Introduction and Blog

Welcome to the blog for Religion and Political Controversy in the United States, an upper division Religious Studies course at San Jose State University. My name is Prof. Todd Ormsbee, and I'm the professor for the course and the moderator of the blog. Please find below a few rules for posting on the blog and a description of the contents of the course.

GENERAL BLOG RULES: The purpose of this blog is to create a forum for students to explore in more depth the topics of the course, and to open up the possibility for engagement with other readers. Because the primary purpose of the blog is educational, I will carefully moderate to ensure a learning environment and experience for my students. Because by nature this is a course that deals with controversy, the blog will treat hot-button, difficult topics, so here are some ground rules:

• Students are required to maintain a degree of anonymity on this blog for obvious reasons. They may use nicknames, screen names, or just their first name without any identifying markers. I am not anonymous, however, and my faculty web page can be found here. Non-students are not required to remain anonymous.
• Student posts and comments are meant to follow a high standard of argumentation. They will be striving to introduce criticism, analysis, argumentation, and evidence to the conversations about these topics. They are being graded on their participation. Non-student commenters are not held to this standard (and are obviously not graded) and may discuss personal experiences, etc.
• This is not a free speech, anything-goes, free-for-all blog. All participants should consider two key ethical concerns: a) mutual respect and consideration for participants on the blog; and b) objective and fair treatment of the religions and people who are the subjects of the blog. Note: Objectivity does not mean that posters will not be critical; rather, it means that their analyses and criticism will be based in evidence and argumentation.
• Non-students may comment, but will be carefully moderated to maintain the blog as an educational space. Ad hominem, vulgarity, personal attacks, and hostile comments will be deleted.
• Disagreements are welcome, but should be presented in respectful and constructive ways. Both tone and content should be carefully composed before posting, being sure to follow appropriate ethical guidelines.

THE COURSE: In this section of Religion and Political Controversy in the United States, we will be examining the odd intermixture of religion with the public sphere in American society and culture since the founding. We will look at both historical and contemporary issues in American religion and attempt to understand why Americans are particularly religious and how that religiosity plays itself out in the public sphere. To that end, we will examine four broad areas:

• Theories of society and religion: We will begin by examining critical questions about the nature of religion, why humans are religious, the social role and function of religion, and the way American society specifically has dealt with religiosity.
• Liberal religion: Then we will examine some historical and contemporary examples of how “liberal” religions have worked to influence American politics, including disestablishment, abolition, social gospel, and the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s and 60s. What makes some religions “liberal”? How does the shape of American politics, social inequality, race, and gender push people to create more liberal forms of religion? And how do those liberal religions in turn interact in the public sphere?
• Conservative religion: For other Americans, religion has been an anchor in an ever-changing cultural landscape and promotes a kind of conservatism and sometimes even reactionary politics. We will examine religion and evolution, the birth of fundamentalism and pentacostalism, and we will examine in depth the modern Christian Nationalist movement and its focus on sexuality and “American identity”. Where does this kind of religion come from? How is conservative activism different in American politics from liberal activism? What kinds of inequalities and social structures promote conservative religion? What kind of religious experience promotes a conservative activism?
• Finally, we will end the course by asking questions about American religious pluralism and look toward a normative discussion of how peoples of divergent religious backgrounds from around the world might view politics in contemporary United States. We will consider the experiences and ideas of two American Muslims, one from Pakistan and one from Ghana.