Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-330) and index.
Contents:
Conclusion: The Future of Judeo-Christian discourse. The genesis of America's Judeo-Christian discourse: From Hebraic-Hellenic to Judeo-Christian : the roots of a discourse ; A Protestant nation no more : facing religious diversity between the wars ; Democracy's tradition : the emergence of a religio-political category, 1931-1942 -- Secularism and the Redefinition of Democracy: The flowering of a discourse : defending democracy in wartime America, 1942-1945 ; From World War to Cold War : Judeo-Christian exceptionalism ascendant, 1945-1950 ; Fighting Godless Communism : religion and secularism in Judeo-Christian America, 1950-1955 -- From Tri-faith to Multireligious America: Secularism Reconsidered : finding exceptionalism's limits, 1955-1965 ; Judeo-Christian visions under fire : new patterns of pluralism, 1965-1975 ; Multireligious possibilities : Judeo-Christian discourse in a multicultural age -- Conclusion: The Future of Judeo-Christian discourse.
Summary:
"́Judeo-Christiań is a remarkably easy term to look right through. Judaism and Christianity obviously share tenets, texts, and beliefs that have strongly influenced American democracy. In this ambitious book, however, K. Healan Gaston challenges the myth of a monolithic Judeo-Christian America. She demonstrates that the idea is not only a recent and deliberate construct, but also a potentially dangerous one. From the time of its widespread adoption in the 1930s, the ostensible inclusiveness of Judeo-Christian terminology concealed efforts to promote particular conceptions of religion, secularism, and politics. Gaston also shows that this new language, originally rooted in arguments over the nature of democracy that intensified in the early Cold War years, later became a marker in the culture wars that continue today. She argues that the debate on what constituted Judeo-Christian—and American—identity has shaped the country’s religious and political culture much more extensively than previously recognized."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.