religious violence and Christianity worldwide using terms such as a “global war on Christians.”Trade Review"Jason Bruner's Imagining Persecution offers a polite, probing, and ultimately devastating deconstruction of the common American Christian belief that there is at this time a global war of persecution against Christians. This is an extraordinarily important book. In its own understated way, it raises this fundamental question—why exactly is it so important for conservative American Christians to believe they are part of a globally persecuted community?"— David P. Gushee, author of Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelism. "A significant contribution."— David Smith, author of Religious Persecution and Political Order in the United States "Persecution, Martyrdom, and Christian Identity: 7 Questions with Jason Bruner"— Sacred Matters "New Books Network - New Nooks in Christian Studies" interview with Jason Bruner— New Books Network - New Nooks in Christian StudiesTable of ContentsContents Preface 1. Coming to Terms: Christians, Martyrs, and Persecution 2. Christians, Martyrdom, and Persecution from the New Testament to the Reformation 3. Religious Persecution and American Christianity 4. A Global War on Christians? 5. The Global Politics of the Suffering Body of Christ Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisMohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar traces half a century of shifting Islamist doctrines, demonstrating that religious narratives in Iran can change rapidly, frequently, and dramatically in accordance with elites’ threat perceptions. Religious Statecraft constructs a new picture of Iranian politics in which power drives Islamist ideology.Trade Review[An] important and innovative book....a new take on an old puzzle. -- Ray Takeyh * Survival *A welcome new study on Iranian politics and the complex relationship between religion and state since the country's 1979 revolution. * Digest of Middle East Studies *Tabaar depicts Ayatollah Khomeini's nimble ability to tailor religious and nationalist ideology to outmaneuver the Shah, the Iranian Left, and factional opponents. Though unabashed in arguing that political expediency has determined the regime's selections from its toolkit of revolutionary religious doctrine, Religious Statecraft subtly portrays how factions struggle not so much to "tell people what to think" as "what to think about." -- Jack Snyder, Columbia UniversityContinually changing narratives—based on individual, factional, or regime interests rather than on any consistent or immutable commitment to Islamic teachings and principles—define the ebbs and flows of Iran’s postrevolutionary politics. As Tabaar puts it, ‘there is no such thing as political Islam. There is, however, a politics of Islam.’ Through meticulous and extensive use of official, semiofficial, independent, and oppositional media, both in Iran and abroad, Religious Statecraft illustrates and persuasively proves this argument. -- Ali Banuazizi, Boston CollegeThe politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been characterized by ideological inconsistency from its beginning. But Tabaar goes beyond describing the way in which leaders change core ideas. He advances a provocative argument that ideology does not guide decision making directly. Instead, leaders mold their principles to meet the political needs of the moment, restrained not by the contents of those ideas but largely by the need to mobilize followers. -- Nathan J. Brown, George Washington UniversityThe author constructs a refreshing, if somewhat dense and detailed, picture of Iranian politics in which power drives Islamist ideology. * Choice *The main thrust of the book is important and worth repeating, considering the world we live in. A misunderstanding of how the Iranian political system works might lead to adoption of policies by powerful regional and global actors with irreparable outcomes. * Middle East Journal *An important and timely contribution...It ought to be on the reading list of any policy maker who wants to better understand the Islamic Republic's foreign policy. * Perspectives on Politics *This book can be of value to a variety of readers. Obviously scholars and students of Iran and Middle East politics will benefit from its insights, as will those scholars of religion and international relations to whom the above theoretical insights apply. But the book could easily be used in courses on a variety of topics in international security, from nuclear proliferation to revolutions. Finally, while I may have preferred more theoretical discussions, the focus on empirics and avoidance of jargon will make this book accessible for non-academics with an advanced interest in Iran. * Terrorism and Political Violence *As historians and foreign policy scholars continue to study Iran’s recent modern era especially since the Green movement, Tabaar’s groundbreaking work describing internal factional conflicts and religious narrative creation will come into an even clearer view. Furthermore, while Tabaar’s book focuses largely on internal Iranian dynamics, its insights within the context of politics, religion, and ideology are applicable across many academic disciplines. * H-War *Stand[s] out among the existing studies of the Islamic Republic and its supposedly unfathomable political behavior. * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Politics of Islam1. The Factional Causes and Religious Consequences of Politics2. A Shi’a Theory of the State3. The “Islamic” Revolution4. Institutionalizing Velayat-e Faqih5. The Hostage Crisis: The Untold Account of the Communist Threat6. Religion and Elite Competition in the Iran–Iraq War7. The Metamorphosis of Islamism After the War8. The Factional Battle Over Khomeini’s Velayat-e Faqih9. Media, Religion, and the Green Movement10. Historical Revisionism and Regional Threats11. The Domestic Sources of Nuclear PoliticsConclusionNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisJordan Peterson has attracted a high level of attention. Controversies may bring people into contact with Peterson''s work, but ideas are arguably what keep them there. Focusing on those ideas, this book explores Peterson's answers to perennial questions.What is common to all humans, regardless of their background? Is complete knowledge ever possible? What would constitute a meaningful life? Why have humans evolved the capacity for intelligence? Should one treat others as individuals or as members of a group? Is a single person powerless in the face of evil? What is the relation between speech, thought, and action? Why have religious myths and narratives figured so prominently in human history? Are the hierarchies we find in society good or bad?After devoting a chapter to each of these questions, Champagne unites the different strands of Peterson's thinking in a handy summary. Champagne then spends the remaining third of the book articulating his main critical concerns. He argues that while building on tradition is inevitable and indeed desirable, Peterson's individualist project is hindered by the non-revisable character and self-sacrificial content of religious belief.This engaging multidisciplinary study is ideal for those who know little about Peterson's views, or for those who are familiar but want to see more clearly how Peterson's views hang together. The debates spearheaded by Peterson are in full swing, so Myth, Meaning, and Antifragile Individualism should become a reference point for any serious engagement with Peterson's ideas.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A fascinating, well-researched, cogently argued study. . . . A valuable contribution to understanding how people navigate their lives amid rapidly changing religious and legal contexts."---Candy Gunther Brown, Journal of Religion

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Book SynopsisRob Bell's highly-praised third book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, is his most political yet. Published as part of the Rob Bell Classics relaunch, this is an inspiring call-to-arms for Christians to tackle poverty, inequality and oppression.There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building,' writes Rob Bell. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers.'Jesus Wants to Save Christians is a book about faith and fear, wealth and war, poverty, power, safety, terror, Bibles, bombs, and homeland insecurity.Trade Review‘The author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God teams up with fellow pastor Golden to write a manifesto that packs as much sociopolitical zing as rhetorical punch. If Americans today miss the central message of the Bible, say the authors, the reason is that the United States is an empire like those described in Scripture that build powerful armies and seek to protect what they accumulate rather than promote justice and mercy. Chapter titles such as "Swollen-bellied black babies, soccer moms on Prozac, and the mark of the beast" will provoke many readers. Likely to get a bigger rise is the suggestion that when the Bible says enemies will one day worship together, that includes today's enemies, the Taliban and al-Qaeda… This dramatic book is politically charged but not party-bent, bearing a message evangelicals need: that Jesus didn't come just to save people for heaven someday but to transform his followers and the physical world now.’ (Publishers Weekly) ‘Bell fights every impulse in our culture to domesticate Jesus [and] challenges the reader to be open to surprise, mystery and all of the unanswerables… Bell has given theologically suspicious Christians new courage to bet their life on Jesus Christ.’ (Christian Century) ‘Claiming that some versions of Jesus should be rejected, particularly those used to intimidate and inspire fear or hatred, Bell persuasively interprets the Bible as a message of love and redemption. . . . His style is characteristically concise and oral, his tone passionate and unabashedly positive.’ (Publishers Weekly) ‘One of the nation’s rock-star-popular young pastors, Rob Bell, has stuck a pitchfork in how Christians talk about damnation.’ (USA Today)

