Monthly Archives: June 2016

#48—(Almost) all about African American religious history, with Julius H. Bailey [MIPodcast]



What do you know about African American religious history? Julius H. Bailey joins us in this episode to talk about his new overview, Down in the Valley: An Introduction to African American History.

Bailey’s book operates on a few different levels. The ground floor contains a general story beginning with African traditional religions. It moves through slavery and religion, the rise of Christian black churches and other religious movements like Islam, through the Civil Rights movement and up to the present time. Another level of the book focuses on how that historical story has been told in different ways.

This episode is about the diverse history of African American religions and the diverse histories of that history.

About the Guest

Julius H. Bailey is professor of religious studies at the University of Redlands in California. His books include Around the Family Alter: Domesticity in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Down In the Valley: An Introduction to African American Religious History.

The post #48—(Almost) all about African American religious history, with Julius H. Bailey [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.


#47—The spiritual lives of America’s “Nones,” with Elizabeth Drescher [MIPodcast]



If you surveyed Americans, asking them to identify themselves as:

A) Catholic
B) Muslim
C) Evangelical
D) Mormon

…and so on, an increasing number will select the very last option—none of the above. Study after study has shown a steady decline in religious affiliation, with one in five Americans identifying as “None.” Traditional religious believers watch these numbers with a bit of uneasiness, wondering why fewer people are connecting with institutional religions. But many Nones continue to value religion and spirituality even though they don’t want to belong to an organized church.

In this episode, Elizabeth Drescher joins us to talk about her new book on this subject, Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America’s Nones (Oxford University Press, 2016). Drescher surveyed thousands of people and directly interviewed around a hundred Nones to learn about their backgrounds, hopes, morals, and spiritual sensibilities. Her work allows us to become more familiar with some Nones in this episode of the Maxwell Institute Podcast.

About Elizabeth Drescher

Elizabeth Drescher is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University in California. Her work on American spirituality has been published in periodicals like AmericaSalon, and The Washington Post. Her books include Tweet If You ♥ Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America’s Nones.

The post #47—The spiritual lives of America’s “Nones,” with Elizabeth Drescher [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.