Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction [Hardcover]

Amy Laura Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2008

Could it be possible that a Christian viewpoint paved the way for genetic engineering? It is, in fact, likely. The very Protestant tradition that should have emphasized a sense of divine gratuity, human contingency, and the radical giftedness of all life came in twentieth-century America to epitomize justification by meticulously planned procreation. Accomplishing the proper model of family life - a very specific configuration of domesticity - became the means by which an American couple could prove themselves providentially fit and encouraging this model would do no less than save the world. This culturally loaded conception of kinship also subtly distinguished us from them, too often rendering those whose lives did not cohere as ill begotten. After a well-thought out confrontation, Amy Laura Hall offers us hope for living out grace - a future secured neither through scientific progress nor by way of the march of children to advance the race, but through the inscrutable birth of one child - the Word made flesh. She carefully establishes that faithful discipleship may mean not only following the child born in Bethlehem but bringing ones own children along, to identify with and live among those who are considered today to be the least of these. Conceiving Parenthood calls Christians who are intent on being of use to Gods work in the world to rethink their motives for choosing certain neighborhoods, schools, drugs, and children and to risk in multiple ways a holy kind of ecclesial miscegenation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Hall, who teaches theological ethics at Duke, combines perceptive reading with stirring criticism of the corporate-inspired family ideals that have come to pervade the American Christian mainstream. Focusing on the Methodist experience, Hall's narrative potentially resonates across the theological spectrum. How did a denomination with roots in gospel activism come to be so captivated by images of material and technological progress delivered by corporate marketing? Hall mines church publications and popular media to reveal several dynamics at work. Partly because of its attempts to market itself as part of the American dream, the mid-century church became infatuated with an image of the ideal family that inevitably, if unintentionally, encouraged middle-class Protestants to insulate their families from their troubled neighbors. At the same time, corporate and scientific messages undermined the confidence of parents—and particularly mothers—in natural or traditional ways of providing for their children without commercial products and expert advice. Aspiration and anxiety combined to create families that were more focused on themselves, less secure in their Christian identity and less engaged in mission to others. Contrasting these trends with the example of Christ and the unifying message of the sacraments, Hall invites her readers to wage a resistance and reconsider the least of these. (Feb.)
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Review

Hall's narrative potentially resonates across the theological spectrum. -- Publishers Weekly. December 24, 2007

Hall, who teaches theological ethics at Duke, combines perceptive reading with stirring criticism of the corporate-inspired family ideals that have come to pervade the American Christian mainstream. Focusing on the Methodist experience, Hall's narrative potentially resonates across the theological spectrum. How did a denomination with roots in gospel activism come to be so captivated by images of material and technological progress delivered by corporate marketing? Hall mines church publications and popular media to reveal several dynamics at work. Partly because of its attempts to market itself as part of the American dream, the mid-century church became infatuated with an image of the ideal family that inevitably, if unintentionally, encouraged middle-class Protestants to insulate their families from their troubled neighbors. At the same time, corporate and scientific messages undermined the confidence of parents--and particularly mothers--in natural or traditional ways of providing for their children without commercial products and expert advice. Aspiration and anxiety combined to create families that were more focused on themselves, less secure in their Christian identity and less engaged in mission to others. Contrasting these trends with the example of Christ and the unifying message of the sacraments, Hall invites her readers to wage a "resistance" and reconsider "the least of these." -- Publishers Weekly Starred Review, December 24, 2007

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 452 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (February 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802839363
• ISBN-13: 978-0802839367
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquently truthful, desperately needed, April 3, 2008

By 

Grazina Bielousova "Grazina" (Durham, NC/Lithuania) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction (Hardcover)

I am not quite through with the book yet but a couple of brief observations for those who might be interested in reading "Conceiving Parenthood".
First of all, this book is a much needed (although not always pleasant) probing into the "tabboos" of the Protestant church in the United States. In the church culture where most pew sitters and pulpit fillers are somewhat squeemish when it comes to talking about sex or human body, unless in some general terms, this book is bound to cause some ripples. As it were, Amy Laura Hall carefully inspects not only the family's living room but dares venturing into its bedroom and then raises the covers. And, surprinsingly (or not) she finds that the inner workings of procreation among American Protestants are carefully engineered by the ever increasing demands of consumer economy. The book beautifully exposes the subtle and the blatant ways in which women, especially women, are discipled into seeing their own bodies and the bodies of their infants as objects of continuous improvement that requires careful management through certain products or practices (like Lysol douches or germ-free baby formula).
Yet the most thought provoking observation that Dr. Hall makes is the relationship between well- managed and ill-managed bodies, socio-economics and race. The author persuasively shows how the accpetance into the inner circle - be it in the church, the community or the family -depends on the ability to manage one's body, child and household in the acceptable way that is consistent with the scientific progress and the demands of the market economy. The default setting for this program is suburbian middle class whiteness. The way one gets discipled into being a good citizen, good Christian and good parent that can function within this overarching project of progress and engineered perfection is precisely one of the book's undertakings.
While giving answers is not what this book is up to, one finds themselves wondering after reading it what the alternative might look like and how the church which has been coopted into this project might become a sacred space where these conversations can happen.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read for anyone (even non-parents!), April 28, 2008

By 

Christina (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction (Hardcover)

This book is a thought provoking piece on parenthood. Not only is it a must read for parents who are thinking critically about how to bring up children, it is a must read for every community member who helps contribute to the culture in which children live. Amy Laura Hall's arguments are interesting and well-written and the pictures add a visual emphasis to the points she makes.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written and insightful, March 31, 2008

By 

Christopher R. Gillespie (Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction (Hardcover)

For anyone studying the increasing contraception use by protestants, this book is a must-read. The insights into American pop culture's influence upon the practice of the faithful are profound and necessary. Especially useful is her treatment of birthing and nursing.