Customer Reviews

A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is one of the best books on religion in America I have ever read. This author focuses on Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, who have been growing quickly in recent years. In the past decades mosques & temples have been poping up all over, even in the most Christian parts of this country. The author gives a good history on how the religion was established here, and its growth. Her view into the daily lives of these people was fascinating. I am truly inspired how these religious people, hold true to their values, along with American values at the same time.

Professor Diana Eck has written a study documenting how the United States has become the most religiously diverse nation in the world. Her focus is on the immigration act of 1965 which allowed for the first time in our history a large immigration to the United States from Asia. Asian immigrants brought with them their religious traditions, particularly in this book, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Professor Eck studies the growth of these communities in the United States and explores how they have changed the religious face of our country.

The book begins with a short historical overview of religious diversity in the early United States beginning with the intolerance of some of our early settlers through the work of Jefferson and Madison in securing religous liberty.

As the United States experienced large waves of immigration in the late 1800, two views of the nature of our country developed. The first viewed the United States as a "melting pot" under which the new settlers together with the population already here would blend and form a single, unified nation of shared values. The second view, developed by sociologist Horace Kallen articulated a vision of pluralism based upon the analogy of a symphony orchestra. It takes many different instruments to play a single symphony. Each voice is unique and yet each contributes to one whole. Professor Eck's sympathies are with the latter view. I suggest that it might be possible to synthesize these two apparently competing positions.

I found the most interesting parts of the book were the central chapters describing in some detail the various Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim communities in the United States. Again, I thought the discussion of the history of these groups in our country even more interesting than the discussion of contemporary pluralism. Each of these groups has a long history in the United States. Their ideas have contributed much to our country even though for many years the number of adherents of these groups has been small. For example, Emerson and Thoreau showed a great deal of interest in both Buddhism and Hinduism and had valuable things to say about them. In 1893 a world "Parliament of Religions" took place in Chicago in which representatives of both Hinduism and Buddhism began to make an impact in the United States. (There was a similar Parliament in 1993.) Religions outside the Judeo-Christian mainstream have had much to teach for a long time.

Professor Eck's discussion of Buddhism focuses on how recent immigrants from various parts of Asia have attempted to keep and develop communal practice in the United States. I found this interesting in that she focuses on Asian Buddhism in the United States and pays relatively little attention to Westerners who have been attempting to develop an understanding of Buddhism indigenous to our country.

There is a revealing discussion as well of the growth of Islam in the United States. Professor Eck describes the black Islamic movements and describes as well how Islam in the United States has become large, organized, and visible. The book was written before September 11, and inevitably the reader will have questions about how the events of that day affect her account of American Islam.

There is an account in the book of the difficulties the new religions have faced in terms of fear and bigotry from some of their fellow citizens. There is also a good, more inspiring and positive account, of how people in our country are learing to live and share their various religous traditions.

I have become fascinated with the study of comparative religion in part through my own study of Buddhism. This book discusses the growth of different traditions in the United States. It may also help those wishing to explore and to better understand themselves.

Eck writes what was could have been a great book about a very important subject. She has a great deal of background in this area, and reminds you of this background throughout the entire book. It is filled with stories of her travels, and her extremely one sided arguements. Although she makes some great points, the stories are overabundant, and the book is completely redundant. If you read the prelogue, and the first chapter of each of the three sections (Islam, Hindu, and Buddhism) then you will be able to answer any question someone asks you of the entire book, yes it is that redundant. If you enjoy reading the same thing in a book more than 15 times this is the book for you, but if you are on an actual search for knowlege and want to learn something without bias, look elsewhere.

In the last 30-40 years the USA has been transformed from an essentially one-religion (Christianity) nation into a religiously diverse one. Eck's book does a good job of detailing this change. She provides good background leading up to the transformation during the last half of the 20th century, as well as a description of the religious landscape of today. Eck provides helpful (and in a few cases, eye opening) accounts of how some of the major religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam) have taken root in America (though curiously she says very little about Judaism).

