Sacred Matters: Celebrity Worship, Sexual Ecstasies, the Living Dead and Other Signs of Religious Life in the United
May 2009 · The New Press
Ebook
224
Pages
About this ebook
Widely praised in hardcover as a fascinating and important addition to religious and cultural studies, Sacred Matters reveals the remarkable ways that religious practices permeate American cultural life.
In a country where references to God are as normal as proclaiming love of country, support for the military, or security for the nation's children, religion scholar Gary Laderman casts his eye over our deeply hidden spiritual landscape, questioning whether our conventional views even begin to capture the rich and strange diversity of religious life in America.
A compelling read, Sacred Matters shows that genuinely religious practices and experiences can be found in the unlikeliest of places—in science laboratories and movie theaters, at the Super Bowl and Star Trek conventions, and in Americans' obsession with prescription drugs and pornography. When devoted fans make a pilgrimage to Graceland because of their love for Elvis, Laderman argues, their behavior doesn't just seem religious, it is religious—enacting a well-known ritual pattern toward saints in the history of Christianity.
In a dramatic reframing of what is holy and secular, Sacred Matters makes a powerful and illuminating case that religion is everywhere—and that we have barely begun to reckon with its hold on our cultural life.
In a country where references to God are as normal as proclaiming love of country, support for the military, or security for the nation's children, religion scholar Gary Laderman casts his eye over our deeply hidden spiritual landscape, questioning whether our conventional views even begin to capture the rich and strange diversity of religious life in America.
A compelling read, Sacred Matters shows that genuinely religious practices and experiences can be found in the unlikeliest of places—in science laboratories and movie theaters, at the Super Bowl and Star Trek conventions, and in Americans' obsession with prescription drugs and pornography. When devoted fans make a pilgrimage to Graceland because of their love for Elvis, Laderman argues, their behavior doesn't just seem religious, it is religious—enacting a well-known ritual pattern toward saints in the history of Christianity.
In a dramatic reframing of what is holy and secular, Sacred Matters makes a powerful and illuminating case that religion is everywhere—and that we have barely begun to reckon with its hold on our cultural life.
Widely praised in hardcover as a fascinating and important addition to religious and cultural studies, Sacred Matters reveals the remarkable ways that religious practices permeate American cultural life.
In a country where references to God are as normal as proclaiming love of country, support f...
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About the author
Gary Laderman received a B.A. in psychology from California State University, Northridge, and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the Religious Studies Department, University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a professor of American religious history and cultures at Emory University. His works include The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883; Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America; Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions; and Science, Religion, Societies: Histories, Cultures, Controversies.
Gary Laderman received a B.A. in psychology from California State University, Northridge, and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the Religious Studies Department, University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a professor of American religious history and cultures at Emory University. His works include The Sa...
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