Religion in the American Experience

The Women and Men of American Religion. Story 3: Fannie Lou Hamer

The Civil Rights Movement is important to America and it’s important to Americans at this point in our national history. The story itself and the reception of the story is complex, nuanced, messy, profound, compelling, sad, joyful, hopeful and despairing. The Civil Rights Movement story is inextricably linked to Black slavery, what some call one of America’s two original sins. A good way to better understand any event or movement in history, and what it importantly projects onto the present, is to focus on individual actors on history’s stage. The name Fannie Lou Hamer will most likely not be familiar with most of our listeners – she was one of these larger-than-life actors in the Civil Rights Movement. For the purposes of this podcast series, we want to know about her religious thought motivated and animated her fight for full civil rights for Black Americans.

To do this we have with us Maegan Parker Brooks, associate professor in the School of Civic Communication and Media at Willamette University, and author of several books and other media about the life and times of Fannie Lou Hamer, including Fannie Lou Hamer: America’s Freedom Fighting Woman and the children’s book Planting Seeds: The Life and Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009, and is a teacher-scholar working at the intersections of rhetoric, race and public memory.

Today’s episode will help us better understand what religion has done to America, and what America has done to religion, and we trust that as a result, listeners will see how indispensable the idea of religious freedom as a governing principle, is, to the United States and its ability to fulfill its purposes in the world.

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January 6, 2021 & the History of Religion and Politics in the United States

Welcome! I’m your host Chris Stevenson, of The National Museum of American Religion, which is dedicated to telling the profound story of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion.

From what I saw on TV as it was happening and what I have read in the newspapers in the days afterwards, “religion” was very present at the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Jesus Saves” signs; prayer groups; a large wooden cross on the east plaza; and from an article in the paper the next morning “beneath streaming flags … people loudly exhorted Jesus and chanted ‘USA’!”

We are here this morning to learn the lessons of history, specifically the history of religion and politics in the United States, from a panel of leading American scholars, and offer these lessons to the public so we can all better understand and react to, the violent occupation of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Our panel consists of (and panelists, please raise your hand when your name is read):

• Marie Griffith, Director of The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis
• Jamil Drake, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Florida State University
• Lerone A. Martin, Associate Professor of Religion and Politics, also at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics 
• Hasia Diner, Director, Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History at New York University
• Amy Black, Professor of Political Science at Wheaton College

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The Women and Men of American Religion. Story 2: Billy Graham

Hello, this is Chris Stevenson, host of the podcast series “Religion in the American Experience.” Due to the events of last week at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. we will not publish, as we usually do, our normally scheduled episode on Monday January 18^th. Instead, over the next two weeks we will convene a panel of American religious history scholars to discuss how the history of religion and politics can help us better understand and react to the storming of the Capitol on January 6^th, 2021. The recording of this discussion will be released Monday January 25^th, on Podbean, Apple Podcast and Spotify. I look forward to meeting you then!

 

If anyone thinks about religion in America, which thinking is absolutely essential to understand America itself, one of the first things that comes to mind, whether one is religious or not, is “Billy Graham.” And even if not, because of his 20^th century (the “American century”) influence, we should think about him. Born in 1918 on a dairy farm in North Carolina, Billy Graham later would be an advisor to American presidents, travel the world including behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, and fill stadiums to witness his preaching.

Our discussion about this towering figure on the American historical stage will help us better understand what religion has done to America, and what America has done to religion, and we trust that as a result, listeners will see how indispensable the idea of religious freedom as a governing principle, is, to the United States and its ability to fulfill its purposes in the world.

Today we have with us Grant Wacker, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Christian History at Duke University, and author of America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. He specializes in the history of Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, World Missions and American Protestant thought. He is the author or co-editor of seven books, including Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture (2001, Harvard University Press). He has served as a senior editor of the quarterly journal, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, and is past president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies and of the American Society of Church History, and a trustee of Fuller Theological Seminary.

This episode was recorded on December 8, 2020.

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The Women and Men of American Religion. Story 1: Joseph Smith

The name Joseph Smith is known to many Americans, as is the faith he founded, once called “Mormonism”, but recently having requested to be identified by their original, historic name: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Joseph Smith is revered by members of that church as a “modern prophet of God”; and derided by others as a “charlatan” or worse. We thought that to understand American religion, which is really part of the quest to understand America itself, it would be helpful to know, as best we can in an hour, what the historical record has to say about this man.

 

Today we have with us Richard Bushman, Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History, United States at Columbia University, to help us understand who Joseph Smith was by discussing his book Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, A Cultural Biography of Mormonism’s Founder. Mr. Bushman specializes in the social and cultural history of the United States and received his PhD from Harvard University. He is the author of several other books, including From Puritan to Yankee: Character and the Social Order in Connecticut, 1690-1765, King and People in Provincial Massachusetts, and The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities.

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What Role Did Religion Play in the Founding of the American Republic?

The interest in religion and the founding of the United States is broad, deep, intense and continuous. And this interest is had by those who are themselves religious and those who are not.  

Today we have with us two scholars who have expertise in this area, Mark David Hall and Daniel Dreisbach, to help us understand what we know about this from the historical record and what we don’t. 

Daniel Dreisbach is professor in the Department of Justice, Law and Criminology at American University in Washington, D.C., with primary research interests in American constitutional law and history, First Amendment law, church-state relations, and criminal procedure. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia and his PhD from Oxford University. Dr. Dreisbach is the author, editor, or co-editor of a dozen books on religion in America, including his recently published Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers. 

