Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life
    Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life
    Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life
    Ebook552 pages13 hours

    Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life

    By Steven M. Tipton

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Since the 2000 presidential election, debate over the role of religion in public life has followed a narrow course as pundits and politicians alike have focused on the influence wielded by conservative Christians. But what about more mainstream Christians? Here, Steven M. Tipton examines the political activities of Methodists and mainline churches in this groundbreaking investigation into a generation of denominational strife among church officials, lobbyists, and activists. The result is an unusually detailed and thoughtful account that upends common stereotypes while asking searching questions about the contested relationship between church and state.

    Documenting a wide range of reactions to two radically different events—the invasion of Iraq and the creation of the faith-based initiatives program—Tipton charts the new terrain of religious and moral argument under the Bush administration from Pat Robertson to Jim Wallis. He then turns to the case of the United Methodist Church, of which President Bush is a member, to uncover the twentieth-century history of their political advocacy, culminating in current threats to split the Church between liberal peace-and-justice activists and crusaders for evangelical renewal. Public Pulpits balances the firsthand drama of this internal account with a meditative exploration of the wider social impact that mainline churches have had in a time of diverging fortunes and diminished dreams of progress.

    An eminently fair-minded and ethically astute analysis of how churches keep moral issues alive in politics, Public Pulpits delves deep into mainline Protestant efforts to enlarge civic conscience and cast clearer light on the commonweal and offers a masterly overview of public religion in America.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
    Release dateSep 15, 2008
    ISBN9780226804767
    Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life

    Related to Public Pulpits

    Related ebooks

    Religion, Politics, & State For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Draft Roe Ruling Is A Reminder That Religion's Role Is Older Than The Republic

      May 14, 2022

      The question arises: Since when did so much of our politics have to do with religion? And the answer is, since the beginning — and even before.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Once A Nation Of Joiners, Americans Are Now Suspicious Of Those Who Do

      Jan 9, 2019

      The erosion of social groups in the United States is a widely recognized trend. But when distrust of membership spreads to faith groups, misunderstanding can breed fear and jeopardize constitutional protections.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Erasing The Color Line In Churches

      Jul 2, 2020

      Just as dialogues on race have opened up within churches, so can they start between churches. Sacred texts are a shared resource for healing of a racial divide.

      2 min read

    • Article

      How Joe Biden Is Navigating A Catholic Church In Conflict

      Jun 28, 2021

      Catholic voters, like the rest of the U.S., are polarized around issues like abortion – a challenge for Mr. Biden, the second Catholic president.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Is Politics The New Religion?

      May 12, 2021

      For many Americans, politics has become imbued with a religious fervor – while at the same time, participation in organized religion has plummeted.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Bill Press: Catholic Bishops Choose Trump Over Biden

      Jun 17, 2021

      Some people can’t take yes for an answer. Take America’s Catholic bishops. For only the second time in our history, a Catholic has been elected president of the United States. But Joe Biden’s not just a Catholic in name only, like John F. Kennedy. Bi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Faith Or Politics? Trump Supporters Swell Evangelical Pews.

      Oct 5, 2021

      After years of stagnancy, the number of Evangelicals surged from 25% of the adult U.S. population in 2016 to 29% in 2020 – fueled by white Trump supporters.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Has The Gun Become A Sacred Object In America?

      Jun 6, 2022

      For 10 years after 9/11, James Strickland fought for the United States Army, slogging, rifle on shoulder, from battlefield to battlefield. He took and returned fire, he says, for not just a country, but an idea – that America had God’s special blessi

      7 min read

    • Article

      Faith Comes To Fore In Democratic 2020 Field. Why Now?

      May 6, 2019

      Some Democratic hopefuls want to foreground their Christian faith in seeking the nomination, arguing Republicans should not have a monopoly on religion.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Trump’s Headache From The Right

      Oct 23, 2020

      Trump’s Headache From The Right
      9 min read

    • Article

      Needing The Support Of Catholic Women, Democrats Are Careful With Amy Coney Barrett

      Oct 16, 2020

      Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have looked ways to challenge Barrett's conservative views without alienating her Catholic supporters.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Will Election Become A New ‘Lost Cause’ For Evangelical Conservatives?

      Dec 16, 2020

      A “lost cause” narrative around the 2020 election is arising among religious conservatives that is reminiscent of the South after the Civil War.

      6 min read

    • Article

      In Trump Era, What Does It Mean to Be an 'Evangelical'?

      Dec 28, 2017

      For many Christian conservatives, the term 'evangelical' is now more of a political identifier than a doctrinal one – which has led some high-profile religious leaders to question or even abandon the term.

      5 min read

    • Article

      2017 Has Been A Rough Year For Evangelicals

      Dec 29, 2017

      Self-described "evangelical" Christians helped elect President Trump in 2016. But this year, the label lost coherence. Some evangelicals reconsidered what it stood for, while others disowned the term.

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Public Pulpits

    4.5/5

    2 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Public Pulpits - Steven M. Tipton

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1