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This book contains fifteen essays from leading historians and religious studies scholars, each originally presented as the annual Tanner lecture at the conference of the Mormon History Association. Approaching Mormon history from a variety of angles, such as gender, identity creation, American imperialism, and globalization, these scholars, all experts in their fields but new to the study of Mormon history itself, ask intriguing questions about Mormonism's past and future and analyze familiar sources in unexpected ways.
This edited volume uncovers the extent of the contribution of lawyers to international politics over the past three hundred years. It also examines how practitioners of international relations, including politicians, diplomats, and military advisers, have considered their tasks in distinctly legal terms.
Benjamin A. Valentino finds that ethnic hatreds or discrimination, undemocratic systems of government, and dysfunctions in society play a much smaller role in mass killing and genocide than is commonly assumed. He shows that the impetus for mass killing usually originates from a relatively small group of powerful leaders and is often carried out without the active support of broader society. Mass killing, in his view, is a brutal political or military strategy designed to accomplish leaders' most important objectives, counter threats to their power, and solve their most difficult problems. In order to capture the full scope of mass killing during the twentieth century, Valentino does not lim...
Offering a glimpse into the lives of upwardly mobile Mormon professionals, this series of personal essays by author Dr. Robert S. Jordan describes his odyssey as a third-generation Mormon of polygamous descent whose family ascended from rural pioneer poverty to upper middle-class social and economic success. A Diasporan Mormons Life chronicles the life of Jordan, a child of the Mormon Diasporans who left the social and cultural isolation of Utah for a more secular, modern America. This memoir describes his struggle to find his personal identity from the tensions created between his religious heritage and his secular upbringing. Jordans life is remarkably varied. He studied at East Coast and ...
The relationship between religion and the law is a hot-button topic in America, with the courts, Congress, journalists, and others engaging in animated debates on what influence, if any, the former should have on the latter. Many of these discussions are dominated by the legal perspective, which views religion as a threat to the law; it is rare to hear how various religions in America view American law, even though most religions have distinct views on law. In Faith and Law, legal scholars from sixteen different religious traditions contend that religious discourse has an important function in the making, practice, and adjudication of American law, not least because our laws rest upon a framework of religious values. The book includes faiths that have traditionally had an impact on American law, as well as new immigrant faiths that are likely to have a growing influence. Each contributor describes how his or her tradition views law and addresses one legal issue from that perspective. Topics include abortion, gay rights, euthanasia, immigrant rights, and blasphemy and free speech.
"Latter-Day Political Views is a formal study of the effect of religion and culture on the political worldviews of practicing Mormons from different races and nationalities. Previous studies have focused on Mormons in Utah and found phenomenally high levels of homogeneity in Latter-Day Saints (LDS) political views, so much so that Mormons have been considered a distinct ethnic group. What author Jeffrey C. Fox finds shatters this illusion. Here he illuminates how people with different backgrounds are able to not only reconcile various clashing cultural beliefs with Mormon doctrine but also form their own unique political views that differ systematically by race and political culture. As the church rapidly expands and becomes more racially and culturally diverse, Latter-Day Political Views encourages readers to expand their field of vision and understand the impact of Mormon doctrine on the political thought of all its members."--BOOK JACKET.
The clash between the religious right and the secular left undermines any serious debate about the role of religion in American public life. Such strident cultural rhetoric often ignores the positive contributions of America's many religions. By contrast, this volume celebrates America's religious diversity, demonstrating that religious pluralism is actually one of democracy's basic building blocks. Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously expands on Barbara A. McGraw's framework for understanding religious participation in public life--a two-tiered public forum, consisting of the civic public forum and the conscientious public forum. The chapters explore how diverse religious communities and traditions, including "newer" and marginalized religions, can make a meaningful contribution to American society and politics.
As early as the sixteenth century the liberal democratic state has been forced to confront the question of religion in politics. The result has been a tense and uncomfortable balancing act. Today, in the public square of liberal democracy, a number of religious confessions and beliefs compete for attention. In the American experience, some sense of religious pluralism and relative social harmony has been maintained. However, for this relationship to prevail, a tension must continue to exist—one that balances the political and social pursuits of self-interest with meeting the objectives of the common good. In Reaping the Whirlwind, John R. Pottenger shows how this process began in the moder...