The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.
Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.
Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public...
The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.
Asian religions have a long and intriguing history in America. For over two centuries, Asian immigrants have been coming to America and bringing their religions with them. Some Americans have reacted with alarm to the arrival of heathen religions on American shores, while others have taken refuge in lamas from Tibet, yogis from India, and Zen masters from Japan. Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History is the first text to show the breadth and depth of the American encounter with Asian religions. Ranging from 1784 to the present, it features over one hundred excerpts...
Asian religions have a long and intriguing history in America. For over two centuries, Asian immigrants have been coming to America and bringing their...
Just one hundred years ago, Americans almost universally condemned cremation. Today, nearly one-quarter of Americans choose to be cremated. The practice has gained wide acceptance as a funeral rite, in both our private and public lives, as the cremations of icons such as John Lennon and John F. Kennedy Jr. show. Purified by Fire tells the fascinating story of cremation's rise from notoriety to legitimacy and takes a provocative new look at important transformations in the American cultural landscape over the last 150 years. Stephen Prothero synthesizes a wide array of previously...
Just one hundred years ago, Americans almost universally condemned cremation. Today, nearly one-quarter of Americans choose to be cremated. The practi...
The United States has long been described as a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of religions in which Muslims and Methodists, Buddhists and Baptists live and work side by side. This book explores that nation of religions, focusing on how four recently arrived religious communities--Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs--are shaping and, in turn, shaped by American values.
For a generation, scholars have been documenting how the landmark legislation that loosened immigration restrictions in 1965 catalyzed the development of the United States as "a nation of Buddhists,...
The United States has long been described as a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of religions in which Muslims and Methodists, Buddhists a...
