Beyond idols : the shape of a secular society /

This study attempts to articulate the nature of a secular society, describe its benefits, and suggest the conditions under which such a society could emerge. To become secular, argues Fenn, is to open oneself to a wide range of possibilities.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Fenn, Richard K.
Format:	eBook
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.
Subjects:	Secularism > United States. Civil religion > United States. Christian sociology > United States. Sécularisation > États-Unis. Religion civile > États-Unis. Sociologie religieuse > Christianisme > États-Unis. SOCIAL SCIENCE > Sociology of Religion. Christian sociology Civil religion Secularism United States Christentum Säkularisierung Zivilreligion USA Secularisatie (maatschappij) Ontkerkelijking. Civil religion. Nationale identiteit. Kerk en staat. Electronic books.
Online Access:	Connect to the full text of this electronic book

Table of Contents:

1. Idols, Idolatry, and Unnecessary Suffering
2. Starting on the Path to Secularity: The Agony of the Possible
3. Heroes, Charismatic Figures, and Celebrities as Cultural Idols
4. Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods, and Secularization: Creativity, Secularity, and the Creation of Space for the Present Generation
5. Toward a Theory of a Society without Idols: From Civil Religion to Public Religiosity
6. Stifling the Sociological Imagination
7. Ambiguity, Controversy, and the Limits of Language as the Bearer of the Sacred
8. Beyond Idolatry: Religionless Christianity.