Christian Citizens

Christian Citizens
Author: Elizabeth L. Jemison
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2020-10-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1469659700

With emancipation, a long battle for equal citizenship began. Bringing together the histories of religion, race, and the South, Elizabeth L. Jemison shows how southerners, black and white, drew on biblical narratives as the basis for very different political imaginaries during and after Reconstruction. Focusing on everyday Protestants in the Mississippi River Valley, Jemison scours their biblical thinking and religious attitudes toward race. She argues that the evangelical groups that dominated this portion of the South shaped contesting visions of black and white rights. Black evangelicals saw the argument for their identities as Christians and as fully endowed citizens supported by their readings of both the Bible and U.S. law. The Bible, as they saw it, prohibited racial hierarchy, and Amendments 13, 14, and 15 advanced equal rights. Countering this, white evangelicals continued to emphasize a hierarchical paternalistic order that, shorn of earlier justifications for placing whites in charge of blacks, now fell into the defense of an increasingly violent white supremacist social order. They defined aspects of Christian identity so as to suppress black equality—even praying, as Jemison documents, for wisdom in how to deny voting rights to blacks. This religious culture has played into remarkably long-lasting patterns of inequality and segregation.

Church, State, and Citizen

Church, State, and Citizen
Author: Sandra Fullerton Joireman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195378466

Christians are often portrayed as sharing the same political opinions and the same theological foundations for their actions. Yet, from the time of the early church, believers have held a variety of perspectives on the relationship between church and state and what constitutes legitimate political behavior for Christian citizens. Thoroughly Christian political beliefs run the gamut from disavowal of any political responsibility to a complete endorsement of government policies and the belief that the state has been divinely appointed. In Church, State, and Citizen, Sandra F. Joireman has gathered political scientists to examine the relationship between religion and politics as seen from within seven Christian traditions: Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Anglican, Evangelical and Pentecostal. In each chapter the historical and theological foundations of the tradition are described along with the beliefs regarding the appropriate role of the state and citizen. While all Christian traditions share certain beliefs about faith (e.g., human sin, salvation, Christ's atonement) and political life (e.g. limited government, human rights, the incompleteness and partiality of all political action) there are also profound differences. The authors discuss the contemporary implications of these beliefs both in the United States and in other areas of the world where Christianity is showing increasing vigor.

Religion, Gender and Citizenship

Religion, Gender and Citizenship
Author: Line Nyhagen
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2016-04-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137405341

How do religious women talk about and practise citizenship? How is religion linked to gender and nationality? What are their views on gender equality, women's movements and feminism? Via interviews with Christian and Muslim women in Norway, Spain and the UK, this book explores intersections between religion, citizenship, gender and feminism.

Contingent Citizens

Contingent Citizens
Author: Spencer W. McBride
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2020-05-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501716751

Contingent Citizens features fourteen essays that track changes in the ways Americans have perceived the Latter-day Saints since the 1830s. From presidential politics, to political violence, to the definition of marriage, to the meaning of sexual equality—the editors and contributors place Mormons in larger American histories of territorial expansion, religious mission, Constitutional interpretation, and state formation. These essays also show that the political support of the Latter-day Saints has proven, at critical junctures, valuable to other political groups. The willingness of Americans to accept Latter-day Saints as full participants in the United States political system has ranged over time and been impelled by political expediency, granting Mormons in the United States an ambiguous status, contingent on changing political needs and perceptions. Contributors: Matthew C. Godfrey, Church History Library; Amy S. Greenberg, Penn State University; J. B. Haws, Brigham Young University; Adam Jortner, Auburn University; Matthew Mason, Brigham Young University; Patrick Q. Mason, Claremont Graduate University; Benjamin E. Park, Sam Houston State University; Thomas Richards, Jr., Springside Chestnut Hill Academy; Natalie Rose, Michigan State University; Stephen Eliot Smith, University of Otago; Rachel St. John, University of California Davis

Christian Citizens and the Moral Regeneration of the African State

Christian Citizens and the Moral Regeneration of the African State
Author: Barbara Bompani
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2017-10-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351999982

In recent years the rapid growth of Christian charismatic movements throughout sub-Saharan Africa has drastically reconfigured the region’s religious landscape. As a result, charismatic factions play an increasingly public role throughout Africa, far beyond the religious sphere. This book uses a multi-disciplinary approach to consider the complex relationship between Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity and the socio-political transformation taking place throughout this region. Each of this text’s three main sections helps in understanding how discourses of moral regeneration emanating from these diverse Christian communities, largely charismatic, extend beyond religious bounds. Part 1 covers politics, political elites and elections, Part 2 explores society, economies and the public sphere, and Part 3 discusses values, public beliefs and morality. These sections also highlight how these discourses contribute to the transformation of three specific social milieus to reinforce visions of the Christian citizen. Examining contemporary examples with high quality scholarly insight, this book is vital reading for academics and students with an interest in the relationship between religion, politics and development in Africa.

Citizens of Two Kingdoms: Civil Society and Christian Religion in Greater China

Citizens of Two Kingdoms: Civil Society and Christian Religion in Greater China
Author: Shun-hing Chan
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004459375

This book examines the complex relationships of civil society and Christianity in Greater China. Different authors investigate to what extent Christians demonstrate the quality of civic virtues and reflect on the difficulties of applying civil society theories to Chinese societies.

Letter to a Christian Nation

Letter to a Christian Nation
Author: Sam Harris
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2006
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0307265773

A criticism of Christianity from the secularist point of view.

First Freedom First

First Freedom First
Author: C. Welton Gaddy
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0807042242

The United States is the most religiously diverse nation in the world, due in large part to the clauses of the First Amendment that guarantee freedom for and from religion. But as we debate displaying Christmas trees at city hall and the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, we must ask: in what other ways is our religious liberty being compromised. In First Freedom First, with clear language and recognizable examples, two of the most trusted voices on church-state separation address head-on the many areas where religion and politics overlap, with consequences for all Americans. This book is for anyone concerned about such issues as: * Churches hosting politicians and insisting they give testaments of their faith * Science teachers questioning the theory of evolution in their public school classrooms * Public religious debates on private issues involving end-of-life decisions and reproductive choices * Federal funding for religious organizations, including those that discriminate openly With religion a constant presence in political discussions, First Freedom First offers practical and easy ways to remind our leaders and our community of the importance of keeping religion and politics separate, for the sake of both institutions.