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Book SynopsisThe Catholic Church has been nearly destroyed by its resistance to change, censured for its abuses. Pope Francis has promised reform: radical theologian Hans Küng here presents what Catholics have long been yearning for: modern responses to the challenges of a modern world.In 1962 the Second Vatican Council met in the hope they could, in the words of Pope John XXIII, open the windows of the Church and let some fresh air in.' Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, were both there.In Can We Save the Catholic Church? Kung relates how after fifty years the Church has only grown more conservative. Refusing to open dialogue on celibacy for priests; the role of women in the priesthood; homosexuality; or the use of contraception even to prevent AIDS, the Papacy has lost touch. Now, amid widespread disillusion over child abuse, the future of Catholicism is in crisis.Pope Francis seems sincere in his wish for a more compassionate Church. The time is ripe for reform, and here Küng callsTrade Review‘An impassioned critique of the centrist-absolutist DNA of the Catholic Church’ New Statesman “It is such an easy and accessible read, and at the same time it is a marvellous synthesis of the problems facing the Church at present. It shows how much he cares for the Church and for the Christian message.” Fr Tony Flannery, C.Ss.R.Founder of the Association of Catholic Priests Can we save the Catholic Church? has both authority and authenticity. Küng’s authorship is its own guarantee of impeccable scholarship and research. Working within the Catholic framework, his expertise and vast learning support his suggestions for examination and reform. British readers will, perhaps, reflect that the full title of the Opposition in the UK Government is that of the ‘Loyal Opposition’: disagreement is not necessarily disloyalty. It is this very quality which differentiates Can we save the Catholic Church? from the many books which can only be described as ‘Catholic-bashing’. This book makes for frequently uncomfortable reading, but it is worth noting that Küng has submitted a copy to Pope Francis, who has promised to read it. It calls for the Church to embrace the spirit and teachings of Vatican II and fits into the time-honoured framework allotted to Catholic academics who, sometimes at personal cost, strive to make the Gospel meaningful and relevant in their own society. Sr Janet Fearns FMDM This latest book is incisive and sharp; it is also a very accessible read. He examines, over a text running to some 350 pages, the historical background detail that precedes our present circumstances. He honestly confronts the Church as it is and yet lays out a future that continues the Gospel mission of the Church if only we recognise our present reality and respond to it. Chris McDonnell, retired headteacher and member of A Call to Action UK.

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Book SynopsisDetailed and impeccably researched. Eye-opening'' GUARDIANPunchy and well-reported. Sommer is the perfect person to tell this story'' NEW YORK TIMESHow did a conspiracy theory reshape global politics? How did it tear families apart, inspire an insurrection and convince millions that a shadowy cabal was hellbent on eating children, and only Donald Trump could stop them?On the 6th of January, 2021 thousands of Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol. Their banners read, Trust the Plan, a reference to an alarming conspiracy theory that had gained unstoppable momentum over the last four years: these were followers of QAnon.Decoding online clues from a mysterious figure who has claimed to be a high-level government insider QAnon adherents believe that Donald Trump has been anointed by God to stop a depraved deep state government, that sexually abuse, kill, and eat children. But QAnon has also become a broad church of out-there beliefs, offering a welcoming community to anti-vaxTrade Review‘Punchy and well-reported … Sommer is the perfect person to tell this story. He traces the rise of lawless message boards like 8chan, he profiles the key players, he chronicles QAnon’s influence on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, he sneaks into QAnon rallies, he analyzes Republican reactions to the blight in their fields, and he breathes deep of the madness, while staying blissfully sane himself’ New York Times ‘Sommer emerges to offer a close examination of the rise and continued presence of QAnon on the US political landscape. Detailed and impeccably researched, Trust the Plan is essentially a crash course on a volatile and vocal segment of the US population’ Guardian ‘Will Sommer has established himself as the expert on America’s right-wing fringe. Now he’s exploring the damage that Donald Trump and the QAnon theorists who adore him have wreaked on the country. With kidnappings, murders, and Satanic rituals, this is a story so bizarre, only Will Sommer could report it’ The Atlantic ‘Will Sommer all but invented serious cultural reporting on the far right, inhabiting the worst corners of the internet so that the rest of us could understand them, and his new book on QAnon serves as a vital road map to one of the strangest and most disturbing movements of modern politics. Writing with insight, empathy, and historical expertise, Will masterfully documents how a random anonymous internet post on Reddit in 2017 rose up and swallowed the Republican Party’ Garrett Graff, author of Watergate: A New History ‘This is an absolutely fascinating and deeply troubling book. Rage-inducing and heartbreaking, it’s a rigorously researched, energetically written examination of a phenomenon laughed off for too long as fringe silliness’ Booklist

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestseller God''s Politics struck a chord with Americans disenchanted with how the Right had co-opted all talk about integrating religious values into our politics, and with the Left, who were mute on the subject. Jim Wallis argues that America''s separation of church and state does not require banishing moral and religious values from the public square. God''s Politics offers a vision for how to convert spiritual values into real social change and has started a grassroots movement to hold our political leaders accountable by incorporating our deepest convictions about war, poverty, racism, abortion, capital punishment, and other moral issues into our nation''s public life. Who can change the political wind? Only we can.

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Book Synopsis“In this fascinating book, Madeleine Albright weaves together history, personal experiences, and brilliant analysis in exploring how religion can be a force for liberty and tolerance rather than oppression and terror. -- Walter Isaacson, author of The Code BreakerThe New York Times bestselling author and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright offers a provocative and very personal look at the role of religion in America’s foreign policyTraditionally, America’s foreign policy professionals have sought to downplay the impact of religious beliefs in international affairs. Reinforced by the constitutional separation between church and state, policymakers have shied away from this potentially volatile and divisive issue. In this timely precient book, one of the most renowned figures in American politic argues that in today’s climate, a secular approach is no longer sufficient.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“As an ideological refresher on what the West got right, Shapiro’s book gets the job done.” — The Washington Post Shapiro cavorts through 3,000 years of intellectual history in the span of about 250 pages, offering a perspicuous, “user-friendly” dive into some of our civilization’s biggest ideas. — The Washington Examiner “Ben Shapiro knows the power of his voice. He stands up and fights for what he believes with time-tested ideas. The Right Side of History is thoughtful and well-reasoned - exactly what Shapiro’s critics don’t want you to hear.” — Nikki Haley, former premanent representative of the U.S. Mission of the United Nations

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Book SynopsisFrom one of the country’s most respected religion reporters, a paradigm-shifting discussion of how the Religious Left is actually the moral compass that has long steered America’s political debates, including today.Since the ascendancy of the Religious Right in the 1970s, common wisdom holds that it is a coalition of fundamentalist powerbrokers who are the “moral majority,” setting the standard for conservative Christian values and working to preserve the status quo.But, as national religion reporter Jack Jenkins contends, the country is also driven by a vibrant, long-standing moral force from the left. Constituting an amorphous group of interfaith activists that goes by many names and takes many forms, this coalition has operated since America’s founding — praying, protesting, and marching for common goals that have moved society forward. Throughout our history, the Religious Left has embodied and championed the progressive values at the heart of American democracy—abolition, labor reform, civil rights, environmental preservation.Drawing on his years of reporting, Jenkins examines the re-emergence of progressive faith-based activism, detailing its origins and contrasting its goals with those of the Religious Right. Today’s rapidly expanding interfaith coalition — which includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and other faiths — has become a force within the larger “resistance” movement. Jenkins profiles Washington political insiders—including former White House staffers and faith outreach directors for the campaigns of Barack Obama, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton—as well as a new generation of progressive faith leaders at the forefront today, including: Rev. William Barber II, leader of North Carolina’s Moral Mondays and co-chair of the nationwide Poor People’s campaign Linda Sarsour, co-chair of the Women’s March Rev. Traci Blackmon, a pastor near Ferguson, Missouri who works to lift up black liberation efforts across the country Sister Simone Campbell, head of the Catholic social justice lobby and the “Nuns on the Bus” tour organizer Native American “water protectors” who demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing Rock Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop An exciting reevaluation of America’s moral center and an inspiring portrait of progressive faith-in-action, American Prophets will change the way we think about the intersection of politics and religion.

