Religion and politics Books

Book SynopsisFreedom of religious expression and assembly has never been under greater threat in post-Soviet Russia. The infamous Yarovaya Law of 2016 has made good on previous legislative endeavours to curtail the activities of undesirable religious entities. Behind the curtain, the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church looms large over state policy and the decline in religious liberties and pluralism. Lincoln E. Flake explains the churchs hostility to non-traditional groups as a consequence of historical-structural factors arising from its Soviet experience and immediate-strategic factors arising from its experience in the post-Soviet religious free market. It was not until the 2014 annexation of Crimea that church-state interests coincided to produce unprecedented collusion. The Church, which had previously only served symbolic purposes for domestic political advantage, was now required for more meaningful active measures in Russias all-of-government approach to advancing its national security strategy. Reciprocation produced the Yarovaya Law and further quid pro quos account for the relapse into religious intolerance. This study contextualizes the churchs present-day posture on religious pluralism by appealing both to historical experience and insights that Rational Choice Theory offers to the study of religious actors and religious behaviour.Trade Review"Defending the Faith challenges the assumption that the present antipathy of the Russian Orthodox Church toward religious pluralism and the Churchs close ties with the Putin government were inevitable. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Church found itself divided over how to handle the wave of well-financed and organized missionaries from the West. This perceived threat led to ever increasing ties with the state culminating in the 2016 Yarovaya laws. The book analyzes this development by contrasting the responses of the Russian Orthodox Church to post-Soviet religious pluralism with other regional churches. Most compellingly, the book analyzes scores of interviews with religious clerics from these churches to gauge the clerics conflicting evaluations of the Soviet past and the debate over the seriousness of the threat of religious pluralism. This book is a must-read for those interested in understanding the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church after 1991. -- Rodney Bohac, Emeritus Professor of History, Brigham Young University, UtahTable of ContentsForeword by Peter Martland; Acknowledgments; The Path of Protectionism: Church, State, and an Oppressive Institutional Design for Religion; Legacies of Sovietism: Structural-Historical Constraints; Post-Soviet Market Features: The Immediate-Strategic Context; The Georgian Orthodox Church: A Case Study in Authoritarianism; The Lithuanian Catholic Church: A Case Study in Indifference; The Russian Orthodox Church: Finding Its Voice at the Expense of Others; Regional Findings and Methodological Implications; Collusion That Matters: Church-State Symbiosis After Crimea; Bibliography; Appendix: Interview/Questionnaire Questions.

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Book SynopsisIn Politics of Hate, noted scholars-experts on the subject and the region-discuss their research on the role of the media and political leaders in deploying hatred for political advantage, covering developments in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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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 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 SynopsisFeaturing numerous case studies from various contexts and traditions, The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding brings together a diverse array of scholars to grapple with the tension between theory and practice, cultural theory, and the legacy of the liberal peace paradigm. This innovative Handbook offers provocative, elastic, and context-specific insights for strategic peacebuilding processes.Trade ReviewThis Handbook in a masterful way introduces the past, present and future issues involved in religion, conflict and peacebuilding * Christoph Stenschke, University of South Africa, Journal of Early Christian History *In expanding the focus to economic, racial, gender, and ethnic justice, the book broadens the concept of violence beyond direct physical violence to the structural and psychological. Included is an interesting discussion of secularism and whether it provides a neutral context for peacemaking or is an exclusivist world view that contributes to violence and Western cultural hegemony. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsPreface Atalia Omer Part One: Mapping the Field 1. Atalia Omer, "Religious Peacebuilding: The Exotic, the Good, and the Theatrical" 2. R. Scott Appleby, "Religious Violence: The Strong, the Weak, and the Pathological" Part Two: The Historical and the Historicist 3. David Little, "Religion, Peace, and the Origins of Nationalism" 4. Scott Hibbard, "Religion, Nationalism, and the Politics of Secularism" 5. Slavica Jakelic, "Secular-Religious Encounters as Peacebuilding" 6. Jason Springs, "Structural and Cultural Violence in Religion and Peacebuilding" Part Three: Contested Issues 7. R. Scott Appleby, "The New Name for Peace? Religion and Development as Partners in Strategic Peacebuilding" 8. Patrick Mason, "Violent and Nonviolent Religious Militancy" 9. Rashied Omar, "Religious Violence and State Violence" 10. John Kelsay, "Peacebuilding and the Comparative Study of Ethics" 11. W. Cole Durham, Jr. and Elizabeth A. Clark, "The Place of Religious Freedom in the Structure of Peacebuilding" 12. Susan Hayward, "Women, Religion, and Peacebuilding" Part Four: Peacebuilding in Practice: Strategies, Resources, Critique 13. Daniel Philpott, "Reconciliation, Politics, and Transitional Justice" 14. Marc Gopin, "Negotiating Secular and Religious Contributions to Social Change and Peacebuilding" 15. Tim Shah, "Secular Militancy as an Obstacle to Peacebuilding" 16. Peter van der Veer, Tam Ngo, and Dan Smyer Yu, "Religion and Peace in Asia" 17. S. Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana, "Peacebuilding in the Muslim World" 18. Eboo Patel and Cassie Meyer, "Youth and Interfaith Conflict Transformation" 19. Peter Ochs, "The Possibilities and Limits of Interreligious Dialogue" 20. Lisa Schirch, "Ritual, Religion, and Peacebuilding" 21. John Paul Lederach, "Spirituality and Religious Peacebuilding" 22. Heather M. DuBois and Janna Hunter-Bowman, "The Intersection of Christian Theology and Peacebuilding" 23. Cecilia Lynch, "Religious Communities and Possibilities for Justpeace" 24. Atalia Omer, "Religion, Nationalism, and Solidarity Activism" Part Five: The Growing Edge of the Conversation 25. Atalia Omer "Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding: Synthetic Remarks" 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 SynopsisJonathan Z. Smith (1938-2017) was perhaps the most influential theorist of religion of the last half century. In this book, four interviews and a previously unpublished essay display something of the dynamic, thinking-on-his feet liveliness that Smith brought to questions about the study of religion, his theoretical preferences, and his methods of teaching.Trade ReviewMy initial reaction to see this book was that it could not hold much of interest to one who has already read Smith's essays, but I was wrong. This is a book well worth reading, no matter what level of familiarity one has with his work. * Brian Collins, Ohio University, Religious Studies Review *Reading J. Z. Smith is an easily accessible primer of sorts, both on the man and his work. It would be comprehensible for undergraduates as well as more established scholars who are already familiar with Smith's work and those who are not. * Benjamin D. Crace, Nova Religio *provides a glimpse into the mind of a giant in the field, nearing the end of his career and the end of his life, reflecting on his legacy and on the field that he played no small part in creating. * Richard Kent Evans, Reading Religion *Scholars of religion today have learned to recognize, and to take seriously, that 'religion' is an idea native to nowhere but the modern West, and that the academy was its nursery. In a series of conversations and expository talks, J. Z. Smith demonstrates through his own example how prodigiously productive this recognition can be to the study of religion. A parting gift of a great scholar. * Tomoko Masuzawa, Professor of History and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan *The recently departed J. Z. Smith was the most original theoretician of religion of the past fifty years, in addition to being a larger-than-life character. This collection reveals both in vivid technicolor. Braun and McCutcheon are to be congratulated for bringing an overlooked Smith, the dialogical one, to our attention, thereby ensuring that his important legacy will not be forgotten. This volume will surely be required reading for anyone interested in the continued and necessary illumination of Smith's work. * Aaron W. Hughes, Philip S. Bernstein Chair of Religion, University of Rochester *I have read everything and anything Jonathan Z. Smith wrote during his long and fruitful academic career. The sheer range of materials is staggering. But J.Z. Smith is infinitely better 'in his own words' and this volume is such a wonderful window into just that-not just Smith but Smith on Smith! Nothing could be better, either for one who has never read Smith and will be inspired to do so, or one who has followed him deeply over many decades and can now pause and listen as he relates the various stages of his own unfolding as a human being and a scholar. We owe the editors a debt of gratitude. A must have for anyone who works in the history of religions-or just Humanities for that matter! * James D. Tabor, Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina, Charlotte *Table of ContentsIntroduction Interviews The Chicago Maroon: Interview with Jonathan Z. Smith (2008) The American Scholars of Religion Video Project: Interview with Jonathan Z. Smith (1999) Asdiwal: Revue genevoise d'histoire des religions: Interview with Jonathan Z. Smith (2010) The Devil in Mr. Smith: A Conversation with Jonathan Z. Smith (2012) The Dean's Craft of Teaching Seminar (2013) Essay 154. Reading Religion: A Life in Scholarship (introduction by Ann Taves)

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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 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 SynopsisThis revised and expanded edition of A World History of Ancient Political Thought examines the political thought of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, Iran, India, China, Greece, Rome and early Christianity, from prehistory to c.300 CE. The book explores the earliest texts of literate societies, beginning with the first written records of political thought in Egypt and Mesopotamia and ending with the collapse of the Han dynasty and the Western Roman Empire.In most cultures, sacred monarchy was the norm, but this ranged from absolute to conditional authority. ''The people'' were recipients of royal (and divine) beneficence. Justice, the rule of law and meritocracy were generally regarded as fundamental. In Greece and Rome, democracy and liberty were born, while in Israel the polity was based on covenant and the law. Confucius taught humaneness, Mozi and Christianity taught universal love; Kautilya and the Chinese ''Legalists'' believed in realpolitik and an authoritarian state. The coTrade ReviewIn this ambitious book, Antony Black provides a short and global explanation of ancient political thought. He should be considered one of the greatest and most consistent specialists in medieval political thought, but in this book he shows an impressive comprehension of the sources of ancient cultures ... can be highly recommended. * Rafael Ramis Barceló, Political Studies Review *Admirably ambitious ... This is not a merely encyclopaedic account of ancient thought but a genuinely comparative analysis, with the constant attention to the divergences from basic similarities that creates the exciting sense of a single argument. * Richard Seaford, History of Political Thought *Table of ContentsAbbreviations Time Chart Introduction 1: Early Communities and States 2: Egypt 3: Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylon 4: Iran 5: Israel 6: India 7: China 8: The Greeks 9: Rome 10: Greco-Roman Humanism 11: The Kingdom of Heaven and the Church of Christ 12: Topics: Similarities and Differences 13: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisMuslims in the Western Imagination explores the ways in which Muslim men are depicted as monsters throughout history. Monsters help a society delineate who belongs in a social group and who, or what, is excluded. Even when Muslim monsters are symbolic, as in post-9/11 zombie films, they still function to define Muslims as non-human entities. These are not portrayals of Muslim men as malevolent human characters, but rather as creatures that occupy the imagination--non-humans that exhibit their wickedness outwardly on the skin. They populate medieval tales, Renaissance paintings, Shakespearean dramas, Gothic horror novels, and Hollywood films. Through an exhaustive survey of medieval, early modern, and contemporary literature, art, and cinema, Sophia Rose Arjana examines the dehumanizing ways in which Muslim men have been constructed and represented as monsters, and the impact such representations have on perceptions of Muslims. The study is the first to present a Foucauldian genealogy oTrade ReviewArjana succeeds in supplying ample evidence that exposes a long history of the 'monsterization' and vilification of Muslims within the Western European and North American traditions of popular culture. Her concern for how these perpetuate mischaracterization of both Muslims and Islam and result in mistreatment, unfair exclusion, and outright injustice is well grounded and deserves serious attention, with expressed