The essays in this collection explore black culture from the perspective of an author who went from a childhood in inner-city Detroit (Michigan) to become an ordained minister, university professor, and cultural critic. The book opens with a letter to the author's brother, in jail for murder, and examines their childhoods and the role of the…

The U.S. experiment in religious liberty has enormous significance for the United States and for the world. The challenging dilemma of living with the deepest religious differences, as it is currently being met in the United States, is explored in this essay. The point that U.S. success or failure in attempts to deal with religious liberty has…

This bibliography is a guide for selecting children's books with overt religious themes and for the evaluation of this area in library collections. It is designed to be both current and critical, and can be used by church and synagogue libraries, directors of religious education, parents, and public or school libraries. The bibliography is…

This document provides a background for understanding the conflicts surrounding educational reform and the reactions of the religious right, and it outlines critical implications for policymakers, educators, business leaders, and other interested citizens in North Carolina. Both educational reformers and the religious right agree on the need to…

The "spirituality in the workplace" movement serves a range of interests, including personal fulfillment on the job, a growing need to reconcile personal values with those of the corporation, and corporate desires to help individuals achieve more balanced lives. In addition to being the theme at a growing number of conferences, spirituality has…

The largest mass women's movement of the 19th century was the women's mission movement. Initially, in the early 1800s, the concerns the mission societies addressed were mainly parochial, such as raising money to support young men in their theological studies. Gradually, women's mission societies began expanding their interests to a more public…

Within the United States there are minority groups whose beliefs, values, and customs differ from most citizens. Individuals living in Mennonite and Hutterite communities are members of such minority groups. The unique qualities of Mennonite and Hutterite communities present an opportunity for students to see U.S. society from a different vantage.…

Learning to appreciate religious art and to understand the interdependence of history and art are basic to the foundations of culture. Students need to be exposed to the art of the diverse adherents of all major religions in order to understand the beliefs and practices of others. Students can examine religious art from ancient times, including…

The Yeshiva of Flatbush, a high school located in the Midwood-Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, teaches both secular and Judaic studies with an emphasis upon transmitting the values and traditions of Halachic Judaism. The philosophy of the school is to provide an education in which Jewish studies are taught in Hebrew and to encourage student…

The Amish society has retained the essence of rural life and can tell us how this preservation is possible. Originally associated with the Swiss Anabaptists, Amish are often confused with Mennonites because of the early association with Menno Simons. Because the Amish do not make the "prideful" claim of salvation, they are…

To determine whether the structure of religious programs helps develop ethos (the image held of a communicator at a given time by a receiver) in terms of character, intelligence, goodwill, and charisma, an analysis was made of four religious programs: "The PTL Club", "The 700 Club", "Jimmy Swaggart," and "The…

As the United States entered the nineteenth century, it did so under the influence of the Second Great Awakening. This was the second wave of revivalism to sweep the nation, and it originated in the frontier as the Great Western Revival. One pertinent characteristic of the revival was its rhetoric, a rhetoric that was a prime expression of a…

This curriculum guide explores the Jewish ethnic and religious community in the United States generally, and specifically in Connecticut. Intended as a resource tool for studying the Jewish cultural heritage and traditions, the material may be used among Jews and non-Jews. The guide is divided into three parts. Part one is a detailed account of…

The nonverbal components of dramatic art, namely costuming, setting, atmosphere, lighting, and blocking, can work as rhetorical determinants in the conversion process of the Unification Church in that they alter the frame of reference (the body of settled convictions, attitudes, and values) of certain individuals. The clean-cut costuming of church…

Student opinion concerning the degree of restriction desired in the University of South Carolina's (USC) solicitation policy was sought on several types of solicitation: political, religious, financial, and membership recruitment. They were also asked to differentiate between student and non-student solicitation. A residence hall solicitation…