Her overall thesis, stemming from her `Pluralism Project' at Harvard University, is E Pluribus Unum, 'From One, Many.' She attempts to distance herself from the implementation of one overall accepted religion in the USA, while all the time hoping for a society that accepts different religious beliefs, ethnic customs, etc. Her dream is for the creation of a civil and accepting society. Thus, if the reader is interested in a blueprint for a society that assumes that religious differences should not be reasons for disagreement and distinctive programs, Eck's book is what you are looking for.

However, where she comes up short is in the area of just how important are religious differences. She simply downplays such differences and never addresses the importance of acknowledging key distinctions in beliefs. Her self-designation as`Christian Pluralist' really says it all. She believes people should be aware of their personal beliefs but should not let them stand in the way of embracing other religions. While I applaud her goal of mutual understanding on everyone's part, I am concerned that this understanding will not take place as she proposes. To acknowledge that another person has different religious beliefs from mine that may cause me to refrain from assimilating their beliefs is the first step toward genuine understanding. To ignore such differences is to patronize and to dialogue while in denial. Her failure to address religious dissimilarities head-on is my main criticism of the book.

The United States of America is a nation founded on religious freedom for all. Government cannot, or should not, interfere with individual practice or show favoritism toward a particular religious faith. This doctrine of freedom has led to the United States becoming the most religiously diverse nation on Earth, and this diverification is openly praised and celebrated in this book, "A New Religious America".

Author Diana Eck is a Harvard professor who is herself affiliated with the Methodist Church. She respects all religious faiths, and she spends time in this book discussing the most significant among them: Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus. Other religious groups get a little bit of mention, but most of the book focuses on these three groups. Eck combines together some historical perspectives along with her own personal experiences as she writes this book. She travels around the country, from mosque to temple, observing directly the traditions and religious practices of these different religions, meeting with leaders and joining in at ceremonies and prayer gatherings.

Diana Eck takes a more liberal approach in this book, and this fact might not be to the liking of some readers. It's obvious from the very beginning of this book that Eck fully supports the idea of religious diversity. She never makes a single negative comment about any religious group in her study. She also avoids discussing the merits of the various religious affiliations. Instead, she just states what she knows about each one of them, along with what she experiences first hand, and leaves it at that. She gives the impression that all religions are equally worthy of respect and equally valid.

The last part of the book deals with the future and what it has in store for religion in America. Whether people like it or not, religious diversity is a fact of life. The trend toward an even more religiously pluralistic society is already underway as more and more foreign immigrants arrive on America's shores. Mainstream religious groups, secularists, and spiritual folks with no formal affiliation will have to respond to this growing trend if they hope to survive and grow in the new century.

This book could have been a winner, and in many ways, it still is. There is no doubt that America has changed and is now home to the most pluralistic religious environment in the world. Eck has done a great job researching the growth of American Hindus, American Buddhists and American Muslims throughout the United States. Her anecdotes about visiting many of these congregations and the observations she has are very interesting and informative.

Overall, I can't give the book that great of a rating because Dr. Eck is so caught up in the astounding growth of these religions that she often fails to utter a negative comment about any of them. Now I realize that every reviewer brings their own biases, and in my case, I'm very suspicious of any organized religion. While I respect the power of religion to do an incredible amount of good in this world, on Spet. 11, we also saw the amount of evil that can be accomplished "in the name of God."

While this book was written before Sept. 11, she turns a blind eye to the bad side of religion. For example, would the keepers of Islam's most holy places welcome an independent woman like Eckk in Saudi Arabia? Another example of this problem is in her description of the Hare Krishna movement. Finally, she recounts in a very sypmathetic manner, how some Islamic groups claimed government harassment when they were accused of financially supporting Hamas.