hope for correction. * R. Charles Weller, Religion *Islamophobia is a broad pathology of our times. Pegged to September 11, 2001, it has continued to flourish in the shadow of subsequent wars waged by the US and its allies, throughout the Middle East. While Abu Ghraib became one of the showcases of American horror, Homeland set the mark for thinking about, or imagining, Muslim enemies. Both are highlighted in this, the first genealogy, which is also a semiotics, of Islamophobia. A well-researched, carefully staged book, it illumines how brutal images of monster Muslims have become commonplace, almost reflexive in the long afterlife of the War on Terror. * Bruce Lawrence, Professor of Islamic Studies Emeritus, Duke University *Rigorously historical, and partaking of the best of discursive analysis, this is a remarkable study of the distorted mirror in which the Western imagination has conceived of Muslims. As Arjana demonstrates, this tells me almost nothing about Muslims, and a great deal about the Western imagination. Arjana makes a persuasive case that in order to understand the dehumanizing practices in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and elsewhere, we need to cast a much longer critical look at the history of the Western imaginaire about Muslims [as] Monsters. Essential reading for Islamic studies, American studies, and European history. * Omid Safi, Director of Duke Islamic Studies Center, Duke University *In The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie wrote this about the power of representation: They describe us . . . that's all. They have the power of description, and we succumb to the pictures they construct. In her exhaustive and often disturbing work, Sophia Arjana catalogues the many ways in which Muslims have been described as monsters. It is a compelling book. * Amir Hussain, Editor, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Islam in the Western Imagination ; Chapter 1: The Muslim Monster ; Chapter 2: Medieval Muslim Monsters ; Chapter 3: Turkish Monsters ; Chapter 4: The Monsters of Orientalism ; Chapter 5: Muslim Monsters in the Americas ; Chapter 6: The Monsters of September 11th ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe history of deliverance politics in Anglo-American history contains remarkable moments of achievement, but this is not a story of triumphal progress. Exodus was hotly contested, used by the powerful as well as the weak, and mobilized to support a host of rival causes. By writing themselves into the Protestant history of liberty, African Americans undercut complacent narratives of progress, injecting a powerful sense of unease into the tradition. The argument over who owns the biblical narrative has continued into the twenty-first century. If Barack Obama saw himself as an inheritor of Exodus politics, so too did George W. Bush. Many Christians - and many non-Christians too - remain understandably suspicious of those who read Israel''s history as political paradigm, especially when it underpins religious nationalism. This story is riddled with moral ironies. The Books of Moses could be used to justify anti-black racism and the dispossession of Native peoples as well as freedom from sTrade ReviewThis book, a tour de force of historical research and cultural analysis, demonstrates that a rhetoric of 'deliverance' grounded in several key biblical texts has been an under-appreciated but vitally important theme of political mobilization in Britain and American from the 16th century to the present. The argument is built on careful analysis of these texts from the Book of Exodus and elsewhere in Scripture, and of their surprisingly broad effect in different historical periods and national circumstances. The effect adds significantly to political understanding of religious history and religious understanding of the political. It is a noteworthy, but also surprisingly timely work. * Mark Noll, author of Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Introduction: "Biblical Traditions that Call for Liberation" ; Part I: Reformations, Revolutions, and Political Slavery ; 1. "The Only Parallel": The Puritan Revolution as England's Exodus ; 2. "God's Favourite People": The Revolutions of 1688 and 1776 ; Part II: Abolitionists, African Americans, and Racial Slavery ; 3. "Pretended Votaries of Freedom": The Rise of Protestant Antislavery to 1807 ; 4. "Yours for the Jubilee": The Abolitionists' Scriptural Imagination, 1808-1865 ; 5. "When Israel was in Egyptland": Black Exodus Politics, 1808-1865 ; Part III: Exodus after Slavery ; 6. "I Have Seen the Promised Land": The Persistence of Deliverance Politics, 1865-2008 ; Conclusion: Sacred Texts, Godly Readers, and Historical Change ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisOne Sunday in February 1987, protesters stood outside the Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst in Massachusetts, whose minister planned to hand out condoms during his sermon, dramatizing the need for the church to confront the AIDS crisis. The minister gave out nearly five hundred condoms as the audience exploded into applause. But he could not hang around to enjoy it; having received threats in advance of the service, he dashed out of the sanctuary immediately. Thus was the climate for religious AIDS activism in the mid-1980s. After the Wrath of God is the first book to tell the story of American religion and the AIDS epidemic. Anthony Petro shows how religious leaders and organizations posited AIDS as a religious and moral epidemic, and analyzes how this construction has informed cultural and political debates about public health and sexual morality. While most attention to religion and AIDS foregrounds the role of the Religious Right, this book examines the much broader-and moreTrade Review[O]f interest to graduate students in the social sciences. * Mary Jo Iozzio, Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion ; 1) Emerging Morality: American Christians, Sexuality, and AIDS ; 2) Governing Authority: C. Everett Koop and the Moral Politics of Public Health ; 3) Ecclesiastical Authority: AIDS, Sexuality, and the American Catholic Church ; 4) Protest Religion!: ACT UP, Religious Freedom, and the Ethics of Sex ; Afterword: We "Other Christians" ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive analysis of the philosophical issues raised by the hijab controversy in France, this book also conducts a dialogue between contemporary Anglo-American and French political theory and defends a progressive republican solution to so-called multicultural conflicts in contemporary societies. It critically assesses the official republican philosophy of laïcité which purported to justify the 2004 ban on religious signs in schools. Laïcité is shown to encompass a comprehensive theory of republican citizenship, centered on three ideals: equality (secular neutrality of the public sphere), liberty (individual autonomy and emancipation) and fraternity (civic loyalty to the community of citizens). Challenging official interpretations of laïcité, the book then puts forward a critical republicanism which does not support the hijab ban, yet upholds a revised interpretation of three central republican commitments: secularism, non-domination and civic solidarity. Thus, it articuTrade ReviewA provocative and stimulating read...Laborde's work above all facilitates a transatlantic conversation about the meaning of republicanism in modern political thought...A surefooted and intelligent guide to debates over identity politics in France...models a way to think about reforming 'non-ideal' societies and deserves the attention to anyone seriously interested in doing so. * French Politics, Culture and Society *Table of ContentsEGALITE: ON REPUBLICAN NEUTRALITY; LIBERTE: ON REPUBLICAN AUTONOMY; FRATERNITE: ON REPUBLICAN SOLIDARITY

