What role did religion play in sparking the call for civil rights? Was the African American church a motivating force or a calming eddy?The conventional view among scholars of the period is that religion as a source for social activism was marginal; conservative; or pacifying. Not so; argues Johnny E. Williams. Focusing on the state of Arkansas as typical in the role of ecclesiastical activism; his book argues that black religion from the period of slavery through the era of segregation provided theological resources that motivated and sustained preachers and parishioners battling racial oppression.Drawing on interviews; speeches; case studies; literature; sociological surveys; and other sources; Williams persuasively defines the most ardent of civil rights activists in the state as products of church culture.Both religious beliefs and the African American church itself were essential in motivating blacks to act individually and collectively to confront their oppressors in Arkansas and throughout the South. Williams explains how the ideology of the black church roused disparate individuals into a community and how the church established a base for many diverse participants in the civil rights movement.He shows how church life and ecumenical education helped to sustain the protest of people with few resources and little permanent power. Williams argues that the church helped galvanize political action by bringing people together and creating social bonds even when societal conditions made action difficult and often dangerous. The church supplied its members with meanings; beliefs; relationships; and practices that served as resources to create a religious protest message of hope.
#7950068 in Books 2007-04-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .72 x 5.98l; 1.12 #File Name: 1599868652348 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Dated; but an excellent introduction to the topicBy JustinMurray's thesis of a universal witch cult is now considered inaccurate; at least in the sense that it was a widespread; universal religion. However; her research is excellent and she reviews her sources with a careful anthropologist's eye. This book was a primary source for H.P. Lovecraft; so it is important for students of "weird fiction" as well. One thing to keep in mind when reading this book is that she draws most of her sources from Christian outsiders; not the cultists themselves; which skews the representation of the nature of the religion. The characterization of the counterpart to the witch-priestess as "the devil" is probably inaccurate; since the cultists would not have seen that figure as the Christian devil at all; but as a deity representing the masculine principle in nature; the so-called "horned god." The Christian devil; it should be remembered; took on his physical characteristics not from any Biblical descriptions; but from attempts by the church to suppress indigenous religious practices by characterizing them as devil-worship; which contemporary research has shown they were not. That Murray uses the language of the Christians who viewed the religion as a devil cult suggests a bias that probably would not have been present if more neutral language had been used.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Joseph E. Andrepont IIexcellent historical content.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The Witch-Cult in Western Europe for beginnerBy Boriss MelikyanI've chosen this book for reading on anthropology and for further information about witch cults in Western Europe. I loved the price it was sold and the quality of its print. But there was an disadvantage found upon reading. In many placed there were unprinted letters; appeared as a blank or broken characters. And I would not recomend this book for a non professional reader; who has no knowledge of french and middle english; cause some very interesting quotes from extarnal sources very in french; latin and middle english; what dissapointed me in some sort. For beginners I would recomend another Margaret Alice Murray book; The God Of The Witches; which is much easier and understandable fo reading.
