Religious Intolerance in America, Second Edition: A Documentary History

by John Corrigan (Editor), Lynn S. Neal (Editor)

Overview

The story of religion in America is one of unparalleled diversity and protection of the religious rights of individuals. But that story is a muddied one. This new and expanded edition of a classroom favorite tells a jolting history—illuminated by historical texts, pictures, songs, cartoons, letters, and even t-shirts—of how our society has been and continues to be replete with religious intolerance. It powerfully reveals the narrow gap between intolerance and violence in America. The second edition contains a new chapter on Islamophobia and adds fresh material on the Christian persecution complex, white supremacy and other race-related issues, sexuality, and the role played by social media.

John Corrigan and Lynn S. Neal’s overarching narrative weaves together a rich, compelling array of textual and visual materials. Arranged thematically, each chapter provides a broad historical background, and each document or cluster of related documents is entwined in context as a discussion of the issues unfolds. The need for this book has only increased in the midst of today’s raging conflicts about immigration, terrorism, race, religious freedom, and patriotism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469655635
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/27/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

John Corrigan is Lucius Moody Bristol Distinguished Professor at Florida State University. Lynn S. Neal is professor of religious studies at Wake Forest University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 Religious Intolerance in Colonial America 17

2 Anti-Catholicism 49

3 Anti-Mormonism 73

4 Intolerance toward Nineteenth-Century Religious Groups 99

5 Intolerance toward Native American Religions 125

6 Anti-Semitism 147

7 Intolerance toward “New” Religions in the Twentieth Century 181

8 The Branch Davidians and Waco 115

The Culmination of Religious Intolerance Conclusion 247

Appendix: Web Resources for Combating Religious Intolerance 267

Notes 269

Index 277

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“When we describe our country as welcoming to all peoples and religions, we downplay the history and reality of intolerance. This volume makes a significant contribution through the juxtaposition of the mythic aspects of American history—its virtues and the notion of 'American exceptionalism'—against the everyday realities of religious intolerance. The editors' nuanced presentation of this paradox is fresh and creative, and will touch chords in readers' experiences.—Wade Clark Roof, author of Spiritual Marketplace

Editorial Reviews

“Vibrantly illustrates the sometimes conspicuous, but more often insidious ways, in which religious intolerance has shaped American life. . . . A unique and essential volume.”—Journal of Southern Religion

“Striking and memorable. . . . Corrigan and Neal are to be commended for providing such a remarkable new edition of this volume at a critical point in American history.”—Reading Religion

“A welcome corrective to traditional tales of religious accommodation.”—CHOICE

“This volume awakens readers—specifically students of American history—to the ways in which Americans have ‘failed to grapple with our own history of religious intolerance and violence’ (11). . . . An important corrective and valuable . . . pedagogical resource, Religious Intolerance in America contends and confirms that ‘new and more accurate stories of the American past will help us respond to difference with interest or curiosity rather than fear’ (312).”—Journal of Mormon History

From the Publisher