God's law and order : the politics of punishment in evangelical America / Aaron Griffith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Griffith, Aaron, 1985- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evangelicalism--United States--History--20th century.

Evangelicalism.

Criminal justice, Administration of--United States--History--20th century.

Criminal justice, Administration of.

Church and state--United States--History--20th century.

Church and state.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2020.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

An incisive look at how evangelical Christians shaped—and were shaped by—the American criminal justice system.America incarcerates on a massive scale. Despite recent reforms, the United States locks up large numbers of people—disproportionately poor and nonwhite—for long periods and offers little opportunity for restoration. Aaron Griffith reveals a key component in the origins of American mass incarceration: evangelical Christianity.Evangelicals in the postwar era made crime concern a major religious issue and found new platforms for shaping public life through punitive politics. Religious leaders like Billy Graham and David Wilkerson mobilized fears of lawbreaking and concern for offenders to sharpen appeals for Christian conversion, setting the stage for evangelicals who began advocating tough-on-crime politics in the 1960s. Building on religious campaigns for public safety earlier in the twentieth century, some preachers and politicians pushed for “law and order,” urging support for harsh sentences and expanded policing. Other evangelicals saw crime as a missionary opportunity, launching innovative ministries that reshaped the practice of religion in prisons. From the 1980s on, evangelicals were instrumental in popularizing criminal justice reform, making it a central cause in the compassionate conservative movement. At every stage in their work, evangelicals framed their efforts as colorblind, which only masked racial inequality in incarceration and delayed real change.Today evangelicals play an ambiguous role in reform, pressing for reduced imprisonment while backing law-and-order politicians. God’s Law and Order shows that we cannot understand the criminal justice system without accounting for evangelicalism’s impact on its historical development.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Churchdom’s war on crime

2 Jesus Christ is the only control

3 Religion is a real weapon

4 God’s law and order

5 A sermon in your cell

6 There are better ways

Conclusion

Abbreviations

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674249752

0674249755

9780674249776

0674249771

OCLC:

1224279290