Synopses & Reviews
In this groundbreaking and timely history, an eminent historian of religion chronicles Americas struggle to fulfill the promise of religious toleration enshrined in our Constitution. William Hutchison shows that as Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and others emerged to challenge the Protestant mainstream, we have expanded our understanding of what it means to be a religiously diverse country.
[This] landmark study address[es] a topic that is both central to American history and relevant to pressing current debates. . . . Stimulating, illuminating, and provocative.”Mark Noll
A fascinating account of how religious pluralism, a pluralism that now accepts the most distant stretches of religious diversity, has become institutionalized in the United States.”Nathan Glazer
Rich and engaging.”Thomas C. Berg, Christian Century
Hutchisons history is learned and accessible. In its use of cultural evidenceincluding political cartoons, gospel lyrics, portraits, and photographsit is even entertaining. . . . More importantly, at all points it is clear.”Erin Leib, New York Sun
Review
chronicles Americas struggle to fulfill the promise of religious toleration
Review
enshrined in our Constitution. William Hutchison shows that as Catholics,
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-262) and index.
About the Author
William R. Hutchison is Charles Warren Research Professor of the History of Religion in America at the Divinity School, Harvard University.
Table of Contents
Introduction : religious pluralism as a work in progress -- Here are no disputes : reputation and realities in the new republic -- Just behave yourself : pluralism as selective tolerance -- Marching to Zion : the Protestant establishment as a unifying force -- Repentance for our social sins : adjustments within the establishment -- In (partway) from the margins : pluralism as inclusion -- Surviving a while longer : the establishment under stress in the early twentieth century -- Don't change your name : early assaults on the melting pot ideal -- Protestant-Catholic-Jew : new mainstream, gropings toward a new pluralism -- Whose America is it anyway? : the sixties and after.