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Book SynopsisAn examination of how, at the close of the Roman Empire, Christianity influenced the political and social philosophy of the peoples of the Near East, laying the groundwork for the blending of religious and ethnic identity that we see in the Middle East today.Trade ReviewPhilip Woods's book is a remarkable debut... a well-structured and convincingly argued work * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Things are often more complicated than they may seem, and this is certainly also true for the phenomenon Wood has been studying in such a brilliant way. * Joseph Verheyden, Journal of Eastern Christian Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Classification in a Christian Empire ; 2. Controlling the Barbarians: The First Syrian Hagiographic Collection ; 3. Theories of Nations and the World of Late Antiquity ; 4. Edessa and Beyond: The Reception of the Doctrina Addai in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries ; 5. The Julian Romance ; 6. Creating Boundaries in the Miaphysite Movement ; 7. A Miaphysite Commonwealth ; Conclusions

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Book SynopsisWritten by a team of internationally renowned scholars, this volume provides an in-depth introduction to religion in contemporary China. Instead of adopting the traditional focus on pre-modern religious history and doctrinal traditions, Chinese Religious Life examines the social dimensions of religious life, with essays devoted to religion in urban, rural, and ethnic minority settings; to the religious dimensions of body, gender, environment, and civil society; and to the historical, sociological, economic, and political aspects of religion in contemporary Chinese society.Trade ReviewThe essays in this volume present data on an important contemporary development, one with implications for insight into the human condition... * Journal of Chinese Political Science *Table of ContentsIntroduction Philip Wickeri ; Part I: Ways of Being Religious in the Chinese World ; 1. Spirituality in a Modern Chinese Metropolis, Lizhu Fan and James Whitehead ; 2. Communal Worship and Festivals in Chinese Villages, Wai-lun Tam ; 3. The Religious Life of Ethnic Minority Communities, Philip Wickeri and Yik-Fai Tam ; 4. Modalities of Doing Religion, Adam Chau ; Part II. Religion, Culture, and Society ; 5. The Body: Health, Nation, and Transcendence, David A. Palmer ; 6. Gender and Sexuality, C. Julia Huang, Elena Valussi, and David A. Palmer ; 7. Chinese Cosmology and the Environment, Robert Weller ; 8. Religious Philanthropy and Chinese Civil Society, Andre Laliberte, David A. Palmer, and Keping Wu ; Part III. Religion, Politics, and the Economy ; 9. Religion in Chinese Social and Political History, David A. Palmer ; 10. The Social Organization of Religious Communities in the Twentieth Century, Vincent Goossaert ; 11. Contemporary Issues in State-Religion Relations, Andre Laliberte ; 12. Market Economy and the Revival of Religions, Fenggang Yang ; Part IV. Global Perspectives ; 13. The Globalization of Chinese Religions and Traditions, Richard Madsen and Elijah Siegler ; Conclusion, Glenn Shive ; Glossary ; Suggested Further Readings ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume offers a timely and dynamic study of the rise of religion in American politics, examining the public messages of political leaders over the past seventy-five years. The authors show that U.S. politics today is defined by a calculated, deliberate, and partisan use of faith that is unprecedented in modern politics. Beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, America has seen a no-holds-barred religious politics that seeks to attract voters, identify and attack enemies, and solidify power. Domke and Coe identify a set of religious signals sent by both Republicans and Democrats in speeches, party platforms, proclamations, visits to audiences of faith, and even celebrations of Christmas. The updated edition of this ground-breaking book includes a new preface, an updated analysis of the last Bush administration, as well as a new final chapter on the Jeremiah Wright controversy, the candidacies of Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, and Barack Obama''s victory.Trade ReviewThe God Strategy is a sobering look at just how deeply imbedded religion has become in the contemporary American political psyche. Both the person of faith and the non-believer should fear what is revealed in this carefully crafted review of modern campaign strategies to 'get the God vote'. Domke and Coe demonstrate, with stunningly clear examples, just how the union of government and religion tends to degrade the integrity of both. * Rev. Barry Lynn, Executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State *Religion has become central to American politics. The God Strategy is a superb overview of what happened and how it has impacted our democracy. David Domke and Kevin Coe have done the nation a service. * George Lakoff, author of Don't Think of an Elephant! *Domke and Coe have done a masterful job of giving us insight into the mix of religion and politics. The God Strategy taught me much about a field I thought I knew. Anyone who wants to understand how the deeply religious character of America could be used to effect coming elections needs to read this book. * Joel Hunter, Pastor and Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals *The God Strategy offers an intriguing look at what has become one of the most powerful shaping forces in American political life. Like it or not, religion has for years been establishing the parameters of public debate. As Domke and Coe make clear, this is unlikely to change anytime soon. * Ron Reagan *Table of ContentsIntroduction A New Religious Politics ; Chapter One One Nation Under God, Divisible ; Chapter Two Political Priests ; Chapter Three God and Country ; Chapter Four Acts of Communion ; Chapter Five Morality Politics ; Chapter Six Religious Politics and Democratic Vitality ; Chapter Seven Act II ; Appendixes A to E

