“God Bless America”
Anthology by Historians Bungert and Weiß on Civil Religion in the USA
An omnibus volume regarding civil religion in 20th century USA has been issued by the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” and the Centre for Religion and Modernity (CRM), as edited by historians Prof. Dr. Heike Bungert and Dr. Jana Weiß. In the USA, religion is omnipresent in politics – during the presidential elections or in important speeches by the President on foreign policy, God is mentioned on a regular basis. From a European point of view, loading the political message with religion usually seems rather strange. The volume looks at the close link between religion and politics, the so-called civil religion, in the 20th century. The focus is on rituals, such as the election campaigns and patriotic public holidays, on wars, such as the First and Second World War or the Vietnam War, as well as on ethnic and religious groups, such as African-Americans, Latin-Americans and evangelicals.
Series “Religion and Modernity”
The anthology “‘God Bless America’. Civil Religion in the USA in the 20th Century” presents the results of the workshop held in English “Civil Religion in the United States” of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”. It is the eighth volume of the series “Religion and Modernity” (Religion und Moderne) of the CRM. It is edited on behalf of the CRM by Thomas Großbölting, Detlef Pollack, Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger and Ulrich Willems and is published by Campus Verlag Frankfurt am Main/New York. (Verlag Campus/maz/ill)