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Book SynopsisThe revered Bible scholar and author of The Historical Jesus explores the Christian culture wars—the debates over church and state—from a biblical perspective, exploring the earliest tensions evident in the New Testament, and offering a way forward for Christians today.Leading Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan, the author of the pioneering work The Historical Jesus, provides new insight into the Christian culture wars which began in the New Testament and persist strongly today. For decades, Americans have been divided on how Christians should relate to government and lawmakers, a dispute that has impacted every area of society and grown more rancorous over the past forty years. But as Crossan makes clear, this debate isn’t new; it can be found in the New Testament itself, most notably in the tensions between Luke-Acts and Revelation.  In the texts of Luke-Acts, Rome is considered favorably. In the book

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Book SynopsisInstant New York Times BestsellerOne of Barack Obama''s Favorite Books of the YearAn Economist and Air Mail Best Book of the YearBrave and absorbing. -- New York Times?Alberta is not just a thorough and responsible reporter but a vibrant writer, capable of rendering a farcical scene in vivid hues.? -- Washington Post?An astonishingly clear-eyed look at a murky movement.? -- Los Angeles TimesEvangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing?and least understood?people living in Americatoday. In his seminal new book,The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, journalist Tim Alberta, himself a practicing Christian and the son of an evangelical pastor, paints an expansive and profoundly troubling portrait of the American evangelical movement. Through the eyes of televangelists and small-town preachers, celebrity revivalists and everyday churchgoers, Alberta tells the story of a faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal.For millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom?a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor, a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry thattrivializes the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Alberta retraces the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings and traditions, explaining how Donald Trump''s presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated historical trends that long pointed toward disaster. Reporting from half-empty sanctuaries and standing-room-only convention halls across the country, the author documents a growing fracture inside American Christianity and journeys with readers through this strange new environment in which loving your enemies is woke and owning the libs is the answer to WWJD.Accessing the highest echelons of the American evangelical movement, Alberta investigates the ways in which conservative Christians have pursued, exercised, and often abused power in the name of securing this earthly kingdom. He highlights the battles evangelicals are fighting?and the weapons of their warfare?to demonstrate the disconnect from scripture: Contra the dictates of the New Testament, today''s believers are struggling mightily against flesh and blood, eyes fixed on the here and now, desperate for a power that is frivolous and fleeting. Lingering at the intersection of real cultural displacement and perceived religious persecution, Alberta portrays a rapidly secularizing America that has come to distrust the evangelical church, and weaves together present-day narratives of individual pastors and their churches as they confront the twin challenges of lost status and diminished standing.Sifting through the wreckage?pastors broken, congregations battered, believers losing their religion because of sex scandals and political schemes?Alberta asks: If the American evangelical movement has ceased to glorify God, what is its purpose?

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Book SynopsisThe story of Catholicism in Britain from the Reformation to the present day, from a master of popular history ''A first-class storyteller'' The TimesThroughout the three hundred years that followed the Act of Supremacy which, by making Henry VIII head of the Church, confirmed in law the breach with Rome English Catholics were prosecuted, persecuted and penalised for the public expression of their faith. Even after the passing of the emancipation acts Catholics were still the victims of institutionalised discrimination. The first book to tell the story of the Catholics in Britain in a single volume, The Catholics includes much previously unpublished information. It focuses on the lives, and sometimes deaths, of individual Catholics martyrs and apostates, priests and laymen, converts and recusants. It tells the story of the men and women who faced the dangers and difficulties of being what their enemies still call Papists'. It describes thTrade Review[Roy Hattersley] is very good: Catholics is a great read and spectacularly well-researched…. British Politics, especially the shipwrecked Labour Party, could do with a generation of Hattersleys – tough, committed, smart and cultivated. -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *[An] elegantly written, sweeping account of Catholics in these islands from the Reformation to the present day. It’s a tale of high drama and high stakes, by turns horrifying, romantic and ultimately hopeful. -- Peter Stanford * Observer *big-hearted, fair-minded, insightful...a joy to read -- Frank Cottrell-Boyce * New Statesman *Enjoyable… Perfectly solid, sensible and often astute. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Hattersley narrates… with his characteristic energy… His talent for invective remains strong. -- Gerard Degroot * Times *Hattersley offers a scholarly chronicle of heroism and holiness in post-Reformation Britain, when the age of Catholic saints and miracles was seen to survive against the odds. -- Ian Thomson * Financial Times *Thoroughly entertaining… I heartily recommend this volume, which is written with great brio, intelligence and charm; and with a wistful distance from his subjects’ faith which I found very appealing. -- A.N. Wilson * Catholic Herald *Hattersley… excels in describing political machinations… One must admire his courage, not to say his chutzpah, in undertaking a book of such enormous scope. -- Michael Walsh * Tablet *Thoughtful and thought provoking, minutely researched and well-written * Choice *The author writes with authority... He engages with his material and shares his enthusiasm with the reader. But equally he is detached: he has no interest in covering up scandals or selling a party line. The engaged outsider becomes a compelling biographer, at once intrigued and underwhelmed by his subject-matter -- Lavinia Byrne * Church Times *

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Book SynopsisEdward VI died a teenager in 1553, yet his brief reign would shape the future of the nation, unleashing a Protestant revolution that propelled England into the heart of the Reformation. This dramatic account takes a fresh look at one of the most significant and turbulent periods in English history. ''A challenging, elegant and persuasive biography of an unjustly neglected king'' Jerry Brotton, author of This Orient Isle''MacCulloch puts the young Edward at the centre of the action ... as this excellent and lively study shows, his ghost continues to haunt the history of Anglicanism'' Sunday Times ''This is Reformation history as it should be written, not least because it resembles its subject matter: learned, argumentative, and, even when mistaken, never dull'' Eamon Duffy, author of The Stripping of the Altars''One of the best historians writing in English today'' Sunday Telegraph

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Book Synopsis''Masterfully opens up a little explored realm: how the quest for religion and spirituality drives hundreds of millions of Chinese'' Pankaj Mishra''A fascinating odyssey ... a nuanced group portrait of Chinese citizens striving for non-material answers in an era of frenetic materialism'' Julia Lovell, Guardian ''The reappearance and flourishing of religion is perhaps the most surprising aspect of the dramatic changes in China in recent decades...this is a beautiful, moving and insightful book'' Michael SzonyiIn no society on Earth was there such a ferocious attempt to eradicate all trace of religion as in modern China. But now, following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is awash with new temples, churches, and mosques - as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty - over what it means to be Chinese, and how to live aTrade ReviewIan Johnson has long been a resourceful and bracing guide to the biggest national transformation of modern history. In The Souls of China he masterfully opens up a little explored realm: how the quest for religion and spirituality drives hundreds of millions of Chinese -- Pankaj MishraJohnson succeeds in having produced a nuanced group portrait of Chinese citizens striving for non-material answers in an era of frenetic materialism. -- Julia Lovell * Guardian *Extraordinarily rich and intimate... This vividly written, deeply researched book will be the primary work about religious faith in China for years to come. -- Leslie T. ChangThis entrancing and engaging book challenges the modern assumption that religion is a thing of the past -- Karen ArmstrongIan Johnson breaks new ground with a brilliant approach, mixing theoretical explorations with real life vignettes from a convincing insider-outsider-combined perspective, making them commenting each other, illuminating in the same way as through the traditional Chinese criticism paradigm of 'I commentate the six classics which commentate me.' The Souls of China is a must read for an understanding of China -- Qiu Xiaolong * author of The Inspector Chen Novels *The great Chinese writer Lu Xun once wrote that when many men pass along the same way, a new road is made. The Souls of China shows us how the Chinese people, some with heroic steps and others with hesitant ones, are making a new road for Chinese religion in the twenty-first century. The reappearance and flourishing of religion is perhaps the most surprising aspect of the dramatic changes in China in recent decades. With great sensitivity Ian Johnson guides us on a tour of the rituals, festivals, and above all some of the remarkable characters who make up this new Chinese religious world. This is a beautiful, moving and insightful book -- Michael Szonyi * author of Cold War Island *The Souls of China is a rich, informative, and timely book, which explores a major aspect of Chinese life. Ian Johnson carries erudition lightly and describes the people and events with deep insights and personal involvement. Section by section, the writing shows long-term dedication and meticulous research. At heart this is also a personal book, full of feelings and exuberance. It's a tremendous accomplishment -- Ha JinHis tripartite masterpiece Wild Grass and his newest book, The Souls of China, are the most remarkable works to come from a western author in the past two decades. -- Liao Yiwu * exiled Chinese author of God is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China *Through interviews conducted with a wide variety of practitioners, Johnson paints a vivid picture of the diversity of Chinese religious life....He provides a fascinating account of how traditional activities recovered after enduring severe repression during China's Cultural Revolution (1966-76). An excellent work that is highly recommended for readers interested in Chinese culture or religion * Library Journal *