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Book SynopsisIslamophobia has been on the rise since September 11, as seen in countless cases of discrimination, racism, hate speeches, physical attacks, and anti-Muslim campaigns. The 2006 Danish cartoon crisis and the controversy surrounding Pope Benedict XVI''s Regensburg speech have underscored the urgency of such issues as image-making, multiculturalism, freedom of expression, respect for religious symbols, and interfaith relations. The 1997 Runnymede Report defines Islamophobia as dread, hatred, and hostility towards Islam and Muslims perpetuated by a series of closed views that imply and attribute negative and derogatory stereotypes and beliefs to Muslims. Violating the basic principles of human rights civil liberties, and religious freedom, Islamophobic acts take many different forms. In some cases, mosques, Islamic centers, and Muslim properties are attacked and desecrated. In the workplace, schools, and housing, it takes the form of suspicion, staring, hazing, mockery, rejection, stigmatiTrade ReviewThis cannot be verbalized; it must be seen.... * Murad Wilfried Hofmann, The Muslim World Book Review *Edited with skill by John L. Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin...Together the authors give a comprehensive, well-documented account of the historical roots of present-day Islamophobia. * Times Literary Supplement *This well-presented collection of essays goes far towards analysing the nature of the problem and canvassing thereby the issues that need to be tackled if Islamophobia is to be eradicated...essential reading for all for whom Islamophobia is a pressing concern. * Douglas Pratt, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations *Table of ContentsFOREWORD EKMELEDDIN IHSANOGLU, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC CONFERENCE; INTRODUCTION JOHN L. ESPOSITO; THE CONTEXT OF ISLAMOPHOBIA; CASE STUDIES; MANIFESTATIONS; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX

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Book SynopsisChinese traditional culture cannot be understood without some familiarity with the I Ching, yet it is one of the most difficult of the worlds ancient classics. Assembled from fragments with many obscure allusions, it was the subject of ingenious, but often conflicting, interpretations over nearly three thousand years. Teaching the II Ching (Book of Changes) offers a comprehensive study at a time when interest in Asian philosophy and the culture of China is on the rise. Still widely read in China, it has become a countercultural classic in the West. Recent scholarship has radically altered our understanding of this foundational work. Geoffrey Redmond and Tze-Ki Hon present an up-to-date survey of recent studies including reconstruction of the early meanings, excavated manuscripts, the New Culture Movement, and the Cultural Revolution. To facilitate introducing the classic to students, the necessary background is provided for university teachers and students, even non-China specialists. Trade ReviewThis balance between the critical and the nonjudgmental is one of the more distinctive features of this book. The stance continues in the sections "How Does the Yijing Work?" and sections on how the text has been compared with science, mathematics, and computers... It covers the major English translations, describes more fully the various layers of text, and provides very complete instructions on consulting the Yi and interpreting the results. * Joseph A. Adler, Dao *Teaching the I-Ching (Book of Changes) is a reliable road-map for students to navigate the intriguing intellectual terrain of the ancient Chinese Classic, detailing the historical background and the texts structure and content. Redmond and Hons narratives are readable, and their scholarship underpins the accessible translation. This book should serve as an important reference book for undergraduates, graduates, and general readers, who want to explore the multifarious and mysterious world of Changes'. * Dennis K. H. Cheng, Chair Professor of Cultural History, Hong Kong Institute of Education; European Chair of Chinese Studies, Leiden University; Professor of Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University *A magnificent achievement, offering a well-written and judicious synthesis of existing scholarship on the origins, development, and transnational travels of the I Ching. In addition, Redmond and Hon offer their readers insightful suggestions about how to understand and productively use this fascinating document-not only in the classroom but also beyond. * Richard J. Smith, author of The I ching: 6IA Biography *The uniqueness of this book is its combination of scholarly rigor with a willingness to explore the phenomenology of divination practice. It is an excellent history of the I Ching as a book, including the ways it has been interpreted both in China and the West up to the present day. The two chapters (1 and 11) that cross the great water into divination practice do so without going overboard into the trendy realm of popular I Ching enthusiasm. * Joseph A. Adler, Author of Reconstructing the Confucian Dao: Zhu Xi's Appropriation of Zhou Dunyi *The authors are well-informed regarding the traditional Chinese context and modern issues alike...This volume belongs in all collections. * Russell Kirkland, Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgements ; Chronology of Chinese Dynasties ; Structure of the Yijing ; List of Illustrations ; Introduction: Studying an Ancient Classic ; Chapter 1 Divination: Fortune-Telling and Philosophy ; Chapter 2 Bronze Age Origins ; Chapter 3 Women in the Book of Changes ; Chapter 4 Excavated Manuscripts ; Chapter 5 Ancient Meanings Reconstructed ; Chapter 6 The Ten Wings ; Chapter 7 Cosmology ; Chapter 8 Moral Cultivation ; Chapter 9 The Yijing in Modern China ; Chapter 10 The Yijing's Journey to the West ; Chapter 11 Reading the Book of Changes ; Chapter 12 The Future of the Yijing ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1968, a group of Catholic antiwar activists barged into a draft board in suburban Baltimore, stole hundreds of Selective Service records, and burned the documents in a fire fueled by homemade napalm. The bold actions of the ''Catonsville Nine'' quickly became international news, and they remained in the headlines throughout the summer and fall of 1968, when the activists were tried in federal court. Shawn Francis Peters tells the fascinating story ofthis singular witness for peace and social justice.Trade ReviewClearly a labor of love, The Cantonsville Nine is a useful examination of the ways in which conscience and politics combined to create both an important moment of protest and witness a larger drama critiquing US foreign policy in Vietnam and the rest of the world. * Sarah Thelen, Journal of American Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction: "Arguably the Single Most Powerful Antiwar Act in American History" ; Chapter 1: "I Want You to Meet This Priest" ; Chapter 2: "What About Destroying a Death Certificate?" ; Chapter 3: "In Jail For the Right Reason" ; Chapter 4: "A Great Human Act Done by Sincere Men" ; Chapter 5: "Guatemala Smells Like South Vietnam Did a Few Years Ago" ; Chapter 6: "Did You Hear What We Are Planning?"

