Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ellwood, Robert S., 1933
The fifties spiritual marketplace: American religion in a decade
of conflict / Robert S. Ellwood.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8135-2345-1. ISBN 0-8135-2346-X (pbk.)
1. United States-Religion-1945-1960. 2. United States-Church
history-20th century. I. Title.
BL2525.E426 1997
200'.973'09045-dc20  96-9044
CIP |
| British Cataloging-in-Publication information available |
Copyright 1997 by Robert Ellwood
All rights reserved |
| No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, Livingston Campus, Bldg. 4161, P.O. Box 5062, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903. The only exception to this prohibition is "fair use" as defined by U.S. copyright law. |
| Manufactured in the United States of America |
| | | Introduction: Foundations of the Fifties |
| | | Part I The Years of Dark and Dreaming, 1950-1952 |
| | Chapter 1 Events: Korea, Catholics, Protestants,and Anticommunism |
| | | Chapter 2 Ideas: UFOs, Existentialists, and Double Lives |
| | | Part IIShadows at High Noon, 1953-1956 |
| | Chapter 3Events: Bikini, the World Council, and the McCarthy Endgame |
| | | Chapter 4 Ideas: Beats and Books |
| | | Part IIISigns Appearing in Heaven, 1957-1959 |
| | Chapter 5Events: Little Rock, Sputnik, John XXIII, and the Passing of the Fifties Mood |
| | | Chapter 6 Ideas: Israel, Mescaline, and Zen |
| | | Conclusion: Quiet, Confident, and Troubled: The Fifties as the Last Modem Decade in Religion |
| | | | | |
| THIS VOLUME represents a continuation of a study of U.S. religion in the mid-twentieth century begun with The Sixties Spiritual Awakening. Working backward from that tumultuous decade, my intention is now to look at the previous ten years. The Fifties have often been considered a sort of baseline for all the subsequent twists and turns of religion and society generally in the United States, as though they represented a "normalcy" against which everything else can be judged. Nothing could be further from the truth; like most immediate postwar eras, they combined yearning for normalcy with the effects of profound dislocations. No less distorted is the view of many, no doubt enhanced by the memories of those millions of baby-boom Americans who had reasonably happy Fifties childhoods, that those were generally tranquil, secure days. Such was not likely the view of their parents, who knew what was going on. |
| Religion was, however, also very much going on in the Fifties. I propose to look at religion in its own terms, and in terms of its reaction to the great events and issues of the day. If not the decade many seem to have imagined it to have been, it was an unusual and fascinating time. |
| This book owes much to the unfailing support and good advice I have received from readers and staff of Rutgers University Press. I would particularly like to express my appreciation to my editor, Martha Heller, whose encouragement and insight have been invaluable, and to Professor Philip Hammond, who read and critiqued the manuscript. I have also received much of great importance from colleagues on the faculty of the School of Religion of the University of Southern California, especially Professor Donald E. Miller, who have read portions of the manuscript and provided excellent assistance. |
| The chapter epigraphs are passages that seemed appropriate to me from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, whose publication was a major Fifties religious event. |
| The Fifties Spiritual Marketplace |
|