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Book Synopsis''This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations'' Cynthia OzickThe prescient New York Times writer delivers an urgent wake-up call exposing the alarming rise of anti-semitism -- and explains what we can do to defeat itOn 27 October 2018 Bari Weiss''s childhood synagogue in Pittsburgh became the site of the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. For most of us, the massacre came as a total shock. But to those who have been paying attention, it was only a more violent, extreme expression of the broader trend that has been sweeping Europe and the United States for the past two decades.No longer the exclusive province of the far right and far left, anti-Semitism finds a home in identity politics, in the renewal of ''America first'' isolationism and in the rise of one-world socialism. An ancient hatred increasingly allowed into modern political discussion, anti-Semitism has been migrating toward the mainstream in dangeTrade ReviewHer childhood synagogue in Pittsburgh was the site of last year's Shabbat morning massacre. This passionate, vividly written, regularly insightful book is her pained, fighting * Guardian *A brave book. . . . a praiseworthy and concise brief against modern-day anti-Semitism * The New York Times *This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations -- Cynthia OzickThey said 'Never Again', yet here we are again. Bari Weiss' neat exposition of modern anti-Semitism traces this hate to what I call 'the triple threat': the far-left, the far-right, and Islamist theocrats. Jews are the canary in the coal mine. And if our Jewish friends are raising the alarm, we'd all better hear them, before it's too late -- Maajid NawazThis is the most important book you will read this year. Concise, morally certain, it's a bullet train from the first sentence to the last. There needs to be a copy in every classroom in the country. If you think something dark is rising, you're right. What can you do? This is what you do -- Caitlin Flanagan, author of To Hell With All ThatWhile European anti-Semitism has put Jews in mortal danger for too long, the 'shining city upon a hill' -- America -- has descended into this same toxic darkness. Bari Weiss's book is a powerful wake-up call against complacency and should push all free-thinkers on both sides of the Atlantic to take a stand against new guises of the oldest form of hate in the world -- Bernard-Henri Lévy, author of The Empire and the Five KingsHow to Fight Anti-Semitism is violently stunning. It broke my heart-and then made me want to repair someone else's. In these pages and everywhere else, Bari Weiss is heroic, fearless, brilliant and great-hearted. Most importantly, she is right -- Lisa Taddeo, author of Three WomenUrgent, frank and fearless. There is something here to offend everyone - because there is something here to awaken everyone -- Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided HeartA liberal humanist whose guiding principle is free expression in art, love, and discourse. . . Weiss's work is heterodox, defying easy us/them, left/right categorization * Vanity Fair *Weiss's book feels like one long, soul-wrenching letter, written in a charmingly accessible style by a proud American reeling from the realization that the haters are on the rise * Jewish Chronicle *

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Book SynopsisOrientalism is the term applied to scholarship that reduces Islam and Muslims to stereotypes of ignorance and violence in need of foreign control. It has been used to rationalize Europe''s colonial domination of most of the Muslim world and continued American-led interventions in the post-colonial period. In the past 30 years it has been represented by claims that a monolithic Islam and equally monolithic West are distinct civilizations, sharing nothing in common and, indeed, involved in an inevitable clash from which only one can emerge the winner. Most recently, it has appeared in Alt Right rhetoric. Anti-Muslim sentiment, measured in public opinion polls, hate crime statistics, and legislation, is reaching record levels. Since John Esposito published his first book nearly 40 years ago, he has been guiding readers beyond such politically charged stereotypes. The essays in this volume highlight the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines who, like -- and often inspired by -- John Esposito, recognize the misleading and politically dangerous nature of Orientalist polarizations. They present Islam as a multi-faceted and dynamic tradition embraced by communities in globally interconnected but substantially diverse contexts over the centuries. The contributors follow Esposito''s lead, stressing the profound commonalities among religions and replacing Orientalist discourse with holistic analyses of the complex historical phenomena that affect developments in all societies. In addition to chapters focusing on diversity among Muslims and interfaith relations, this collection includes chapters assessing the secular bias at the root of Orientalist scholarship, and contemporary iterations of Orientalism in the form of Islamophobia.Trade ReviewFew scholars have so thoroughly contested the stereotyping of Islam and Muslims typical of the Orientalist tradition, so it is fitting that this volume celebrating his scholarly achievements should contain so many original perspectives on contemporary Muslim movements. The authors do not shy away from controversies, as with the brutality of the ISIS so-called Caliphate, but they carefully set such movements in social and historical context. This is an essential book for understanding the contemporary Muslim world, which interrogates the glib assumptions of so much writing about this key region. * Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan *This volume is a worthy recognition of John Esposito's striking contributions over four decades to correcting the misperceptions and distortions in the public and policy apprehension, as well as the scholarly study, of Islam. Fittingly, it demystifies Islam by taking both the pull of first principles and the contestation over interpretations seriously. In so doing, it aptly highlights the possibilities of Scriptural manipulation and the variety of modern practice, but also the potential of religion to evolve and to elevate the human condition. * James Piscatori, Co-author of Islam Beyond Borders: The Umma in World Politics *Each of the authors applies Esposito's visionary identification of the flawed 'secular fundamentalist' approach of Western scholarship on political Islam to case studies that range from ISIS to interfaith dialogue and from Southeast Asia to Southside Chicago. This book brings into sharp relief the ways in which an awareness of the historic roots and contemporary shoots of Orientalism and Islamophobia are key to understanding culture and society on the level of the global, the local, and the individual. * Anne K. Rasmussen, author of Author, Women, the Recited Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia *Among his many academic accomplishments, John Esposito is especially esteemed for advancing the study of Islam as practiced and understood by Muslims the world over and for demonstrating its intrinsic importance as one of the three monotheistic faiths. In their articles, the contributors to this celebratory volume poignantly testify to Esposito's success in these endeavors. * Charles E. Butterworth, Emeritus Professor of Government & Politics, University of Maryland *Table of Contents1. Introduction Tamara Sonn SHAPING THE DISCOURSE: Countering the Secular Bias 2. 'After Enlightenment, Return to the Marketplace: The Scholar's Responsibility for a Broken World Karen Armstrong 3. The Secular Bias and the Study of Religious Politics: On John Esposito, Michael Walzer, and Political Islam Nader Hashemi DIVERSITY IN ISLAM: Whose Islam? 4. The Islamic Reformist Mosaic in Muslim Southeast Asia Khairudin Aljunied 5. Looking for the Caliphate in All the Wrong Places: ISIS and Its Reading of Scripture Asma Afsaruddin 6. How Islamic Is ISIS? Sohail H. Hashmi ISLAM AND PLURALISM: Interfaith Relations 7. Building Muslim-Buddhist Understanding: The Parallels of Taqwa/Allah Consciousness in the Qur'an and Satipatthana/Mindfulness in Anapanasati Sutta Imityaz Yusuf 8. Televangelizing Muslims: Christian Satellite Television and Its Impact on Muslim-Christian Relations in Jordan Jordan Denari Duffner ORIENTALISM 2.0: Islamophobia 9. The Social Construction of The Racial Muslim Sahar Aziz 10. Anti-Catholicism, Islamophobia, and White Supremacy in the United States Scott C. Alexander 11. Islam and Exceptionalism in the Western Policy Imagination Peter Mandaville 12. Pluralism, Authority, and Islamophobia: Shari`a and Its Discontents in North America Mohammad Fadel John L. Esposito: Select Bibliography Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisEvery year, there are several hundred attacks on India''s Christians. These attacks are carried out by violent anti-minority activists, many of them provoked by what they perceive to be Christians'' propensity for aggressive proselytization, and/or by rumored or real conversions to the faith. In this violence, Pentecostal Christians are disproportionately targeted.Bauman finds that the violence against Pentecostals and Pentecostalized Evangelicals in India is not just a matter of current social, cultural, political, and interreligious dynamics internal to India, but is rather related to identifiable historical trends, as well as to historical and contemporary transnational flows of people, power, and ideas.Based on extensive interviews and ethnographic work, and drawing upon the vast scholarly literature on interreligious violence, Hindu nationalism, and Christianity in India, this volume accounts for this disproportionate targeting through a detailed analysis of Indian Christian histoTrade ReviewWithin India's multi-faith and multi-cultural society, any conversion or change of faith is fraught with danger. This is especially so where any agency claims to represent a permanent and immutable 'majority' of all institutions, as is done by the forces of Hindutva. Chad Bauman is to be commended for having interrogated the intricacies of this extremely difficult subject. He adroitly challenges understandings of anti-Christian violence. * Robert Eric Frykenberg, Professor of History and South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison *It presents deep insights into the complicated and controversial subjects of the anti-Christian violence in the contemporary India's political history ... I strongly recommend this scholarly book for the church personnel, social and human rights activists, politicians and public servants to know where the vibrant democratic India is heading in terms of anti-Christian violence. * P. R. John, S.J., Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Abbreviations ; Map ; Introduction ; 1. Who are India's Pentecostals?: History, Definitions, Deliberations ; 2. Pentecostalism in the Context of Indian History and Politics ; 3. Where the Spirit (of Violence) Leads: The Disproportionate Targeting of Indian Pentecostals ; 4. Force, Fraud, and Inducement?: Recuperative Conversions and the Growth of Indian Christianity ; 5. Missions and the Pentecostalization of Indian Christianity ; Conclusion ; Works Cited