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Book SynopsisScholars universally acknowledge the role that Christian belief played in the social movement engendered by Martin Luther King Jr. Yet few have actually delved into the complexity of King''s theology itself. The centrality of one aspect of his theology in particular - imago Dei, the belief that human beings are made in God''s image - has been surprisingly overlooked.In this book, Richard W. Wills Sr. offers a comprehensive analysis of King''s appeal for civil rights by investigating his understanding of imago Dei. Wills begins by tracing the evolution of this idea through the history of Christian thought, showing the intellectual sources King drew on in constructing his own beliefs. Wills then demonstrates how King employed this idea in his civil rights work. The belief that we are all made in God''s image was crucial, Wills shows, to King''s understanding of human nature and equality. While King shared with many of his black church forebears the view that humanity''s creation by God wTrade ReviewRichard Wills's Martin Luther King Jr. and the Image of God is the most illuminating account to date of the central theological themes in King's life and thought. King emerges as a skillful and synthetic thinker and practitioner who stands in continuity not only with the Hebrew prophets and the radical Jesus but with the seminal theological minds of the Christian tradition. And in reconnecting King to the religious past, Wills offers new ways of appropriating King's legacy as a resource for contemporary religious thought and social activism. * Charles Marsh, Director of the Project on Lived Theology and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia *Christian anthropology asks the big questions: Who are we? What ought we to do? What might we become? Martin Luther King raised the same questions-and answered them in ways that have challenged succeeding generations. Richard Wills brings a wealth of data and insight to his portrait of King the theologian. He reminds us that under King's leadership the Movement was bursting not only with political promise but theological meaning as well. This is a carefully nuanced, yet exciting book. * Richard Lischer, author of The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America *Richard Wills' eagerly-awaited book offers a truly original perspective on one of the best known religious figures of the past hundred years. It is a helpful introduction to King's religious thought that will reward beginners and specialists alike. It deserves a wide audience. * Clayborne Carson, Professor of History and Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University *It turns out that there is indeed more to say about the theology of our nation's greatest civil rights leader. Wills makes exceptionally good use of the King archives, leaving no stone unturned in the quest for clarifying how King honed a theology in service of racial justice. . . as a fresh reconsideration of the theology of one of America's greatest public figures, this volume is enormously successful. * Horizons *Table of ContentsPrologue ; Part 1. Historical Explication ; I. The Historical Context ; II. The Host of Witnesses ; Part 2. Theological Meditation ; III. King As Critical Thinker ; IV. King Among Theologians ; V. Theological Implications ; Part 3. Practical Application ; VI. Beloved Community ; VII. Beloved Community and Beyond ; Epilogue

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Book SynopsisWaging a counterinsurgency war and justified by claims of ''an agreement between Guatemala and God,'' Guatemala''s Evangelical Protestant military dictator General Ríos Montt incited a Mayan holocaust: over just 17 months, some 86,000 mostly Mayan civilians were murdered. Virginia Garrard-Burnett dives into the horrifying, bewildering murk of this episode, the Western hemisphere''s worst twentieth-century human rights atrocity. She has delivered the most lucid historical account and analysis we yet possess of what happened and how, of the cultural complexities, personalities, and local and international politics that made this tragedy. Garrard-Burnett asks the hard questions and never flinches from the least comforting answers. Beautifully, movingly, and clearly written and argued, this is a necessary and indispensable book.-- Francisco Goldman, author of The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?Virginia Garrard-Burnett''s Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit is impressivelyTrade ReviewIn a country still torn over the war by polarizing accusations amplified by righteous self-exculpation, Garrard-Burnett listens carefully to as many sides as her sources allow-the Left, the Right, Catholic activists, evangelicals, the US embassy-to conclude that states turn genocidal, not just because they can, but because both perpetrators and public come to see their self-preservation, if not salvation, at stake. In helping us understand better that self-preservation, this book also speaks with respect-and hope-to the survivors. We should all be listening carefully. * John Watanabe, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dartmouth College *This is a careful narrative and sober analysis of Mott's seventeenth-month regime in Guatemala. * Religious Studies Review *Virginia Garrard-Burnett's examination of General Efrain Rios Montt is one of the best available historicalpolitical analyses of Guatemala's brutal armed conflict...Garrard-Burnett is arguably one of the most important contemporary historians of Protestantism in Latin America. In this slim volume, she not only demonstrates her deep and nuanced understanding of the evangelical movement in Guatemala but also explains the dynamics and contours of the political crisis that brought Rios Montt to power in 1982.. * American Historical Review *This work secures a solid place among some of the dominant works in modern Latin American historiography, particularly in its positioning within the field of subaltern studies. While remaining sensitive to the voice and agency of the victims of the genocide, Garrard- Burnett relies heavily on truth commission reports to provide a clear analysis of the influences of evangelical rhetoric that saturated Guatemala's violent struggles of the late Cold War. This useful, insightful work deserves a wide reading among students and specialists alike.. * Hispanic American Historical Review *Table of Contents1. Rios Montt Earns His Place in the History Books: Debates about la Violencia ; 2. Guatemala's Descent