Satan in America : the Devil we know / W. Scott Poole.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Poole, W. Scott, 1971-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Devil--Social aspects--United States--History.

Devil.

Devil--Political aspects--United States--History.

Devil--Christianity.

Good and evil--Social aspects--United States--History.

Good and evil.

Good and evil--Political aspects--United States--History.

History.

Good and evil--Social aspects.

Devil--Social aspects.

United States--Religious life and customs.

United States.

United States--Civilization.

Civilization.

National characteristics, American.

Political culture--United States--History.

Political culture.

Violence--United States--History.

Violence.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 243 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, [2009]

Summary:

Satan in American tells the story of America's complicated relationship with the devil, "new light" evangelists of the eighteenth century, enslaved African Americans, demagogic politicians, and modern American filmmakers have used the devil to damn their enemies, explain the nature of evil and injustice, mount social crusades, construct a national identity, and express anxiety about matters as diverse as the threat of war to the dangers of deviant sexuality. W. Scott Poole's book shows that both the range and the scope of American religiousness made theological evil an especially potent symbol. Satan appears repeatedly on the political, religious, and cultural landscape of the United States, a shadow self to the sunny image of American Progress and idealism.

Contents:

Preface: "Night stalker" : American exceptionalism and the reality of evil

"The Devil is come down in great wrath" : the American Satan in the colonial and Revolutionary worlds

Darkness invisible : the Devil and American revivalism

The devils of Daniel Webster : satanic cultural politics through World War I

Casting out devils : American theology and popular religion meets the Devil

Hellhound on my trail : Satan and twentieth-century American culture

Lucifer rising : satanic panics and culture wars

The beast : Satan and the theology of American empire

Epilogue: Shame the Devil : the problem of evil and American cultural history

Hunting the Devil : a bibliographic essay.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780742561717

0742561712

9781442200623

1442200626

OCLC:

361888127