Reading Summaries - Summary Religion and US Politics PDF

Preview

Summary

Reading summaries for some mandatory texts of the class...

Description

Why Study Religions by John Hinnells (01/29/2019) Studying religion is essential to understanding the ideals, values and therefore motives of a specific people. The power of religion is seen through world history forming, altering, and destroying different cultures. They are part of many peoples’ identities, so they are often central to the political and societal beliefs of nations. Unfiltered bias, labels, and the wish to create easily digestible content dilute interpretations of religions and may blind someone to important aspects of a religion. It is extremely important to study religions in the context of their location as different groups will have different cultural, social, and political influences.

The Impossibility of Religious Freedom by Winnifred Fallers Sullivan (02/06/19)  Laws that restrict the free practice of religion o Peyote illegal bc opiate legislation  RFRA extending to corporations & states o Companies don’t have to provide access to certain birth control under health care plan  “current moment of worldwide advocacy on behalf of religious freedom” p. 7  Laws protecting religious freedom seem to define what it isn’t in attempting to outline what it is  Doesn’t our government have that unconstitutional religious establishment? o At what point does political office separate from the person?  Politicians saying “God bless America” after EVERY fucking speech p. 1-53 Sullivan notes that laws protecting religious freedom define what it isn’t in attempting to outline what it is, by definition excluding some people’s exercise of religion. She reveals the history of religious legislation in the United States, including evolving interpretations of the 1st Amendment to include states and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The suits filed on the basis of the 1st Amendment religious clauses usually have both unconstitutional “establishment” and “free exercise” aspects. Sullivan follows the Warner v. Boca Raton case in which she was an expert witness for the plaintiffs, who were challenging the city’s rule that there could be no vertical memorials in the city cemetery. In hindsight she asserts that religious academics shouldn’t testify because it is insensitive to claim you know more than a person about their own religion and wrongly creates emphasis on the difference between lived religion and legal religion.

“What’s Love Got to Do with It?” by Carrie A. Miles (02/13/2019) Contrary to the Christian belief of shared love and devotion, the historical practicality of marriage, and therefore polygyny was economic reasons. In original Mormon Church of Joseph Smith, polygyny was used to ensure the salvation of women through a worthy man. It is commonly known as “celestial marriage” because the purpose isn’t based in worldly desires such as love or lust, but rather the goal of eternal life. The mainstream Church of Latter-Day Saints has moved away from a man’s power being derived from the number of wives and children he has. However, modern fundamental interpretations heavily enforce the marriage of young girls

based on their prophet’s revelations, coercing them into loveless relationships sometimes for the net gain of their families. Sex in the Fundamental Church of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) is not related to emotion and is used as a means to procreate and make a larger kingdom for men in their afterlife. Another strong source of power stems from church leaders marrying the late leader’s widows, signifying that he has the approval of the past prophet and God.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone (02/20/2019) p. xvii-29 The thousands of lynchings and other terrorist acts of white supremacy are hardly spoken of today, and Cone claims that to erase this history is to misrepresent American society. The Lynching period in America was a time where killing black people was promoted and accepted by political authorities as a way to protect white power in all aspects of society. Fear permeated every black person in every state because the refusal by the police and government to admonish lynching left black people nearly powerless. To cope with the ever-present fear of death, they sang the blues, naming their struggle and hope and they turned to God with songs of hardship, prayers, sermons, and questions of fairness. The blues and Christianity provided community, solidarity, and a togetherness that fostered resilience and strength. The cross and the lynching tree are connected in black history because of their opposing meanings: the lynching tree as black fear and death, and the cross as black life and hope.

Pledging Allegiance by Kruse (03/20/2019) The “Christian Amendment” to the Constitution originated during the Civil War but didn’t gain strong political backing until the Eisenhower era when it was introduced to a Senate subcommittee. Its supporters argued based on original intent and wanted the Constitution to reflect the Christian beliefs of its writers and the American people. The amendment failed but began Eisenhower’s legacy of ceremonial deism that infused religion with patriotism for generations to come. The original Pledge of Allegiance written by Baptist minister Francis Bellamy was inspired by ideas of a new America with freedom for all and had no mention of God. The movement to add the phrase “under God” to the pledge was driven by Louis C. Rabaut to promote a deeper meaning of patriotism and quickly gained support from the American public and Reverend George Docherty, whose sermon inspired President Eisenhower to support the change. Although the meaning of “under God” was split along party lines, anti-Soviet sentiment brought them together and Rabaut’s resolution passed and the line “one nation under God” became prominent in popular culture. The popularization of the motto “In God We Trust” began when it was printed on United States coins and continued in the post office whith a new stamp and cancelation mark. Following the precedent set by the pledge and stamps, “In God We Trust” was also promoted to be on paper money by Representative Bennett, Chairman of the house ICCL. He also proposed the phrase to become the new motto of the United States, and both passed Congress nearly unanimously. The ACLU, P.O.A.U., American Humanist Association and other organizations recognized these changes as a breach of separation of church and state but offered little opposition due to a focus on Civil Rights movement. Although some see the ceremonial deism born in this era as purely conventional and ornamental, it created a strong message of America as a Christian nation.

