ISBN:
9780226663999
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource (368 p)
Edition:
[Online-Ausgabe]
Year of publication:
2019
Keywords:
Christianity and politics History 20th century
;
Democracy Religious aspects
;
Religion and politics History 20th century
;
Religious pluralism
;
HISTORY / General
Abstract:
"Judeo-Christian" is a remarkably easy term to look right through. Judaism and Christianity obviously share tenets, texts, and beliefs that have strongly influenced American democracy. In this ambitious book, however, K. Healan Gaston challenges the myth of a monolithic Judeo-Christian America. She demonstrates that the idea is not only a recent and deliberate construct, but also a potentially dangerous one. From the time of its widespread adoption in the 1930s, the ostensible inclusiveness of Judeo-Christian terminology concealed efforts to promote particular conceptions of religion, secularism, and politics. Gaston also shows that this new language, originally rooted in arguments over the nature of democracy that intensified in the early Cold War years, later became a marker in the culture wars that continue today. She argues that the debate on what constituted Judeo-Christian-and American-identity has shaped the country's religious and political culture much more extensively than previously recognized
Abstract:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part One. The Genesis of America's Judeo- Christian Discourse -- 1. From Hebraic- Hellenic to Judeo- Christian -- 2. A Protestant Nation No More -- 3. Democracy's Tradition -- Part Two. Secularism and the Redefinition of Democracy -- 4. The Flowering of a Discourse -- 5. From World War to Cold War -- 6. Fighting Godless Communism -- Part Three. From Tri- faith to Multireligious America -- 7. Secularism Reconsidered -- 8. Judeo- Christian Visions under Fire -- 9. Multireligious Possibilities -- Conclusion. The Future of Judeo- Christian Discourse -- Bibliographic Essay -- Notes -- Index
Note:
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
,
In English
DOI:
10.7208/9780226663999
URL:
https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780226663999