Beyond idols : the shape of a secular society / Richard K. Fenn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fenn, Richard K.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secularism--United States.

Secularism.

Civil religion--United States.

Civil religion.

Christian sociology--United States.

Christian sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (207 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Contents; Introduction; 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; Notes

BibliographyIndex; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-187) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-028673-3

9786610531479

1-280-53147-9

1-4237-4573-6

1-60256-924-X

0-19-803285-4

OCLC:

62868628