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Book SynopsisIn The Middle Path of Moderation in Islam, leading Islamic law expert Mohammad Hashim Kamali examines the concept of wasatiyyah, or moderation, arguing that scholars, religious communities, and policy circles alike must have access to this governing principle that drives the silent majority of Muslims, rather than focusing on the extremist fringe. Kamali explores wasatiyyah in both historical/conceptual terms and in contemporary/practical terms. Tracing the definition and scope of the concept from the foundational sources of Islam, the Qu''ran and Hadith, he demonstrates that wasatiyyah has a long and well-developed history in Islamic law and applies the concept to contemporary issues of global policy, such as justice, women''s rights, environmental and financial balance, and globalization. Framing his work as an open dialogue against a now-decades long formulation of the arguably destructive Huntingtonian clash of civilizations thesis as well as the public rhetoric of fear of Muslim eTrade Reviewinvaluable ... Kamali makes a crucial set of observations about how moderate Islamic traditions go beyond just dealing tolerantly with other religions ... A culmination of his decades of scholarship on Islamic law and jurisprudence, this book should serve as an important reference for years to come. * I. Blumi, CHOICE *This scholarly book is a major addition to works that deal with 'moderate' Islam, still the Islam of the majority of Muslims, which is also traditional Islam. Drawing from a wide range of sources and many notable voices, Kamali presents an extensive range of issues from social justice to the environmental crisis, from spirituality to relation with other religions, all seen from the perspective of moderation or wasaIiyyah, which is the authentic Islamic perspective. Kamali is to be congratulated for writing a much needed work on normative and genuine Islam at a time when so many strident forces and voices, both the non-Islamic and nominally Islamic, are seeking to eclipse in the eyes of many the authentic image of the Islamic religion. * Seyyed Hossein Nasr, University Professor of Islamic Studies, The George Washington University *an essential addition to the body of knowledge after more than forty years of uninterrupted contribution to the study of Islamic studies. * Alhagi Manta Drammeh, The Islamic Quarterly *Table of ContentsForeword ; I. Introduction ; Part One: Conceptual Analysis ; II. Definition and Scope of Wasatiyyah ; III. Review of the Source Evidence ; IV. A Round-up of Modern Opinion ; V. Hallmarks of Extremism ; VI. Manifestations of Wasatiyyah ; VII. Identification of Wasatiyyah ; VIII. Institutional Developments ; Part Two: Thematic Perspectives ; IX. Moderation and Justice ; X. Moderation in Religiosity ; XI. The Moderating Role of Ikhtilaf (Reasoned Disagreement) ; XII. Between Spirituality and Legalism: The Moderating Influence of Sufism ; XIII. Harm (Darar) Must Be Eliminated ; XIV. Forbearance, Bringing Ease and Removing Hardship ; XV. Environmental Imbalance ; XVI. Financial Imbalance, Extravagance and Waste ; XVII. Moderation in Jihad ; XVIII. Character and Lifestyle ; XIX. Wasatiyyah and Women's Rights ; XX. Wasatiyyah and Globalisation ; XXI. Islam between Antiquity and the Modern World ; XXII. Continuity and Change: An Analysis of Tajdid and Islah (Renewal and Reform) in Islam ; XXIII. Conclusion and Recommendations ; Glossary ; Bibliography ; Index of Qur'anic Verses and Hadith ; General Index

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Book SynopsisA captivating look at the history of the pure females of Islamic paradise known as the houriThe fascination with the houri, the pure female of Islamic paradise, began long before September 11, 2001. Beauty of the Houri: Heavenly Virgins, Feminine Ideals demonstrates how the ambiguous reward of the houri, mentioned in the Qur?an and developed in Islamic theological writings, has gained a distinctive place in the cultural eye from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century.The houri had multiple functions in Islamic texts that ranged from caretaker, to pure companion, to personal entertainment. French, English, and American writers used the houri to critique Islam and Muslim societies, while also adopting the houri as a model of feminine beauty. Unlike earlier texts that presented different forms of the houri or universalized the houri for all women, writings about the houri after September 11th offer contradictory messages about Islam. In the twenty-first century, the image of the houri has come to symbolize a reward for violence and the possibility of gender parity.As a cosmic figure that inspires enduring questions about the promise of paradise and the idealized feminine form, the houri has a singular past and broad potential for future interpretation. The Beauty of the Houri narrates an intellectual history of the houri and offers a contemporary account of how theological ambiguity has led to different interpretations of this powerfully enduring Islamic concept.Trade ReviewThe Beauty of the Houri is a meticulously researched, elegantly written gem that offers much more than a survey of houris in the Muslim past. Drawing on sources from the Qur'an and Hadith, European poetry, and Islamist recruitment videos to US news items, Rustomji weaves analysis of texts with profound theoretical insights into gender constructions, changing eschatological expectations, text criticism, and contemporary US and Muslim politics. * J. Hammer, CHOICE *In this revealing history... the overall sweep convinces. This comprehensive work will help scholars of Islam understand the evolving history of a powerful image. * Publishers Weekly *In the Jesuit Spiritual Exercises, one reflects on the teaching that 'The profane is not divorced from the spiritual.' Rustomji has created a small masterpiece, meticulously researched and beautifully written, which helps us to understand both the spiritual and the profane elements of the Houri. * Amir Hussain, Chair and Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles *In The Beauty of the Houri, a meticulously researched and elegantly written book, Rustomji offers us much more than a survey of houris in the Muslim past. Drawing on sources from the Qur'an and hadith, European poetry, and Islamist recruitment videos to US news items, the author weaves together analysis of texts with profound theoretical insights into gender constructions, changing eschatological expectations, text criticism, and contemporary US and Muslim politics. Highly recommended. * Juliane Hammer, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, UNC Chapel Hill *This vivid, enthralling study offers readers a unique point of entry into a fascinating global history of feminine ideals of beauty, imagined by men and women, for this world and the next. The author traces the fluidity of this image, not just among Muslims, but also as it once impacted European -- and American -- Christians. A rare treat for those intrigued by gender and religion within and beyond the Islamic world. * Denise A. Spellberg, author of Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an: Islam and the Founders *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. The Letter Chapter 2. The Word Chapter 3. The Romance Chapter 4. A Reward Chapter 5. The Promise Chapter 6. The Question Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe word "jihad" is ubiquitous in the global media. It generally appears in the context of violence waged against the West by militants in or from Muslim-majority societies. This usage overwhelmingly colors popular discourse about Islam and Muslims and it has resulted in a highly reductive, distorted, and ahistorical understanding of the concept of jihad. Asma Afsaruddin looks at the key questions about jihad and provides concise yet thorough answers. Jihad: WhatEveryone Needs to Know provides a historically-grounded, scholarly yet accessible treatment of jihad that explores its various dimensions from the formative period of Islam until the contemporary period.Trade ReviewAsma Afsaruddin's exciting, cogent and lucid exploration of the many spiritual meanings of 'jihad' for Muslim traditions should force a radical rethinking of this concept among journalists, officials, and thinking people in the North Atlantic world, where it has been misused and demonized in the service of a bigoted Islamophobia. * Juan Cole, author of Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires *A valuable addition to the ongoing discussions on jihad-thoughtfully crafted to benefit a broader readership that may be less acquainted with Islamic doctrines and ideas... Whether one is new to the subject or seeking a deeper scholarly analysis of the topic, this book is an indispensable resource. * Mohammad Amin Mansouri, Reading Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgment Introduction Chapter One: Jihad in the Quran and Commentary Literature Chapter Two: Jihad in the Hadith Literature Chapter Three: Jihad in the Legal Literature Chapter Four: Jihad in Morally Edifying, Ethical, and Mystical Literature Chapter Five: Jihad as Conceived by Modern Revolutionaries and Militants Chapter Six: Jihad in the Thought of Modern and Contemporary Mainstream Scholars Chapter Seven: Jihad as Non-Violent Struggle and Peacemaking Chapter Eight: Jihad and Its Perceptions in the West Bibliography Glossary Index

