America Religions Religion

This is a brief article that explores the early state of affairs when the Latter-Day Saints (or Mormons) arrived in Utah. The government operated as a theocracy with Brigham Young, the Prophet, acting as the governor. Trace elements of a theocracy linger in the church's structure to this day.

The American South has given birth to many of the nation's great stories and legends. From the earliest Colonial times, it's been a place of mystery, replete with disappearing colonies and strange apparitions in the woods, but the South's long and proud history has always had a darker, and stranger, side to it. One of America's most famous mysteries was its first. Despite the fact he had left over 100 colonists at the island of Roanoke in 1587, John White returned to literally nothing, with all traces of the settlement gone.

New England has always had a special place in the national memory. Its rich folklore and colorful history is woven into the national identity, and destinations such as Plymouth Rock, the lighthouses of Maine, and Vermont's autumn leaves are quintessential symbols of the United States. But New England has always had a dark side, a strange side. Monsters and ghosts lurk in its woods and old houses, and strange monuments that may be from a forgotten civilization puzzle local investigators.

No other artwork in the world is comparable to the Virgin of Guadalupe. What makes this painting unique - located in the Basilica of Guadalupe, north of Mexico City - is not precisely its artistic quality, as is the case with the Mona Lisa by Leonardo or The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, nor its place in the evolution of painting.

The Nolanville church of Christ Encampment was born during a time of spiritual revival in America, and eventually grew to be one of the most well-known and enduring annual camp meetings in Central Texas. Encamped Toward Heaven tells the story of the pioneer families who established the Lord's church on the banks of Nolan Creek, and follows their descendants through more than a century of faith, floods, famine, and fire.

In Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy, historian Merina Smith explores the introduction of polygamy in Nauvoo, a development that unfolded amid scandal and resistance. Smith considers the ideological, historical, and even psychological elements of the process and captures the emotional and cultural detail of this exciting and volatile period in Mormon history.

Before September 11, 2001, one terrorist group had killed more Americans than any other: Hezbollah, the “Party of God.” Today it remains potentially more dangerous than even al Qaeda. Yet little has been known about its inner workings, past successes, and future plans–until now.

William Harvey was a prolific masonic scholar of his day. In this poetical piece from 1917, he writes about the culmination of the masonic journey by the candidate's arrival at the third degree, or that of Master Mason. He discusses the movement of time in a mason's life, the symbols of the hourglass and scythe, and the dual aspects of the checkered tile, among other symbols.

Seen as godless by the religious and weak by the atheists, secularism mostly has been misunderstood. In How to Be Secular, Berlinerblau argues for a return to America’s hard-won secular tradition; the best way to protect religious diversity and freedom lies in keeping an eye on the encroachment of each into the other. Berlinerblau passionately defends the virtues of secularism, reminds us what it is and what it can protect, and urges us to mobilize around its cause, which is for all Americans to continue to enjoy freedom for - and from - religion.

The Mormon trek westward from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley was an enduring accomplishment of American overland trail migration; however, their wintering at the Missouri River near present-day Omaha was a feat of faith and perseverance. Richard E. Bennett presents new facts and ideas that challenge old assumptions - particularly that life on the frontier encouraged American individualism.

At a time in antiquity when most of Europe was covered with forests and wandering tribes, Mexico had already developed complex civilizations, beginning with the Olmecs and followed by the Maya, a civilization with advanced knowledge of medicine, engineering and astronomy. The Maya calculated the precession of the equinoxes and cycles of the Pleiades, on which they based their year, since they believed they had come from that constellation.

Fifteen-year-old Carolyn Maull McKinstry was just a few feet away when the Klan - planted bomb that killed four of her friends exploded in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It was one of the seminal moments in the Civil Rights movement, a sad day in American history…and the turning point in a young girl's life.

The old adage, "never discuss religion and politics", is roundly rejected in this incisive exploration of presidential history and religious faith. This newly updated 2016 edition of The Presidents & Their Faith is a fascinating and informative look at how all US presidents exercised their personal faith, exerted presidential power, and led a religiously diverse nation.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution codified the principle that the government should play no role in favoring or supporting any religion, while allowing free exercise of all religions (including unbelief). More than two centuries later, the results from this experiment are overwhelming: The separation of church and state has shielded the government from religious factionalism, and the United States boasts a diverse religious culture unmatched anywhere in the world.

This audiobook is the third volume in The Making of a Great America series. The Making of a Great America: Uprooting the Spirit of Racism, explores more of racism's spiritual aspects and ties racism in America to specific manifestations and faces. It has a heavy emphasis on the roots of racism within America’s system of policing. This book primarily targets the evangelical community and its direct and indirect support of racism.

Servants of Allah presents a history of African Muslims, following them from West Africa to the Americas. Although many assume that what Muslim faith they brought with them to the Americas was quickly absorbed into the new Christian milieu, as Sylviane A. Diouf demonstrates in this meticulously researched, groundbreaking volume, Islam flourished during slavery on a large scale.

America faces a war of values that will determine its future and likely decide if it will continue as a great nation on the world stage. The Three Cs That Made America Great sounds a needed alarm to Christians and conservatives to answer the call to action and push back against the forces that desire to move America from its heritage and founding principles.  

As never before in American history, Christians are witnessing biblical values being replaced by laws that impose a godless, immoral, oppressive social agenda on their country. The overall disdain political and religious liberal activists have toward conservative values in general and authentic Christianity in particular has produced an ideological civil war that is raging out of control. But many people sense there’s something more sinister going on.

This small audiobook contains the remarkable recollections of Kehr Singh who was the first person from India to bring the teachings of Radhasoami Satsang Beas to America in the early part of the 20th century. Because of his influence, the Great Master, Sawan Singh, became known and hundreds and eventually thousands came to be initiated into surat shabd yoga. Also contained within this audiobook are excerpts from Professor Andrea Diem-Lane's pioneering work on the early history of Radhasoami and Sant Mat in America and how it influenced several new religions.

The culture wars have distorted the dramatic story of how Americans came to worship freely. Many activists on the right maintain that the United States was founded as a "Christian nation". Many on the left contend that the Founders were secular or Deist and that the First Amendment was designed to boldly separate church and state throughout the land. None of these claims are true, argues Beliefnet.com editor in chief Steven Waldman.