Overall, I have no problem with Islam, or Hindus or Buddhists. I just think that when criticism of these religions is warranted, it should be mentioned just as it should be with Christianity. The idea of religious plurality and tolerance is a great goal, the problem is that many religions are intolerant by nature, and Eck fails to bring that up in her book.

Finally, at the end of the book Eck recounts a news story from Garden Grove, California and quotes the city's Mayor. Garden Grove is a city of more than 150,000 people and it is one of the nation's most diverse cities. The Mayor, whose name is Bruce Broadwater, is identified in the book as Paul Brockwater. That kind of sloppiness in a scholarly publication is disheartening and it makes me wonder if similar mistakes were made regarding others with whom I am not as familiar.

In suumary, this is an important subject which needs further study. This book is helpful in providing a surface-level anecdotal approach to religious pluralism but is also a failed opportunity to achieve more.

The collection of historical facts in this book is very useful, and I think it serves fabulously to prove that religious diversity has come to America.

At the same time, I was often unable to read this as an objective history book because it is so permeated with her religious pluralism. The book feels more like an implicit apology for her own religious views than a work of history. I sighed, yawned, and/or rolled my eyes more than once while reading it.

On the grounds of its historical content only, this book deserves a higher rating -- three, maybe four stars. Its main problem here is that Eck is so concerned with celebrating various religions that she says little to nothing negative, which is a crucial component of all religious history; it feels like some kind of Pollyanna-ish naivete. (Its minor problem is that there are a lot of anecdotes but not enough broad-scale statistics, etc.) I do not want this to eclipse, though it does inform, the fact that the positive things she does say are very informative.

However, the methodology set forth is so revolting to me that I had to lower the score. Okay, she's a religious pluralist, I accept that; when she's writing an apology for religious pluralism, or maybe even when she's writing history for other religious pluralists, I'd love to see her write this book. It's even OK to see her pluralism color her writing, which is only natural. However, this book is supposed to be a general, objective historical account, rather than a subjective, personal explanation about why she feels like no religion is exactly true but all religions are true when sanitized.

If you're aware of these problems in advance and feel like you can look past them, read this book; it will be informative when read with a few dozens grains of salt.

While this book is brimming with fascinating history, anecdotes and facts about immigration and religion in the U.S., it is bogged down in repetition. Ms. Eck repeats her central thesis and numerous feel-good phrases ad nauseum. The first two chapters should have been condensed into one. Otherwise good reading for those interested in fostering mutual understanding and a strong civic union in an increasingly pluralistic society. Bit surprised that Harvard couldn't do a better job on editing.

This book is emphatic and compelling in its story telling. Dr. Diana Eck writes this great book with a goal to create a unified society out of all the diversity of religion and race in America. The aim is to eradicate all the stereotypical and prejudicial views that most Americans have about the newly emerging minority religions in America. The author tries to do this by first providing a general awareness of all the religions at stake, namely Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. She does so by discussing all of them in great detail, mainly concentrating on showing off their true color. She then encourages a sense of understanding and tolerance towards a religion, not once own, and focuses consistently on this to achieve coexistence not just among all Americans but all people living in America. To emphasize the significant importance of cohesiveness among multi-religious people of America, Eck writes: "America's religious diversity is here to stay, and most important phase of our nation's history lies ahead. The very principles on which America was founded will be tested for their strength and vision in the new religious America. And the opportunity to create a positive multi-religious society out of the fabric of a democracy, without the chauvinism and religious triumphalism that have marred human history, is now ours."(Pg 383). All in all, this book would be an attractive read for anyone and everyone, regardless of their background.

Written by the founder of The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, this book is a fine survey of America's religious pluralism, especially in the aftermath of immigration reform in 1965. American Muslims, American Hindus, and American Buddhists are the author's subjects. While A New Religious America is "slanted" in focusing a spotlight on white Christian intolerance and ignoring the intolerance of non-Christians, non-whites, and recent immigrants, overall it's a good read as an introduction to American religious diversity.