Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons And American Politics (Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics)
Cambridge University Press, 7/31/2014
EAN 9781107662674, ISBN10: 1107662672
Paperback, 310 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm
Language: English
Mormons have long had an outsized presence in American culture and politics, but they remain largely unknown to most Americans. Recent years have seen the political prominence of Mormons taken to a new level - including the presidential candidacy of Republican Mitt Romney, the prominent involvement of Mormons in the campaign for California's Proposition 8 (anti-gay marriage), and the ascendancy of Democrat Harry Reid to the position of Senate Majority Leader. This book provides the most thorough examination ever written of Mormons' place in the American political landscape - what Mormons are like politically and how non-Mormons respond to Mormon candidates. However, this is a book about more than Mormons. As a religious subculture in a pluralistic society, Mormons are a case study of how a religious group balances distinctiveness and assimilation - a question faced by all faiths.
Part I. Mormons as an Ethno-Religious Group
1. Meet the Mormons
2. The sacred tabernacle
Mormons as an ethno-religious group
3. A peculiar people? Mormon religious distinctiveness
Part II. Political Behavior of Mormons
4. Mormon political views
cohesive, republican, and conservative
5. A politically peculiar people
6. Following the leader
Mormons' responsiveness to church leaders
Part III. The Consequences of Distinctiveness
7. Assessing the saints
how Americans view Mormons
8. A stained glass ceiling? Mormon candidates and presidential campaigns
9. How Mormonism affected Mitt, how Mitt has affected Mormonism
10. Conclusion
seeking the promised land.