What is Religion? Kool-Aid, Converts, and the First Amendment
RELI 151
Spring 2020
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
CJST 151, AMST 261 |
Were the people who "drank the Kool-Aid" at Jonestown brainwashed or did they die for a noble cause? How do evangelical Christians read the Bible and what does that mean for their politics? What is religious experience and what might it look like? Is there really religious freedom under the Constitution? This class will introduce you to the ways in which we study religion by reading critical case studies about Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, African Americans and the Racial Limits of Religious Freedom, and "freedom of religion" court cases about peyote, animal sacrifice, and burying the dead. This is not a survey of world religions, but a way of asking how the stuff we call religion has been shaped through colonial intervention, scholarly collaboration, and legal expediency--and how it functions in relation to contemporary politics and popular culture. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CBST-MN)(RELI-MN)(RELI)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
William James, THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE (Penguin, 1982). ISBN: 0140390340
David Chidester, SALVATION AND SUICIDE (Indiana, 2003). ISBN: 025321632X
Susan Harding, THE BOOK OF JERRY FALWELL (Princeton, 2000). ISBN: 0691089582
Winnifred Sullivan, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (Princeton, 2005). ISBN: 0691130582
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two in-class tests; a critical essay dealing with scholarly evidence and argumentation; and a comprehensive final exam. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Attendance and participation are required. |
| Instructor(s): Cameron,Ron Times: ..T.R.. 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: ALLB103; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 40 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 20 | FR: 20 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 8 | 1st Ranked: 3 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 3 |
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