Mark David Hall is the Herbert Hoover Distinguished professor of politics at George Fox University in Oregon, with primary research interests in American political theory and the relationship between religion and politics. He received his PhD from the University of Virginia.  Dr. Hall is the author, editor, or co-editor of a dozen books on religion in America, including most recently Did America Have a Christian Founding?

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For What Purposes Has Religious Freedom Been Invoked in US History?

“Religious freedom” is everywhere in the news: it is invoked, it is debated, it is implicated, it is litigated, it is ridiculed, it is derided, it is loved, it is honored, it is before the Supreme Court & school boards, and it is found in religious sermons. The National Museum of American Religion offers to shed light on its history, in the hope that Americans, knowing some of its history, will understand this governing principle better, how revolutionary it is, how fragile it is, how dynamic it is, and how indispensable it is to America in fulfilling her purposes in the world, and so commit to protect and preserve it.

Today we have with us Tisa Wenger, associate professor of American religious history at Yale Divinity School, to show us some of this history of religious freedom by discussing her book Religious Freedom: A Contested History of an American Ideal. Professor Wenger’s research and teaching interests include religious encounters in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States; the cultural politics of religious freedom; and the intersections of race, religion and empire in American history. She is also the author of We Have a Religion: The 1920s Pueblo Indian Dance Controversy and American Religious Freedom.

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How Have Baptists Influenced the American Narrative?

When one thinks of what religion has done to America, at least for me and I think for many of our listeners, “Baptists” come to mind – they are influential, they are large in number, and their history is very much linked to American history. If one wants to understand America, one needs to understand America’s religious history – and if one needs to understand America’s religious history, one must understand Baptist history.

We have with us today Barry Hankins, Professor of History and Department Chair at Baylor University, who will walk us through some of the more important parts of Baptist history in the United States (focusing on post Civil War up to the present) using the fantastic book Baptists in America, written by Professor Hankins and his Baylor colleague, Professor Thomas Kidd. Dr. Hankins’ research interests include religion and American culture, Protestant Fundamentalism and EvanGELicalism, and church and state in American history. He received his PhD from Kansas State University in 1990, and is the author of several books including Woodrow Wilson: Ruling Elder, Spiritual President, Jesus and Gin: Evangelicals, the Roaring Twenties, and Today’s Culture Wars, and God’s Rascal: J. Frank Norris and the Beginnings of Southern Fundamentalism.

Also, as with each episode in our podcast series “Religion in the American Experience”, we trust that listeners will come away with a better comprehension of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion, and thus come to value the necessity of this idea of religious freedom as a governing principle to America fulfilling her purposes in the world.

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The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War

A few months ago I saw the title of a new book about missionaries who spied for the United States during World War II and knew we had to do a podcast episode about it. Religion’s influence on American foreign policy is an important and fascinating one, and this is a relatively unknown story that is just coming to light. It may have also caught my attention because I was a missionary in northern Germany in 1989 and 1990, and spent time in Berlin both before and after the Berlin Wall fell.

We are honored to have Dr. Sutton with us today to discuss his book Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War. Dr. Sutton is the Berry Family Distinguished Professor in the Liberal Arts in the Department of History at Washington State University. He teaches courses in 20th century United States history, cultural history and religious history. Dr. Sutton received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005, and is the author of several books including American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelism, Faith in the New Millennium: The Future of American Religion and Politics, and Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America.

Also, as with each episode in our podcast series “Religion in the American Experience”, we hope listeners come away with a better comprehension of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion, and thus more fully comprehend the necessity of this idea of religious freedom to America fulfilling her purposes in the world.

Sign up for podcast notifications at https://storyofamericanreligion.org/sign-up/.

The Political Mobilization of Black Churches

Blacks in America are seared into the national consciousness. Slavery is considered one of America’s two “original sins.” Jim Crow, lynching, racism, inequality, mass incarceration, police brutality, specifically the death of George Floyd earlier this year, white supremacy – all are part of our understanding of the flawed yet noble and grand American tapestry. To many Americans, I think, the “Black church” holds some sort of special place in our thinking of Blacks and the varied roles they have played in the fragile American experiment in self-government

 

Professor Eric McDaniel is here with us today to discuss his book Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches, in an effort to help us better understand this particular part of American religious history – the role of the Black church in American politics. 

Eric McDaniel is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Professor McDaniel specializes in American politics. His research areas include religion and politics, Black politics, and organizational behavior. His work targets how and why Black religious institutions choose to become involved in political matters. In addition, his work targets the role of religious institutions in shaping Black political behavior. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004.

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Has Religion Influenced American Diplomacy and War?

United States foreign policy is of great interest to all Americans because of the important thread in the American narrative that says we should use our blessings of freedom and wealth to benefit the world: foreign policy matters.

The burning question for us is, how did religion influence American foreign policy and war?

To help us answer this question we will talk with Andrew Preston, Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge and author of Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy. Mr. Preston specializes in the history of American foreign relations, specifically the intersection between national and international, including the influence that domestic politics and culture – particularly religion – have had on conduct of U.S. foreign policy.

Also, as with each episode in our podcast series “Religion in the American Experience”, we hope listeners come away with a better comprehension of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion, and thus more fully comprehend the necessity of this idea of religious freedom to America fulfilling her purposes in the world.

Please go to https://storyofamericanreligion.org/sign-up/ and sign up for notifications of future episodes!