Politics and Religion in the White South (Religion in the South)

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Politics, while always an integral part of the daily life in the South, took on a new level of importance after the Civil War. Today, political strategists view the South as an essential region to cultivate if political hopefuls are to have a chance of winning elections at the national level. Although operating within the context of a secular government, American politics is decidedly marked by a Christian influence. In the mostly Protestant South, religion and politics have long been nearly inextricable. Politics and Religion in the White South skillfully examines the powerful role that religious considerations and influence have played in American political discourse. This collection of thirteen essays from prominent historians and political scientists explores the intersection in the South of religion, politics, race relations, and southern culture from post--Civil War America to the present, when the Religious Right has exercised a profound impact on the course of politics in the region as well as the nation. The authors examine issues such as religious attitudes about race on the Jim Crow South; Billy Graham's influence on the civil rights movement; political activism and the Southern Baptist Convention; and Dorothy Tilly, a white Methodist woman, and her contributions as a civil rights reformer during the 1940s and 1950s. The volume also considers the issue of whether southerners felt it was their sacred duty to prevent American society from moving away from its Christian origins toward a new, secular identity and how this perceived God-given responsibility was reflected in the work of southern political and church leaders. By analyzing the vital relationship between religion and politics in the region where their connection is strongest and most evident, Politics and Religion in the White South offers insight into the conservatism of the South and the role that religion has played in maintaining its social and cultural traditionalism.

Politics and Religion in the White South (Religion in the South) Review

Politics and Religion in the White South is a collection of twelve essays, published in 2005 and edited by Glenn Feldman. Feldman is a masters-level, tenured labor historian at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In recent years he has been at the center of a raging controversy over whether the academic program with which he has been most involved should be discontinued. In effect, it has been about his job. This controversy has spilled over into the state legislature in the question of whether the program should be funded. It is possible that University of Alabama trustees have felt some pressure to disengage from Feldman.

Feldman has been decidely pro-union in his writings, which have been numerous. It may or may not be significant to the merits of the controversy that Birmingham, Alabama, was for many years the heart of labor union activity in the state, and that the decline of the domestic iron and steel industry has reduced the political influence of unions in the politics in that area.

Of the twelve essays in the book, the two by Feldman are, in my opinion, by far the best. Several others are almost as good, but a couple rely too heavily on over-used statistical tables that are difficult for the average reader (me, a retired Alabama politician and an unapologetic Christian)to understand. All are pertinent to 2011 politics in Alabama, and probably the rest of the South.

If all the essays were as well-written, readable and factually based as Feldman's, the book would probably rate five stars.

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