How the Religious Right Shaped Lesbian and Gay Activism by Fetner (03/27/2019) Christian Fundamentalists of the 1920s feared the influence of pop culture and scientific advances and so many chose isolation by building communities removed from modern temptations. The religious right was built off of Christian Evangelical social and institutional networks that formed during the isolation, such as television and radio shows, bible institutes, and para-church organizations that appealed to a variety of denominations. The Evangelical identity was strongly tied to the nuclear family structure, so they saw anti-gay activism as preserving the roles God has made for men and women. The Christian anti-gay movement was the entrance of evangelicals into politics and forced the gay and lesbian rights advocates to become more organized and persistent. World War II helped to break gender barriers because women filled jobs in the absence of men and the military was a gender-segregated lifestyle that increased demand for gay bars and culture in urban areas. The push back from evangelicals and the US government and police during the McCarthy era produced the first groups that argued for radical activism rather than internal support. The gay liberation effort was inspired by the civil rights and feminist movements and helped to change negative public opinion about homosexuality. The anti-gay movement had better organization, resources and succeeded in slowing down the progress of the lesbian and gay movement, but it didn’t defeat it.

14 = 1 After the Wrath of God by Anthony Petro (04/03/2019) - AIDS as a moral epidemic, a plague from God - “racial minorities, who were often overlooked in national media and by Christian AIDS workers”: supporting Ida B Wells’ thoughts on white Christianity - How religious influencers have formed the common rhetoric around AIDS and thus the morality of the diseased people - Morality as a translation word between religious and secular rhetoric - Mainline vs. Evangelical/Catholic thoughts, targeting virus vs. targeting people - “Moral behavior” as what is “right”, decided by Christian Right - Traditional family and “family values” evolving to mainstream conservative Christian rhetoric - (moral) citizenship as a mode of national belonging: gays & lesbians not American - Anti-gay, anti-sex hysteria spread faster than scientific knowledge - Gay men and their perverse activities as the cause for the spread of AIDS - “a history tethered to moral consequence rather than medical accuracy” - Public health ramifications: abstinence teachings, sort of abandoning gay communities to die because of their “moral failings” - Rhetoric today still centralized to heterosexual normativity, as promoted by Obama (sad) - CDC associated the disease with homosexuality: gay cancer - Christian right’s counter to the sexual revolution

Petro claims the early link of the AIDS epidemic as a homosexual disease bolstered the Christian Right’s claim of the superiority of heterosexuality and had damaging effects on public health knowledge. Anti-gay and anti-sex hysteria spread faster than the limited scientific knowledge, leaving religious leaders room to spread the idea that gay men were to blame for the spread of AIDS. To conservative Christians AIDS was a moral plague sent by God and the religious influencers that believed this formed the common rhetoric around the disease. To this day, there remains the notion that spiritual healing can help stop the spread. The contrast between mainline and Evangelical/Catholic rhetoric was targeting the virus vs. targeting the morality of the person. Morality quickly became entwined with worth and American-ness, and gays and lesbians were deemed immoral citizens. Phrases such as “morality” and “family values” were transition words for the Christian Rights between the religious and political spheres. Although AIDS had been linked to drug users and minority populations, the Christian Right used its link to homosexuality as a way to counter the sexual revolution.

The veil in their minds and on our heads by Homa Hoodfar (04/10/2019) Hoodfar claims that western assumptions about the veils of Muslim women are racist, colonial, and falsely equate them with oppression. These assumptions are not only detrimental to Islamic feminist movements, but they also stunt the growth of western understanding of women in Islam. Hoodfar claims veiling is a pre-Islamic cultural tradition that that can bring power to women without words This interpretation has been negated by western society which formed its own opinion of western superiority originally based on the travels of wealthy Victorians who observed a limited view of society. She states it is the misinformed western beliefs that perpetuate the stagnant idea of all veiled women as uneducated victims of a devaluing religion. Although western opinions have remained the same, de-veiling and re-veiling have both been claimed as liberation for women. Hoodfar also speaks to the struggle of modern Muslim women being forced by well-meaning but ignorant feminist dialogue to choose between fighting racism and fighting sexism.

Why Religion, Why Sex by Janet Jacobsen & Pellegrini (04/17/2019) Jacobsen and Pellegrini argue that freedom and privacy in America is restricted by Christian morals through the regulation of sex. Sex is the one topic in government for which religion is the basis for ethical debate, through which regulations are placed on family structure and sexual activities between consenting adults. Homosexuality has been restricted for centuries through both law and rhetoric based on Christian morality saying it is sinful and a threat to greater America. The authors claim that morality, ethics, and religion are too often used interchangeably, causing a severe break down in what secularism is in this country. Because morality and patriotism is so tightly linked to Christianity, secularism is seen as anti-religion, but Jacobsen and Pellegrini emphasize that they complement each other rather than oppose. They should each be considered valid and possible bases for morals and public policy (religion as a whole, NOT just Christianity). Hot Damned America by Brian McCammack (04/24/2019) Evangelicals are a powerful political group that could cause climate change to be taken seriously in America if they focus on it. The evangelical religious community is split on environmental

issues based on Bible interpretations. Conservatives believe that global warming is as God intended for humans to rule over the Earth and transform it into a garden and view it in terms of economic impacts. Liberals believe that God wants them to be stewards of the Earth by protecting it and view it in terms of environmental consequences. Liberal evangelicals have moved away from the argument to serve and protect the Earth because it led to accusations of nature worship, which is against their faith. They now use human poverty (a concern they adopted from conservatives) as a consequence of environmental degradation to justify concern and appeal to a broader audience of evangelicals. Conservative evangelical thought is represented in conservative mainstream politics, highlighting the theoretical and uncertain nature of climate science. The conservative American politics emphasize economic prosperity and hesitance to act before more is known while liberal politics argue action must be taken now because it is good for society even if climate change isn’t real. Liberal evangelicals have accepted environmental policy as an important moral issue, but still have to convince the rest of the community that emission reduction is the best way to serve God’s wishes to help reduce poverty....