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Book SynopsisHow secular are the political and legal concepts that underpin liberal democracy? Carl Schmitt first coined the term political theology to show the dependency of modern western jurisprudence and political science on Christian theological discourse, and in so doing criticized the claim to religious neutrality of liberal institutions. In this book, Miguel Vatter reconstructs how and why the discourse of political theology was adopted and repurposed by anti-Schmittian thinkers, from Eric Voegelin through Jacques Maritain and Ernst Kantorowicz to Jürgen Habermas, to bolster the legitimacy of liberal democratic government. The book traces the way in which crucial political concepts for liberal democracy--including sovereignty, representation, government, constitutionalism, human rights, and public reason--are transformed when they become part of a discourse on political theology. Vatter''s aim is to provide an intellectual history of political theology in the 20th century. His study revealsTrade ReviewThe book shows Vatter's great knowledge of many different registers of political thought from the Middle Ages through the modern world to post-modernity. It is difficult to handle such a broad spectrum of knowledge without error, as he does. Moreover, the book's discussion includes all the relevant bibliography on the theological-political question from the twentieth century, so it is an excellent resource. This is undoubtedly a mature book, the fruit of years of work. * Montserrat Herrero, Theory & Event *Deeply learned and intelligent, Vatter's provocative work on political theology extends beyond the conventional Christian framework and links to predicaments of democracy today. Essential reading for democratic political and legal theorists of every stripe. * Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley *We cannot understand the genealogy of modern political thought without reflecting on the multiple ways in which it has been shaped by religious traditions. In this masterpiece of universal scholarship, Miguel Vatter shows in how far "political theology" is not, as is often assumed, inimical to democracy but conducive to it. A great invitation for further debate. * Rainer Forst, Goethe University Frankfurt/Main *Vatter offers a superb analysis of the fortunes of political theology in the twentieth century. Through close readings of Schmitt, Voegelin, Maritain, Kantorowicz, and Habermas, Vatter stakes out a counter-tradition of democratic political theology in which the people rather than the sovereign are the locus of political legitimacy. This book will be of interest not only to scholars of political theology but to all those concerned with democratic legitimation. * Victoria Kahn, University of California, Berkeley *In this learned and inspired book, Miguel Vatter brings new life into the contested idea of political theology. He re-orients our understanding of major twentieth century thinkers, showing them to be engaged in conceptualising a democratic political theology. The striking result is that political theology illuminates the theoretical foundations of cosmopolitanism, populism, human rights, radical democracy, and republican citizenship. Divine Democracy is a major intellectual achievement, a profound re-examination of the fraught relation between politics and religion. * Cécile Laborde, University of Oxford *With incomparable erudition and breathtaking sprezzatura, Miguel Vatter lays out the stakes of political theology for democratic legitimacy. Divine Democracy offers brilliant readings of Schmitt, Voegelin, Maritain, Kantorowicz and Habermas and shows why their views on religion and politics resonate today. * John P. McCormick, University of Chicago *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Political Theology and Democratic Legitimacy in the 20th Century Chapter 1: Carl Schmitt and Sovereignty Chapter 2: Eric Voegelin and Representation Chapter 3: Jacques Maritain and Human Rights Chapter 4: Ernst Kantorowicz and Government Chapter 5: Jürgen Habermas and Public Reason Conclusion: "Only a god can resist god." Gnosticism and Political Theology

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Book SynopsisChanges in the American religious landscape enabled the rise of mass incarceration. Religious ideas and practices also offer a key for ending mass incarceration. These are the bold claims advanced by Break Every Yoke, the joint work of two activist-scholars of American religion. Once, in an era not too long past, Americans, both incarcerated and free, spoke a language of social liberation animated by religion. In the era of mass incarceration, we have largely forgotten how to dream-and organize-this way. To end mass incarceration we must reclaim this lost tradition. Properly conceived, the movement we need must demand not prison reform but prison abolition.Break Every Yoke weaves religion into the stories about race, politics, and economics that conventionally account for America''s grotesque prison expansion of the last half century, and in so doing it sheds new light on one of our era''s biggest human catastrophes. By foregrounding the role of religion in the way political elites, religious institutions, and incarcerated activists talk about incarceration, Break Every Yoke is an effort to stretch the American moral imagination and contribute resources toward envisioning alternative ways of doing justice. By looking back to nineteenth century abolitionism, and by turning to today''s grassroots activists, it argues for reclaiming the abolition spirit.Trade ReviewBreak Every Yoke's contribution to the current moment is hard to overstate ... this book provides the kind of intervention into the conversation that scholars from many disciplines studying the prison have needed for some time, crushing the secular approaches that so easily play handmaid to state carceralities; meanwhile they successfully bring religious language and theological concepts face-to-face with the failed theological social experiment of the modern prison. * Jason S Sexton, Punishment & Society *Break Every Yoke is groundbreaking in its call to unite religious and abolitionist resources against this system and for human dignity and repair. If readers approach it with an open mind and sincerely ask what components they can take into their work, the agenda the book envisions can begin to grow. * Cara Curtis, Journal of Law and Religion *The book is valuable for its passionate invitation to religious ethicists and citizens to open themselves to a radical reimagination of justice, and to risk disruptive activism to help transform our society. In the graduate or upper-level undergraduate classroom, the book, and especially the final chapters, could spur useful discussion about the definition of religion as well as the ways in which religious institutions, theologies, and practices shape/are shaped by other social structures. * Sandra Sullivan-Dunbar, Theological Studies Journal *Break Every Yoke makes important contributions by illuminating the religious dimensions of mass incarceration, by inviting especially its religious audiences to "riskier and more exacting, but also more comprehensive, movements toward justice", and by clarifying the possibilities of religion in the work of justice. It is a suitable text for university libraries as well as for classroom use, particularly in graduate or seminary settings. * Amy Levad, Horizons *Break Every Yoke unsparingly illustrates how religion has contributed to mass criminalization while also making a convincing case that religious people can be mobilized in the fight to transform the carceral state. The authors remind us that making a moral case against incarceration is essential to the struggle to abolish prisons. If you are new to the idea of prison abolition, the book offers a valuable primer. It pushed me beyond my comfort zone, agitated me in the best sense, and left me asking more questions. How much more effective could prison industrial complex abolition be if organizers more explicitly and intentionally incorporated religion and spirituality into our work? How should we do it? Im grateful for these provocations. I cant wait to talk to others about this book. Lets get the conversations going. * Mariame Kaba, founder of Project NIA *Spirituality without structure is not easily sustained in hostile, authoritarian environments. Although religions have historically been practitioners of organized predatory violence,Break Every Yokeillustrates how we can counter violence with religion that supports resilience and a healthy spirituality to resist: school to prison pipelines, foster care, residential homes for special needs children, detention centers, mental asylums, solitary confinement, death row, political imprisonment and mass incarceration. * Joy James, Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities, Williams College *One of the critical moral and political issues facing Americans today is our system of mass incarceration. With this thoughtful and inspiring book, Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd present a powerful indictment of this moral abomination and an inspiring mandate to create a new and radical abolitionist movement rooted in the Bible. * Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Why Not Prison Abolition? Chapter 2: The Political Theology of Mass Incarceration Chapter 3: The Limits of Reformist Religion Chapter 4: Prison Religion and Prison Justice Chapter 5: The Spirit of Abolition Concluding Meditations Debts and Resources

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Book SynopsisUntil surprisingly recently the history of the Irish Catholic Church during the Northern Irish Troubles was written by Irish priests and bishops and was commemorative, rather than analytical. This study uses the Troubles as a case study to evaluate the role of the Catholic Church in mediating conflict.During the Troubles, these priests and bishops often worked behind the scenes, acting as go-betweens for the British government and republican paramilitaries, to bring about a peaceful solution. However, this study also looks more broadly at the actions of the American, Irish and English Catholic Churches, as well as that of the Vatican, to uncover the full impact of the Church on the conflict. This critical analysis of previously neglected state, Irish, and English Catholic Church archival material changes our perspective on the role of a religious institution in a modern conflict.Trade ReviewMargaret Scull's monograph offers an important contribution to the historical literature on Northern Ireland and, moreover, it is widely relevant to the study of organised Christianity in divided communities in times of civil unrest. * Eugenio F. Biagini, Sidney Sussex College, Journal of Contemporary History *The author has looked at a commendably wide range of material and has interviewed some key figures in Church and politics ... these interviews give real insight into the complementarities and antagonisms between the Church, nationalism and republicanism * Oliver P. Rafferty SJ, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *This is an important book and it should certainly be read carefully and mulled over by anyone interested in Northern Ireland specifically and in the intersections between politics and religion more generally, with all of the moral, ethical, and cultural considerations therein. * Margo Shea, H-Diplo *Margaret Scull's book The Catholic Church and the Northern Ireland Troubles, 1968-1998 transcends the parochial view on the Catholic Church during the Northern Ireland Conflict and instead situates it in a transnational framework. Thereby, she challenges established views and provides fresh insight...Scull's book hopefully will rekindle the interest of the Church's role in the conflict and will do away with the stereotype that the conflict was primarily the concern of the Irish Catholic Church with the English Catholic Church playing the part of a bystander. * Jan Freytag, British Catholic History *This volume is an important contribution to the scholarship of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland; it is painstakingly researched and engagingly written...Margaret Scull has made a very significant contribution to the literature of the Northern Irish conflict; it is to be hoped that the book will be widely read and made available in paperback. * Stephen Hopkins, University of Leicester, Cercles *Dr Scull has injected fresh impetus into chronicling the often secretive roles played by the Catholic and Protestant Churches in the Irish Troubles. * John Cooney, The Irish Times *A rich and carefully-researched new book, The Catholic Church and the Northern Ireland Troubles, 1968-1999, offers fresh insights on the changing role of the Catholic Church and the personalities that drove its interventions during that fraught period. * Gladys Ganiel, slugger o'toole *It has been some time since Catholicism has been the subject of such a focused academic study. * Gladys Ganiel, Queen's University Belfast, Slugger O'Toole *

