Julia Corbett Hemeyer - Religion in America

Religion in America, 7th edition, provides a comprehensive yet concise introduction to the changing religious landscape of the United States. Extensively revised and updated to reflect current events and trends, this new edition continues to engage students in reflection about religious diversity. Julia Corbett-Hemeyer presents the study of religion as a tool for developing appreciation of communities of faith other than ones own and for understanding the dynamics at work in religion in the United States today.

Julia Corbett-Hemeyer is the Community Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Muncie, Indiana. She retired from Ball State University, where she taught world religions and religion in the United States.

7th edition

Seventh edition published 2016

by Routledge

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2016 Taylor & Francis

The right of Julia Corbett-Hemeyer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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First edition published by Pearson Education, Inc. 1990

Sixth edition published by Routledge 2016

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Hemeyer, Julia Corbett, 1945
Religion in America / Julia Corbett-Hemeyer. 7th Edition.
pages cm
Includes index.
1.United StatesReligion1960I.Title.
BL2525.C67 2016
200.973dc23
2015035525

ISBN: 978-1-138-18805-1 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-18807-5 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-64273-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Apex CoVantage, LLC

To my husband, Tom

With love,

To our grandchildren,

Courtney Elizabeth Arbogast and
Nicholas Joseph Arbogast

Zelda Kathleen Turner and Roland Reed Turner

And to Mike,

Whose memory continues to bless my life.

For all that has been, thanks;

To all that shall be, yes.

Dag Hammarskjld

Part I
Preliminary Considerations

Part II
Christianity in the United States: Commonality and Diversity

Part III
Expanding Diversity

Far too often, when people talk about religion, the discussion becomes an unproductive and unpleasant argument about who is right and who is wrong. This does not have to be the case. The study of religion as a part of the humanities offers a unique opportunity to learn about American communities of faith and practice in an atmosphere free of both judgment and partisan advocacy. We focus on what religious people do and believe and on what these practices and beliefs mean to those who participate in them. It does not evaluate whether those beliefs and practices are right or wrong, nor does it make judgments about whether a religion is true or false. It does not present religion as preferable to nonreligion, nor does it favor secularity over religiousness. It never attempts to convert anyone from or to anything. Each community of faith is presented insofar as possible without prejudice or bias.

Although religious beliefs and practices are presented impartially in this book, it is important that you know from the outset that this book is not value-free. I believe that religion is an important part of humanitys story. I also believe that nothing in the entire spectrum of human religiousness can be completely strange to any of us because we are all human. I believe firmly in the freedom of religion that is guaranteed by our Constitution. With the religious and spiritual diversity that exists in the United States, respect for those whose beliefs and practices differ from ours is vitally important. There must be dialogue, based on respect and the acceptance of differences.

You should be aware as you begin your study of religion in the United States that there is a vast distinction between religion as it is described in booksas I describe it in this bookand religion as people actually live it. Many Jews and Christians do not attend corporate worship with any regularity, for example. Nor do they pray with the constancy their holy books instruct. Catholics do not necessarily follow their churchs teachings about such personal matters as birth control and abortion. Some American Buddhists drink wine with dinner, in violation of a prohibition on intoxicants, which they read as a prohibition on intoxication. Muslims follow their dietary guidelines to varying extents. Many of us choose from our religions teachings those things that are personally meaningful to us and feel free to leave the rest alone. So when you meet actual Methodists or Hindus or Jews, they wont conform completely to what you have read. Their lives, however, will be informed at some level by their religious faith.

The seventh edition of Religion in America continues the emphasis on religious diversity in the United States that has always characterized this book. Correspondingly, there continues to be somewhat less emphasis on the religions of the majority. Attention is also given to responding to the religious diversity that surrounds us. Religious diversity makes the United States an ideal place to learn about religion not only in books but as it is embodied in the people with whom we come into contact every day.

As with the previous edition, this edition first introduces students to the discipline of religious studies and then describes issues and concerns that cut across a variety of communities of faith. describes the ever widening diversity that characterizes religion in the United States.

As with earlier editions, this is not a book about the religious history of the United States, although brief historical notes are included in places. I have chosen to focus on the diversity of what people believe and practice today. The stories of how they came to these particular beliefs and practices are important. To keep this book of reasonable length for classroom use, those stories must be told by others.

I hope you will enjoy your study of religion in the United States. Religion, along with families and friends, work and creative endeavors, school and leisure time, helps to make life meaningful and good for many Americans. It is a rewarding subject for study. Fundamentally, this is a book about people, because religion is about people. For most people in the United States, religion is also about something that transcends people, such as God or another higher reality. But it is always about people, what people believe and how they act in response to those beliefs. So this is a book about usall of usbecause even if we are not personally religious, our lives are influenced by the religiousness around us.

Books are always the product of far more people than just the author. It often isnt easy being the spouse of a writer, and I am grateful for my husband Toms unfailing good humor and patience. This edition is dedicated to him with great appreciation for the many ways in which he supports my writing. My staff colleagues at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie, Indiana, and the congregation of that church have supported and inspired me. I also want to thank my colleagues at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospitals Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy Department for their encouragement. My former colleagues in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Ball State University have been, as always, unfailingly supportive. Those who reviewed the previous edition helped hone and refine this one.