Religious Myths and Visions of America : How Minority Faiths Redefined America's World Role

At the heart of American studies is the idea of America itself. Surveying the religious myths and visions of America of ten religions, Buck shows how minority faiths have redefined America's sense of national purpose.

Contents: 1. America : nation and notion : -- Civil myths of America and civil religion -- Religious myths and visions of America -- Racial myths and visions of America -- 2. Native American myths and visions of America : -- The Turtle Island myth and the myth of "Mother Earth" -- The Deganawidah legend -- The Iroquois influence thesis : myth or history? -- 3. Protestant myths and visions of America : -- The Puritan myth of America -- The "manifest destiny" myth -- The "curse of Ham" myth -- The African American exodus counter-myth -- 4. Catholic myths and visions of America : -- Papal praise of America -- The Americanist myth of America -- Papal responses to the Americanist myth of America -- Can the Americanist myth of America become a reality? -- 5. Jewish myths and visions of America : -- Jewish visions of America as a mirror of Jewish ideologies -- The Jewish myth of america as "the promised land" -- The Jewish "myth of Columbus" -- Jewish prayers for America : communal visions of America -- Orthodox Judaism's traditional prayer for the government -- Conservative Judaism's vision of America -- Reform Judaism's vision of America -- Reconstructionist Judaism's vision of America -- Jewish Americanism: the "cult of synthesis" -- 6. Mormon myths and visions of America : -- The garden of Eden myth -- The lost tribes myth -- The Columbus myth -- The Constitution myth -- The founding fathers myth -- The theodemocracy myth -- The America as Zion myth -- The mark of Cain myth -- 7. Christian identity myths and visions of America : -- The two-seed myth -- The mud races myth -- The lost tribes myth -- The white homeland myth -- The racial holy war myth -- 8. Black Muslim myths and visions of America : -- The Yacub myth -- The mother plane myth -- The destruction of America myth -- 9. Contemporary Muslim myths and visions of America : -- The "great Satan" myth -- The "axis of evil" counter-mutj -- Efforts to dispel the "great Satan" myth and to minimize the fallout from the "axis of evil" myth -- 10. Buddhist myths and visions of America : -- Soka Gakkai's myth of "America's second renaissance" -- Robert Thurman's myth of America's "second renaissance" -- The Dalai Lama's "Buddhist democracy" myth and vision of America's world role -- 11. Bahá'í myths and visions of America : -- A brief introduction to the Bahá'í faith -- Bahá'í myths as a "sacred history" of America -- The Bahá'í emancipation/Civil War myth -- The Bahá'í Wilsonian myth -- The Bahá'í vision of the destiny of America -- 12. Conclusion: How minority faiths redefined America's world role : -- Religious myths and visions of America recapitulated -- An overview of America's world role -- Final reflections: a world civil religion?

Contents: 1. America : nation and notion : -- Civil myths of America and civil religion -- Religious myths and visions of America -- Racial myths and visions of America -- 2. Native American myths and visions of America : -- The Turtle Island myth and the myth of "Mother Earth" -- The Deganawidah legend -- The Iroquois influence thesis : myth or history? -- 3. Protestant myths and visions of America : -- The Puritan myth of America -- The "manifest destiny" myth -- The "curse of Ham" myth -- The African American exodus counter-myth -- 4. Catholic myths and visions of America : -- Papal praise of America -- The Americanist myth of America -- Papal responses to the Americanist myth of America -- Can the Americanist myth of America become a reality? -- 5. Jewish myths and visions of America : -- Jewish visions of America as a mirror of Jewish ideologies -- The Jewish myth of america as "the promised land" -- The Jewish "myth of Columbus" -- Jewish prayers for America : communal visions of America -- Orthodox Judaism's traditional prayer for the government -- Conservative Judaism's vision of America -- Reform Judaism's vision of America -- Reconstructionist Judaism's vision of America -- Jewish Americanism: the "cult of synthesis" -- 6. Mormon myths and visions of America : -- The garden of Eden myth -- The lost tribes myth -- The Columbus myth -- The Constitution myth -- The founding fathers myth -- The theodemocracy myth -- The America as Zion myth -- The mark of Cain myth -- 7. Christian identity myths and visions of America : -- The two-seed myth -- The mud races myth -- The lost tribes myth -- The white homeland myth -- The racial holy war myth -- 8. Black Muslim myths and visions of America : -- The Yacub myth -- The mother plane myth -- The destruction of America myth -- 9. Contemporary Muslim myths and visions of America : -- The "great Satan" myth -- The "axis of evil" counter-mutj -- Efforts to dispel the "great Satan" myth and to minimize the fallout from the "axis of evil" myth -- 10. Buddhist myths and visions of America : -- Soka Gakkai's myth of "America's second renaissance" -- Robert Thurman's myth of America's "second renaissance" -- The Dalai Lama's "Buddhist democracy" myth and vision of America's world role -- 11. Bahá'í myths and visions of America : -- A brief introduction to the Bahá'í faith -- Bahá'í myths as a "sacred history" of America -- The Bahá'í emancipation/Civil War myth -- The Bahá'í Wilsonian myth -- The Bahá'í vision of the destiny of America -- 12. Conclusion: How minority faiths redefined America's world role : -- Religious myths and visions of America recapitulated -- An overview of America's world role -- Final reflections: a world civil religion?