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Book SynopsisWhether America was founded as a Christian nation or as a secular republic is one of the most fiercely debated questions in American history. Historians Matthew Harris and Thomas Kidd offer an authoritative examination of the essential documents needed to understand this debate. The texts included in this volume - writings and speeches from both well-known and obscure early American thinkers - show that religion played a prominent yet fractious role in the era of the American Revolution. In their personal beliefs, the Founders ranged from profound skeptics like Thomas Paine to traditional Christians like Patrick Henry. Nevertheless, most of the Founding Fathers rallied around certain crucial religious principles, including the idea that people were created equal, the belief that religious freedom required the disestablishment of state-backed denominations, the necessity of virtue in a republic, and the role of Providence in guiding the affairs of nations. Harris and Kidd show that thrTrade ReviewMatthew L. Harris and Thomas S. Kidd have assembled a fine collection of primary documents that will serve as a useful guide for scholars, teachers, and students interested in the Christian America debate. * John Fea, author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction *Harris and Kidd have crafted a work that is at once readable and informative. Indeed, even non-specialists who read their book will be able to comprehend the key questions about the place of religion in American life without feeling overwhelmed. * Renewing Minds *This brief treatment illustrates complexities with which the US and its leaders continue to struggle. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Founding Fathers and Religion ; Chapter 1: Religion and the Continental Congress ; Chapter 2: Religion and State ; Chapter 3: Constitution and Ratification ; Chapter 4: Religion and the Federal Government ; Chapter 5: Disestablishment and the Separation of Church and State ; Chapter 6: The Founding Fathers' Own Views on Religion ; Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAre human rights universal or the product of specific cultures? Is democracy a necessary condition for the achievement of human rights in practice? And when, if ever, is it legitimate for external actors to impose their understandings of human rights upon particular countries? In the contemporary context of globalization, these questions have a salient religious dimension. Religion intersects with global human rights agendas in multiple ways, including: whether ''''universal'''' human rights are in fact an imposition of Christian understandings; whether democracy, the ''''rule of the people,'''' is compatible with God''s law; and whether international efforts to enforce human rights including religious freedom amount to an illicit imperialism. This book brings together leading specialists across disciplines for the first major survey of the religious politics of human rights across the world''s major regions, political systems, and faith traditions. The authors take a bottom-up approacTrade ReviewFor three decades, scholars have shown that religion and human rights need each other. The volume opens an important new chapter of scholarship by illustrating precisely how religion and human rights interact today. Judiciously edited and strikingly original, the volume combines case studies of local communities with broad surveys of major religions and regions of the world that illustrate the complex and diverse controversies that remain, especially over women's rights, religious freedom, and the rights to life and bodily integrity. * John Witte, Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Emory University *Table of ContentsTHOMAS BANCHOFF AND ROBERT WUTHNOW; THOMAS BANCHOFF; PART I: ISLAM AND THE GLOBAL POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS; ROBERT W. HEFNER; YVONNE YAZBECK HADDAD; PART II: THREE REGIONS: LATIN AMERICA, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA; PAUL FRESTON; ROGAIA MUSTAFA ABUSHARAF; CHARLES KEYES; PART III: FOUR KEY COUNTRIES: INDIA, CHINA, RUSSIA AND THE US; PRATAP BHANU MEHTA; DAVID OWNBY; MARJORIE MANDELSTAM BALZER; THOMAS BANCHOFF

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Book SynopsisThe idea that religion has a dangerous tendency to promote violence is part of the conventional wisdom of Western societies, and it underlies many of our institutions and policies, from limits on the public role of religion to efforts to promote liberal democracy in the Middle East. William T. Cavanaugh challenges this conventional wisdom by examining how the twin categories of religion and the secular are constructed. A growing body of scholarly work explores how the category ''religion'' has been constructed in the modern West and in colonial contexts according to specific configurations of political power. Cavanaugh draws on this scholarship to examine how timeless and transcultural categories of ''religion and ''the secular'' are used in arguments that religion causes violence. He argues three points: 1) There is no transhistorical and transcultural essence of religion. What counts as religious or secular in any given context is a function of political configurations of power; 2) Such a transhistorical and transcultural concept of religion as non-rational and prone to violence is one of the foundational legitimating myths of Western society; 3) This myth can be and is used to legitimate neo-colonial violence against non-Western others, particularly the Muslim world.Trade ReviewWilliam Cavanaugh is a radical theologian who engages in subtle cultural analysis. * David Martin, Times Literary Supplement *Transforming the widely accepted narrative of religious violence will not be accomplished in the span of reading Cavanaughs book alone. Yet he has contributed a helpfully bold book that should spur a multi-disciplinary and critical reexamination of the narrative of religion and violence and the origins of the liberal, secular state. * Michael Kessler, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; NOTES

