Randall Stephens I just attended a wonderful session at the 2010 Conference on Faith and History here at George Fox University, south of Portland, OR. This year’s program contains a wide range of panels and plenary sessions. See it here
Excerpt from:
Mormonism and Historical Thought at the CFH
by Christopher Jones Glenn Beck initially drew my interest because of his Mormonism—I sensed in Beck’s conspiratorial approach to politics something reminiscent of an earlier generation of Mormon public figures. The pervading fear of socialist subversion, combined with the particularly Mormon interpretations and understandings of human agency, the methods and aims of satanic opposition, and the divinely-inspired nature of America’s Founding documents, were reminders both that the influence of Cleon Skousen and Ezra Taft Benson’s religio-political views still loomed large among a certain segment of the Mormon population and that in them lay a narrative that had the power to appeal to not only conservative Mormons but other embittered Americans as well, suspicious of the government and intent on rescuing the nation from secularism and immorality (and make no mistake, perceived secularism and immorality are as central to Beck’s movement as is some vague libertarian notion of fiscal responsibility ).
See the original post here:
Glenn Beck, Methodism, and "Black Founders"
Gerardo Marti Congregations and Social Change: Adaptation and Innovation among Religious Communities June 27 – July 22, 2011 I will be directing a research seminar at Calvin College next summer. I’ve met other readers and contributors from this blog during the oh-so-pleasant Michigan summers and enjoyed the stimulating dialogue and scholarly support encouraged through these seminars. This is an open invitation: Seminar Description This research seminar will closely examine the ongoing relationships between congregations and processes of broad ranging, societal change
Originally posted here:
2011 Summer Research Seminar: Congregations and Social Change
Paul Harvey For anyone interested, an announcement from History News Network: Join Thomas Kidd, author of God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution for a live Q&A on HNN’s Ning Network at 3 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 13. Kidd’s take on the poll of Americans’ religious knowledge, which Chris Jones blogged about here a few days ago, may be found at ” The Founding Fathers Would be Shocked at Our Religious Ignorance .” He makes the point that the relatively high degree of religious knowledge evinced by skeptics, noted by the recent pollsters, is not new.
Read the rest here:
Surveying Religious Knowledge: The Founding Fathers, and the Pew Poll
Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell told the Christian Broadcasting Network last week that that she believes it was God plan for her to campaign and ultimately, to win: “God continued to strengthen and empower us when, you know, His strength is perfected in our weakness. And that’s what’s exciting because you see, that if it weren’t for faith, when all logic said it’s time to quit, we pursued. We marched on because we knew…Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.
View post:
Electing God’s plan?
Paul Harvey The historian Sean Wilentz’s biography/analysis of Bob Dylan has been getting a lot of attention, including a very annoying and somewhat dyspeptic review in the New York Times. Much better informed and more interesting is Scott Poole’s essay on the book .
Read more:
Bob Dylan, Sacred Folkster
Paul Harvey In today’s New York Times , Samuel Freedman does a nice overview of the making of ” God in America ,” to be shown on PBS Oct. 11-13. A brief excerpt: Having always considered Jefferson “cerebral and slightly allergic to religion,” she recently recalled, [show producer Marilyn] Mellowes was instantly intrigued
Original post:
God in America and the New York Times
Friday and Saturday, March 25-26, 2011 Saint Francis University Loretto, Pennsylvania 15940 CALL FOR PAPERS We cordially invite undergraduates to submit proposals for the fifth annual North American Undergraduate Conference in Religion and Philosophy. Submissions are encouraged from students majoring in all academic fields. Although any paper related to religion and philosophy will be considered, priority will be given to those addressing this year’s theme, “ Race in America .” As philosopher Cornel West asserted, “A fully functional multiracial society cannot be achieved without a sense of history and open, honest dialogue.” Accordingly, this year’s conference will forthrightly address philosophical and religious questions of race and how these questions relate to politics, culture, society, and history
Read more:
CFP: Undergrad Conference on Race in America
Kelly Baker H ere’s some interesting reading for your Thursday over at Religion Dispatches and Religion Nerd .
View original post here:
Thursday Reading: Religious Knowledge, Religious Studies and the Tea Party’s Religion
by Christopher Jones The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has released the results of its U.S.
More:
A Quick Overview of the Results from the Pew Forum’s U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey