History of American Religion, 1865 to Present will consider the varieties of American religious experience while keeping in mind the importance of pluralism in the U.S. context.
In Chapter five and six, McGreevy discusses community organization and efforts by local liberal politicians and liberal clergy to organize against discrimination. McGreevy discusses the on going efforts from Catholic clergy leaders and their transition and further involvement with civil rights.
McGreevy at length discusses Saul Alinsky’s efforts in Chicago for example as he worked with local clergy [...]
Building on the framework of the earlier part of the book, in which the various ethnic parishes of urban America are depicted as being established and defined within their geographic locations within Northern cities in the early 20th Century, chapters 3 and 4 describe the defensive position these communities found themselves in after World War [...]
In Chapter’s 7 & 8 of Parish Boundaries, McGreevy discusses the impact on northern urban Catholic laity of involvement of Catholic Priests and Nuns in the Civil Rights movement and the results of the Second Vatican Council. In previous chapters, he has discussed the difficulty that Catholic neighborhoods and their parish priests had in [...]
In the Introduction to Parish Boundaries, McGreevey lays out a new framework for discussing race relations. He describes the existing thought as placing the emphasis on a biracial interpretation; that “‘white’ groups are presumed to have been ‘racist’ in essentially the same way”(3-4) so that different white ethnic populations are racist as a ‘white’ whole [...]
In Chapter 1 of “Material Christianity”, Colleen McDannell asserts that the physical expression of Christian faith and tradition, through use of religious images, artifacts, relics, art and statuary, (material representation), has continuously existed throughout the American historical experience. The physical manifestation of material Christian symbolism has been transformed over time, and, as McDannell asserts, “it [...]
In Chapter 8, author Colleen McDannell highlights the impact of Christian Retailing by emphasizing the sales and services of Christian objects (from T-shirts to porcelain statues) for both individual and household uses, and asserts that it . . . ” is a significant aspect of contemporary religious life in America” (p. 222). McDannell cites statistics indicating [...]
In chapters 5 and 6, McDannell looks at the subject of water from the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France and Christian Kitsch, respectively. McDannell begins chapter 5 by stating that she is looking at the “economy of the holy.” (133) This is fitting considering the extensive spiritual and material network [...]
In Chapter 7, McDannell discusses Mormon undergarments and their meaning to those who wear them. What is striking from the beginning is the secrecy that surrounds the garments and the associated rituals. Scholars find it difficult to research this topic since the church leaders tenaciously guard documents. McDannell does agree that “some of the blame [...]
Colleen McDannell’s book takes a look at, as the title suggests, materialism in Christianity. McDannell discusses the importance of imagery in various cultural aspects of the Christian religion. She notes in the first chapter that this subject is often not touched upon but should be discussed more thoroughly due to the insights [...]
I wanted to say a few words about Robert Orsi’s treatment of women in The Madonna of 115th Street. He starts off by saying things like “Except for a short period in July, men used the streets to display their power and authority; the exception was, of course, the festa of the Madonna, when women [...]