Free Download Strange Gods A Secular History of Conversion

Download PDF Strange Gods A Secular History of Conversion

Download PDF Strange Gods A Secular History of Conversion

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Book Details :
Published on: 2016-02-16
Released on: 2016-02-16
Original language: English

In a groundbreaking historical work that addresses religious conversion in the West from an uncompromisingly secular perspective, Susan Jacoby challenges the conventional narrative of conversion as a purely spiritual journey. From the transformation on the road to Damascus of the Jew Saul into the Christian evangelist Paul to a twenty-first-century “religious marketplace” in which half of Americans have changed faiths at least once, nothing has been more important in the struggle for reason than the right to believe in the God of one’s choice or to reject belief in God altogether.   Focusing on the long, tense convergence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—each claiming possession of absolute truth—Jacoby examines conversions within a social and economic framework that includes theocratic coercion (unto torture and death) and the more friendly persuasion of political advantage, economic opportunism, and interreligious marriage. Moving through time, continents, and cultures—the triumph of Christianity over paganism in late antiquity, the Spanish Inquisition, John Calvin’s dour theocracy, Southern plantations where African slaves had to accept their masters’ religion—the narrative is punctuated by portraits of individual converts embodying the sacred and profane. The cast includes Augustine of Hippo; John Donne; the German Jew Edith Stein, whose conversion to Catholicism did not save her from Auschwitz; boxing champion Muhammad Ali; and former President George W. Bush. The story also encompasses conversions to rigid secular ideologies, notably Stalinist Communism, with their own truth claims.   Finally, Jacoby offers a powerful case for religious choice as a product of the secular Enlightenment. In a forthright and unsettling conclusion linking the present with the most violent parts of the West’s religious past, she reminds us that in the absence of Enlightenment values, radical Islamists are persecuting Christians, many other Muslims, and atheists in ways that recall the worst of the Middle Ages.(With 8 pages of black-and-white illustrations.) Im a Muslim But Heres Why I Admire the Catholic Church ... First allow me to start this short article with what might be deemed a startling confession: I am not a Catholic nor am I even a Christian. The Causes of Fundamentalism Intolerance and Extremism in ... Psychological and societal sources of violent religious extremism and how pagan and new religious movements tend to be more tolerant. Secular democracy is a ... History of Christianity - Wikipedia The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion Christendom and the Church with its various denominations from the 1st century to the present. Susan Jacoby - Wikipedia Susan Jacoby (/ d k o b i /; born June 4 1945) is an American author. Her 2008 book about American anti-intellectualism The Age of American Unreason was ... God's Philosophers - Strange Notions Written by Tim O'Neill. Tim O'Neill is an atheist blogger who specializes in reviews of books on ancient and medieval history as well as atheism and historiography. Secular Right This blog began in the fall of 2008 somewhat on a lark. This was during a period when the American Right was beholden in many ways to the Religious Right. The Skeptic's Dictionary Sample the Skeptic's Dictionary. Lourdes. In 1858 at a grotto by the river Gave near Lourdes France a 14-year-old peasant named Bernadette Soubirous claimed that ... The Bible And Christianity -- The Historical Origins The Bible is a lot of things to a lot of people but to Christians especially it is a source of inspiration and a guide to daily living. To others the Bible is a ... Crusade Watch - Monitoring the World Conquest Monitoring the World Conquest ... Longing For Liberty: Susan Jacobys New Book Traces Conversions Connection To Religious Freedom Judaisms Strange Gods Real Jew News Judaisms Strange Gods. Interviews Judaism Articles Talmud Articles Interview With Michael A Hoffman Pasternak: "Jews Must Become Christians!" Satanic Verses ...
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