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Book SynopsisThe long-awaited follow-up to the groundbreaking Massacre at Mountain MeadowsPublished in 2008, Massacre at Mountain Meadows was a bombshell of a book, revealing the story of one of the grimmest episodes in Latter-day Saint history, when settlers in southwestern Utah slaughtered more than 100 members of a California-bound wagon train in 1857. In this much-anticipated sequel, Richard E. Turley Jr. and Barbara Jones Brown examine the aftermath of this atrocity.Vengeance Is Mine documents southern Utah leaders'' attempts to cover up their crime by silencing witnesses and spreading lies. Investigations by both governmental and church bodies were stymied by stonewalling and political wrangling. While nine men were eventually indicted, five were captured and only one, John D. Lee, was executed. The book examines the maneuvering of the defense and prosecution in Lee''s two trials, the second ending in Lee''s conviction. Turley and Brown explore the fraught relationship between Lee and church Trade ReviewThis haunting, exhaustively-researched account stands as the definitive study of the long afterlife of the Mountain Meadows massacre. * Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Washington University in St. Louis *Vengeance is Mine is a riveting account of how justice was pursued and evaded during an era of national transformation. With moving prose and a brisk narrative, Richard E. Turley Jr. and Barbara Jones Brown's tale reveals much about both nineteenth century Latter-day Saints as well as the American nation against whom they nearly waged war. * Benjamin E. Park, author of Kingdom of Nauvoo *A harsh, painful story of the tragic aftermath of the Mountain Meadows Massacre reconstructed from a decades-long investigation of the sources, Vengeance Is Mine is an unflinching account of investigation, cover up, and suffering. Turley and Brown have made startling discoveries that put the story in a new light without relieving the perpetrators of guilt. A complex, enthralling historical narrative. * Richard Lyman Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling *This impeccably researched and eloquent book tells a story about crime and punishment in a western territory in the years immediately before and after the Civil War. It is a story about the entanglement of local and national politics, about religious zeal and bigotry, and about barriers to achieving justice in a bitterly polarized society. It is a story for today. * Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, author of A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 *In Vengeance Is Mine, Brown and Turley clarify and fill in the narrative spaces in the aftermath of the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre. Using legal transcripts and other primary documents, they unravel the tale of how American Indians were blamed and then used to deflect attention from the principal orchestrators of unimaginable violence. This story reflects events in Mormon history while contextualizing religious and systemic racial attitudes of the nineteenth-century American West. This is a book not to miss. * P. Jane Hafen (Taos Pueblo), co-editor of Essays on American Indian and Mormon History *Based upon years of extensive research, Vengeance is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath is a masterpiece that examines not only the catalysts and culmination but also the consequences of one of the most infamous episodes of both Latter-day Saint and Western U.S. history-the Mountain Meadows Massacre...Learning the hard lessons of the past will help us make a better future for ourselves and others. To that end, I am pleased to highly recommend Vengeance is Mine. Who should read it? Everyone! If you are unsure whether you should buy it, do yourself a favor and do it. Read it, weep over it, wrestle with it, and I believe you will be a better person-one more genuine, merciful, tolerant, and thoughtful-by the end. * Sam Mitchell, Association of Mormon Letters *Turley and Brown have accomplished a remarkable feat in capturing so much primary source material and delivering a highly readable text that has lessons for all of us. If you end up finding yourself weeping or not being able to sleep, then the authors have accomplished what they set out to do, making you feel for this senseless tragedy. Vengeance is Mine is worthy of our concentrated attention. * Kevin Folkman, Association of Mormon Letters *Vengeance Is Mine does what any sequel does best: expands what is presented in the first iteration, deepens the audience's understanding of what is being presented, and concludes threads considered in the first text. Vengeance Is Mine connects readers more to one of the main figures in the massacre-John D. Lee-expanding his narrative and outlining the effect his trial had on not only him and his family but on American politics, the treatment of Latter-day Saints, and the Church that nestled itself in the Salt Lake Valley. Because it is both a good standalone and an excellent sequel, I recommend readers taking either path when reading: taking up the first book; if they are interested in a deep dive into the massacre, or reading this text on its own, since it provides the same main points that the first book does. * Adam McLain, Association for Mormon Letters *This is a book worth reading. * Amanda Ray, Association for Mormon Letters *I would say that anyone connected to Latter-day Saint studies should have this book on their bookshelf by the end of the year-it is no exaggeration to say that all historical studies of the Mountain Meadows Massacre converge in Vengeance is Mine. * Greg Seppi, Association for Mormon Letters *Vengeance is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath is a stunning achievement… Brown and Turley's book is a phenomenal, breathtaking step toward communal learning. * Conor Hilton, Association for Mormon Letters *I would say that anyone connected to Latter-day Saint studies should have this book on their bookshelf by the end of the year-it is no exaggeration to say that all historical studies of the Mountain Meadows Massacre converge in Vengeance is Mine. * Greg Seppi, Association for Mormon Letters *Vengeance is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath is a stunning achievement... Brown and Turley's book is a phenomenal, breathtaking step toward communal learning. * Conor Hilton, Association for Mormon Letters *In addition to providing the definitive narrative of the legal wrangling that followed the massacre and their useful demolition of several myths, the great work Turley and Brown do here is their contextualization of the massacre's investigation in the politics of the nation and the Utah territory. * Matthew Bowman, Nova Religio vol 27.2 *This is a superb treatment of a massacre that has unfairly blackened the Latter-day Saints for more than a century. Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. * Choice *Table of Contents1. The Angel of Peace Should Extend His Wings 2. Sermons Like Pitch Forks 3. Imposed Upon No More 4. Too Late 5. Forget Everything 6. The Sound of War 7. An Awful Tale of Blood 8. Indians Hostile to All Strangers 9. The Spirit of the Times 10. A Lion in the Path 11. Make the Mormons Pay 12. Fearful Calamities 13. Peacefully Submitting 14. The Moment Is Critical 15. Make All Inquiry 16. Join the Know Nothings 17. A Line of Policy 18. An Inquisition 19. Bring to Light the Perpetrators 20. Nothing But Evasive Replies 21. Make Diligent Inquiry 22. Approach of the Troops 23. Catching Is Before Hanging 24. Precious Legacies from the Departed Ones 25. Unwilling to Rest Under the Stigma 26. The Course Adopted Will Not Prove Successful 27. Vengeance is Mine 28. In the Midst of a Desolating War 29. Too Horrible to Contemplate 30. Cut Off 31. Boiling Conditions 32. Zeal O'erleaped Itself 33. The Time Has Come 34. Do You Plead Guilty 35. Open the Ball 36. Make a Clean Breast of It 37. A Lively Skirmish 38. The Curtain Has Fallen 39. Coerce Me to Make a Statement 40. Mr. Howard Gives Promise 41. The Responsibility Before You 42. Sufficient to Warrant a Verdict 43. The Demands of Justice 44. Allow the Law to Take Its Course 45. Under Sentence of Death 46. Failure to Arrest These Men 47. Haunted Notes

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Book SynopsisStorming Zion offers a compelling explanation for the growing trend of state raids on new and nontraditional religious communities. Stuart Wright and Susan Palmer base their study on a massive data set documenting 116 government raids over the last six decades, primarily in Western countries.Trade ReviewThe book's analysis of expanded government raiding of NRMs in France is a solid addition to ongoing discussions over religious pluralism, laïcité and French church–state relations, and European counter-extremism policy. * Brian Auten, Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsPreface ; Chapter 1. Government Raids on Religious Communities ; Chapter 2. Countermovement Mobilization and Government Raids ; Chapter 3. The Twelve Tribes ; Chapter 4. The Family International/Children of God\ ; Chapter 5. Branch Davidians ; Chapter 6. The United Nuwaubian Nation ; Chapter 7. The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints ; Chapter 8. The Church of Scientology ; Chapter 9. Raids in France ; Chapter 10. Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Raids on NRM Communities ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisOne of the world''s leading scholars of religious trends shows how climate change has driven dramatic religious upheavals.Long before the current era of man-made climate change, the world has suffered repeated, severe climate-driven shocks. These shocks have resulted in famine, disease, violence, social upheaval, and mass migration. But these shocks were also religious events. Dramatic shifts in climate have often been understood in religious terms by the people who experienced them. They were described in the language of apocalypse, millennium, and Judgment. Often, too, the eras in which these shocks occurred have been marked by far-reaching changes in the nature of religion and spirituality. Those changes have varied widely - from growing religious fervor and commitment; to the stirring of mystical and apocalyptic expectations; to waves of religious scapegoating and persecution; or the spawning of new religious movements and revivals. In many cases, such responses have had lasting imTrade ReviewReading Climate, Catastrophe, and Faith can nevertheless be salutary. Jenkins is right in his premise that the book will seem innovative... * Willis Jenkins, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Jenkins's important study is sobering and summoning. Given the past responses to such crises,he leaves little room for optimism. Jenkins reasons by way of analogue from those earlier crises to our own. Given the hard work to be done, we may be grateful to Jenkins for his helpful articulation * Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary Decatur, Georgia, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology *This work compels us to consider how climate change matters for religious development and, consequently, for international peace and security. It is a worthy read for those working to build a safer and more sustainable world. * Anum Farhan, Chatham House, UK, International Affairs *Philip Jenkins provides a fascinating look into the historical relationship between faith and climate change... The book is a poignant reminder of the role that faith leaders can play in the face of the disruptive impacts of today's climate crisis. * Mariana Vieira, International Affairs Summer reading list 2022 *This masterpiece of historical scholarship should help policy makers and others transcend temporal myopia. Of special interest to students of climate, history, society, religion, and politics, this book can change the way one thinks about such matters. * L. E. Sponsel, CHOICE *Jenkins's bold new argument may change the way we think about the history of religion, but more important, it could remind us that we can imagine a new and better way as we prepare for the consequences of this impending climate crisis. * Rt. Rev. Mark Van Koevering, The Living Church *So many books on climate change focus on science and policy. This one offers a refreshing, if sobering, break as it charts the effect that past periods of climate stress have had on the evolution of the world's great faiths. * Pilita Clark, Financial Times, Best Climate and Environment Books of 2021 *a remarkable overview of climate change and its consequences for religious movements in world history... It is an important book for scholars of religion as well as for those interested in the consequences of climate change. * Mary Evelyn Tucker, Times Literary Supplement *This timely and meticulously researched book makes an important contribution to the growing body of literature engaging religion and history with ecology and climate change. * Ruby Guyat, Times Higher Education *A hugely ambitious work, such as only a historian of Philip Jenkins's great learning would dare undertake... magisterial study, at once probing and panoramic... The timeliness of this volume hardly needs emphasising. * John Pridmore, Church Times *It is fascinating and thought-provoking approach to the climate change which the world now faces. * Revd Dr Paul Beasley-Murray, Church Matters *Table of ContentsNote on Usage Acknowledgments Chapter One: From Disaster To Belief Chapter Two: Forcing Climate Chapter Three: Ages of Gold Chapter Four: God's Anger and the Demons Within Chapter Five: After Darkness, Light Chapter Six: A Faded Sun and A Wider World Chapter Seven: Who Can Stand Before His Cold? Chapter Eight: Darkening Heavens and a New World Chapter Nine: A Warming World Conclusion

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