Religious Interests in Community Conflict: Beyond the Culture Wars

by Paul A. Djupe (Editor), Laura R. Olson (Editor)

Overview

This volume investigates some of the most visible issues in American politics today, including gay marriage and race, along with ongoing concerns that often fly below the radar of the mass media, such as healthcare and homelessness. The book uncovers and explores the political motivations, effectiveness, and interplay of organized religious interests as they confront public problems in their local communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602580947
Publisher:	Baylor University Press
Publication date:	02/02/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	353
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Paul A. Djupe (Ph.D. Washington University in St. Louis) is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Denison University.

Laura R. Olson (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Clemson University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Toward a Fuller Understanding of Religion and Politics
--Paul A. Djupe&Laura R. Olson

Part I: Moral Concerns

2 God and Gaming: Community Conflict over a Proposed Indian Casino in West Michigan
--James M. Penning&Andrew Storteboom

3 Sweet Land of Liberty: The Gay Marriage Amendment in Nevada
--David F. Damore, Ted G. Jelen,&Michael W. Bowers

4 Clergy and Controversy: A Study of Clergy and Gay Rights in Columbus, Ohio
--Paul A. Djupe, Jacob R. Neiheisel,&Anand Edward Sokhey

Part II: Social Justice

5 Religious Interests in Community Collaboration: The Quiet Fight for Health Care in South Omaha
--Sue E. S. Crawford

6 Homelessness, Ecumenism, and Politics in Racine, Wisconsin
--Laura R. Olson

Part III: Religion in the Public Square

7 Religious Interests and the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday in Greenville, South Carolina
--James L. Guth, Lyman A. Kellstedt, Joshua Copeland,&Christine Rowland

8 Salt Lake City's Main Street Plaza Controversy
--J. Quin Monson&Kara L. Norman

Part IV: Race Relations

9 From Riots to Reconciliation: The Religious Interests Involved in Healing Cincinnati after Racial Unrest
--Anand Edward Sokhey

10 Unity in the Face of the Faceless: Clergy Opposition to the Ku Klux Klan in Northwest Arkansas
--Franklyn C. Niles

Conclusion

11 A Meditation on and Meta-analysis of the Public Presence of Religious Interests
--Paul A. Djupe&Laura R. Olson

Notes

References

About the Contributors

Index

What People are Saying About This

A study of religious engagement at the community level by a distinguished team of researchers, this volume provides fodder for a strong conclusion anchored in social and political theory. This important book is exciting both for what it does and for the subsequent work it will stimulate.

Melissa Deckman

This volume is a welcome addition to the field of religion and politics. The book's methodological diversity and emphasis on both key social issues such as gay marriage, as well as long-standing political concerns such as homelessness and healthcare, showcase effectively the many ways in which religious groups engage in community conflict. The editors do a nice job of integrating the findings into the larger scholarship on interest groups, ensuring that Religious Interests makes an important theoretical contribution to political science.

Kenneth D. Wald

A study of religious engagement at the community level by a distinguished team of researchers, this volume provides fodder for a strong conclusion anchored in social and political theory. This important book is exciting both for what it does and for the subsequent work it will stimulate.

Rhys Williams

This is not your standard edited collection, but a multi-pronged, multi-scholar research project focused around the key research questions of the motives and consequences of religious involvement in community conflict, and centered on four areas of public concern-moral issues, race relations, social justice, and the public square. This volume is a broad but deep examination of religion's involvement in local community political life, from cities to small towns, and in different regions across the nation.

Editorial Reviews

Students of religion and politics, as well as those interested in local political activities and community action, will benefit from this book... Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through practitioners.

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