in Violence ; 3. Rios Montt and the New Guatemala ; 4. Terror ; 5. "Los Que Matan en el Nombre de Dios": Rios Montt and the Religious Question ; 6. Blind Eyes and Willful Ignorance: U.S. Foreign Policy, Media, and Foreign Evangelicals ; Epilogue ; Notes ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe immigration of Muslims to Europe and the integration of later generations presents many challenges to European societies. Unwanted builds on five years of ethnographic research with a group of fifty-five second-generation Muslim immigrant drug dealers in Frankfurt, Germany to examine the relationship between immigration, social exclusion, and the informal economy. Having spent countless hours with these young men, hanging out in the streets, in cafes or bars and at the local community center, Sandra Bucerius explores the intimate aspects of their, one of the most discriminated and excluded populations in Germany. Bucerius looks at how the young men negotiate their participation in the drug market while still trying to adhere to their cultural and religious obligations and how they struggle to find a place within German society. The young men considered their involvement in the drug trade a response to their exclusion at the same time that it provides a means of forging an identity Trade ReviewThis is one of the most exciting and original ethnographic studies on drug dealing I have read in a long time. It is the German counterpart of classical American studies as Philip Bourgois' In Search of Respect or Elijah Anderson's Code of the Street. The setting is not an American ghetto but a Frankfurt neighborhood in an advanced German welfare state. Bucerius has drawn on her extensive fieldwork in the neighborhood of Bockenheim to present an ethnography that explains the lifestyles and social exclusion of a group of second generation immigrants with a Muslim background that are involved in drug dealing. Her enduring fieldwork in a combination with her theoretical lenses based on Pierre Bourdieu, Mary Douglas and Max Weber offer an explanation why these young men choose to become drug dealers. It is a stunning achievement written with civic involvement, as well with academic detachment and humor. * Godfried Engbersen, Professor of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam *In the tradition of the best urban ethnographies, Unwanted provides an insightful look at the lives of second generation Muslim immigrant young men involved in Frankfurt's drug economy. Sandra Bucerius deftly navigates structure, culture, and agency, grappling with how macro-level forces in German society impact the lives of young men she describes as 'perpetual foreigners,' and how their identity work constructs meaning in the face of marginalization and crime involvement. Unwanted illuminates unique features of the German context, while offering larger lessons for scholars who seek to better understand social exclusion and its impacts. It is an important and timely contribution. * Jody Miller, Professor of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction ; Chapter 2: "I Am a Bockenheimer": Social Exclusion and Local Identification ; Chapter 3: "As Long as You Don't Get Carried Away": On Choosing Lifestyle and Gaining Respect ; Chapter 4: "I'm Not a Dirty Crack Dealer": Purity and Impurity in the Drug Market ; Chapter 5: Muslim Virgin Wanted: In Search of Reasons to Quite Dealing ; Chapter 6: Where to Go from Here? ; Appendix: "Somehow you're a friend even though you're a woman" Some Thoughts on Negotiating Access and Trust ; References

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Book SynopsisIn God's Own Party, Daniel K. Williams presents the first comprehensive history of the Christian Right, uncovering how evangelicals came to see the Republican Party as the vehicle through which they could reclaim America as a Christian nation.Trade ReviewI have long sought a book that would present the history of how the GOP became, in the mind of most conservative Christians, God s Own Party...This is the book I have been waiting for...For an interesting and objective history of the Christian Right, I highly recommend Williams book. * Laurence M. Vance, LewRockwell.com *This book is a needed addition to scholarship on the rise of the New Right. * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter 1: From Isolation to Influence ; Chapter 2: The Emergence of a Fundamentalist Right ; Chapter 3: God and Country during the Kennedy Presidency ; Chapter 4: The Christian Silent Majority ; Chapter 5: Nixon's Evangelical Strategy ; Chapter 6: The Grassroots Campaign to Save the Family ; Chapter 7: Culture Wars in the Carter Years ; Chapter 8: Moral Majority ; Chapter 9: Reagan ; Chapter 10: Crashing the Party ; Chapter 11: Capturing the White House ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisIslam''s relationship to liberal-democratic politics has emerged as one of the most pressing and contentious issues in international affairs. In Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy, Nader Hashemi challenges the widely held belief among social scientists that religious politics and liberal-democratic development are structurally incompatible. This book argues for a rethinking of democratic theory so that it incorporates the variable of religion in the development of liberal democracy. In the process, it proves that an indigenous theory of Muslim secularism is not only possible, but is a necessary requirement for the advancement of liberal democracy in Muslim societies.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter 1. Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies: The Historical Background ; Chapter 2. Dueling Scriptures: The Political Theology of John Locke and the Democratization of Muslim Societies ; Chapter 3. A Concise Anatomy of Secularism: Examining Its Linkages to Liberal Democracy ; Chapter 4. Secularism and Its Discontents in Muslim Societies: Indigenizing the Separation between Religion and State ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Trade ReviewA solidly resourced, cogently analyzed, and persuasively argued brief. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Perilous Times ; 2. The Nuclear-Haunted Era ; 3. What to Mobilize Against ; 4. Waging War on Terror ; 5. Weapons of Mass Destruction ; 6. Panics and Pandemics ; 7. Environmental Catastrophe ; 8. Setting a New Agenda ; 9. The Call for Action ; Notes ; Selected Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisMillions of American Christians see U.S. support for the State of Israel as a God-ordained responsibility. Millions more see the ''''special relationship'''' between the two countries as a bond that should never be challenged, much less broken. Robert O. Smith provides an in-depth look at the English Protestant tradition of Judeo-centric prophecy interpretation at the heart of this popular affinity. In 2006, John Hagee founded Christians United for Israel. Several high-level policymakers, both Christians and Jews, flocked to endorse the effort. Soon, however, questions rose about apparently anti-Catholic and anti-Islamic ideas contained in Hagee''s preaching and writing. More Desired Than Our Owne Salvation explores the content of Christian Zionist attitudes, their resonance in popular American culture, and the history of the ideas that have contributed to present realities. After discussing polling data and exploring how Black Protestant views clarify general American attitudes, Smith revisits sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Protestant interpretations of scripture and history. The Pope and the Turk figured significantly, identified by both Luther and Calvin as the two heads of the Antichrist. Protestant exiles from England carried these ideas back to Elizabethan England, provided a nationalist twist, and set Anglo-American history on a new path.The resulting English Protestant tradition of Judeo-centric prophecy interpretation shaped Puritan identity, which was then transferred to New England, where it began informing the foundations of American vocation and self-understanding. Through its developments and adaptations, this Judeo-centric tradition provided English colonists and Anglo Americans with purpose and vision. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, many Americans readily welcomed it as a prophetic counterpart, a country whose preservation ''''may be more desired then our owne salvation.''''Trade Reviewoffers readers a deeper understanding of Christian Zionism * Caitlin Carenen, American Hisorical Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Introduction ; Chapter 1 Blessing the Jew: The Traits of Contemporary American Christian Zionism ; Chapter 2 Supporting the Jew: Culture, Doctrine, and American Popular Opinion on the State of Israel ; Chapter 3 Mythologizing the Jew: The Reformation Foundations of Judeo-centric Prophecy Interpretation (1530-1603) ; Chapter 4 Militarizing the Jew: Judeo-centric Prophecy Interpretation, Thomas Draxe to Joseph Mede (1608-1627) ; Chapter 5 Admitting the Jew: Parliamentary Authority, Christian Zionism, and British Imperial Identity ; Chapter 6 Typologizing the Jew: The Judeo-Centric Foundations of America's Covenantal Vocation ; Chapter 7 Systematizing the Jew: John Nelson Darby and the Putative Paternity of Christian Zionism ; Chapter 8 Politicizing the Jew: William E. Blackstone and the Mobilization of Cultural Fundamentalism ; Conclusion: Christian Zionism from the Cartwright Petition to American Empire ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisExamines how English Catholic exiles in Spain used print and other written media to promote the conquest of England and the spiritual renewal of Christendom. Trade Review“Domínguez has provided a focused, informed, and lively account of the publishing activities of Elizabethan English Catholic exiles—and through these activities the exiles’ deep involvement in Spanish political-ecclesiastical culture—during a critical moment in the history of Anglo-Spanish politics.”—Daniel Knapper Reformation“Domínguez makes a clear and forceful argument for the impact of Spanish Elizabethan authors on Spanish politics during the final decades of Philip II’s reign. Yet this book achieves something even more significant for those of us looking to the future of early modern studies. It demonstrates the benefits of transnationalism in furthering our understanding of Europe’s religious and political environment.”—Kelsey J. Ihinger Bulletin of the Comediantes“Scholarship on English Catholicism has started to take greater account of its broadly European and international dimensions, and Domínguez makes an important contribution to this line of scholarship. Radicals in Exile presents a convincing case for the central role of English Catholics in late sixteenth-century Spanish and wider European politics. It casts new light on English Catholics’ links with Spain, and future scholarship will no doubt expand on these links, looking at connections beyond the printed word.”—Jonathan Roche Journal of British Studies“Freddy Domínguez’s important book expands our knowledge of English and Spanish Catholic print culture beyond immediate confessional considerations to illuminate instead the tangled polemics of secular rule and spiritual authority.”—Anne J. Cruz Renaissance and Reformation“Domínguez’s work, with its transnational perspective, rejection of confessional and nationalist narratives, and recovery of marginal voices, contributes positively to encouraging trends in modern Reformation scholarship.”—Alexander DeWitt SJ Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu“Skillfully researched and written with enviable clarity, Freddy Domínguez’s Radicals in Exile explores in detail a series of texts English Catholics wrote from Spain during the dramatic years of the 1580s and ’90s. His readings of these works are original and illuminating, and they integrate this singular corpus into the wider religious and intellectual history of the period.”—James S. Amelang,author of Parallel Histories: Muslims and Jews in Inquisitorial Spain“This book puts the punch back into early modern religious polemic. Radical English Catholic exiles deftly bob and weave across the pages with hired-gun Protestant apologists. London swings at Madrid, Madrid jabs back at London, while Rome, Paris, and Antwerp stand by, eager to climb into the ring. The many contenders in this post-Reformation prizefight in print yield refreshingly unfamiliar viewpoints, internecine agendas, and a dynamic polyglot literature that has been too often overlooked.”—Earle Havens,Nancy H. Hall Curator of Rare Books & Manuscripts, Johns Hopkins University“Through a meticulous engagement with both English and Spanish works and ideas, Domínguez reminds us that exiles were influenced not only by developments in England, but also by the historical circumstances and ideas present in their adoptive home. Radicals in Exile is a much-needed study, which is sure to make an indelible impact in the field.”—Gonzalo Velasco Berenguer Journal of Modern History

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