What do you think?
Rate this book
A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation
Why Understanding America's Religious Landscape Is the Most Important Challenge Facing Us Today
404 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2001
33 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 23, 2025
Religious Pluralism In America
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 religious 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 learning to live and share their various religious 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.
Robin Friedman
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 religious 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 learning to live and share their various religious 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.
Robin Friedman
February 8, 2022
A New Religious America by Diana Eck is a pertinent primer on 20th century religious pluralism in the United States. In A New Religious America, Eck offers both an overview of the United States’ religious history and catalogs; in doing as much, Eck specifically shows how the 20th century and its patterns of immigration have created an unprecedented religious dynamism. Moreover, Eck helpful describes not only the basic tenets, beliefs, and practices of non-Christian and non-Jewish religions, but also illustrates such religions with colorful anecdotes and stories that nuance and enliven her research. Similarly, Eck speaks to and aptly explains the xenophobia and violence that have characterized much of American religious history—xenophobia and violence steeped in nativist and anti-immigrant fervor. While I do not intend to dismiss the many strengths of A New Religious America, this review critically assesses Eck’s appraisal of America as a nation “rich and full of promise,” an America that affords us the opportunity “to create a vibrant and hopeful pluralism.” In other words, I hope to show how Eck’s optimism for the American project—an optimism steeped in American exceptionalism and akin to a type of liberal patriotism—fails to critique how the United States’ own legal, political, and military structures limit the prospects for global religious diversity.
As one might expect, Eck is well-versed in the struggles for religious pluralism that have been undertaken in the United States. From early Quakers in Flushing to Sikh Americans wearing turbans in public office, Eck acknowledges that the idea of a Christian America is nothing but a myth often wielded by conservatives to legally, culturally, and politically instate a normative Christian-nationalism. However, implicit, and at times explicit, in Eck’s book is both a high regard for the US Constitution and military—a regard that overlooks the horrors done in the name of military expansion and ‘due process.’ Moreover, A New Religious America is permeated in a language of an American exceptionalism which ceaselessly posits that America—owing to its religious freedom clauses—is uniquely situated to ‘lead the world.’
For instance, Eck states that a thriving religious pluralism in the United States will mold people “into Americans, not by uniformity, but by observing the same law, supporting the same government, enjoying the same liberty, and vibrating with the same national enthusiasm.” Eck’s project of religious pluralism centers people as American citizen with ‘national enthusiasm,’ citizens who do not analyze how their nationalism and citizenship has been and is continually complicit in a largely project of American supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism. As such, I take certain trajectories of Eck’s pluralism project to be worthy of critique. Hence, my hope is that a normative project for religious pluralism would critique rather than embrace American nationalism.
For example, if a prerequisite for religious pluralism is to ‘support the same government’ and ‘observe the same law,’ then such religious pluralism de facto excludes most of the world’s population. A normative project of religious pluralism must at once aim for the creation of international solidarity whose boundaries are not limited by American citizenship and support for the US government. Eck’s American conception of religious pluralism, as we see in the book’s concluding chapter, was easily draped in US imperial military practices that “aim to make the world safe for religious pluralism.” In other words, religious pluralism, when considered along such narrow and nationalistic lines, is a pluralism which precludes the possibility for deep international solidarity.
Furthermore, Eck fails to recognize how the US constitution and the legal practices it has engendered are antagonistic to religious pluralism. Eck’s fear that “we may find ourselves fragmented and divided, with too much pluribus and not enough unum” is a fear that unabashedly makes normative use of the constitution—a constitution written by a white, male, slaveholding, and property-owning class whose abstract phrases of liberty have historically not be an impediment, but a catalyst for injustice and exclusion. The US constitution and Supreme Court are hurdles, not stepping-stones, towards a thriving religious pluralism. While I can concede with Eck that religious pluralism is not an empty notion of diversity, a mere tolerance of difference, nor a simple relativism, I cannot agree with Eck that America, its citizens, its institutions, and legal processes are admirable norms and sources for a project for religious pluralism. Otherwise put, Eck’s statement “that part of the engagement of pluralism is participating in the ‘idea of America’” is a statement I would critique on the grounds that it reifies rather than transcends the exclusionary, nativist, and nationalist politics she originally sought to overcome.
Moreover, as Eck’s chapter on Muslims in America illustrates, the moments bigotry has been overcome and religious pluralism embodied, for Eck, are moments in which more are simply ‘included’ within America’s civil, legal, and political systems; for instance, Siraj Wahaj in front of the House offering the first Muslim invocation. While the extension of civil and legal inclusion isn’t wrong, it does overlook many instances in which people of faith, Muslims included, have called for a transformation of American institutions. Again, this is not to dismiss the strengths of Eck’s chapter on Muslims in America; I appreciated the analyzes of enslaved Muslim Africans and the Muslim community in Sharon. However, Eck pays little attention to Malcolm X’s hatred and life-long critiques of American imperialism. Moreover, Eck does not consider how Malcolm X’s internationalism and universalism confronts her own American-first religious pluralism. Rather, Eck accentuates dilemmas of religious pluralism that are strictly internal to America: “Can a Sikh wear his turban on a hard-hat job or as part of his uniform in the U.S. Army? … Will a young Jain, an observant vegetarian, find the contents of the meals in her school cafeteria clearly marked?”
Crucially, in recent decades, America as an ‘idea’ and as a nation-state has been criticized on the grounds of its world-wide anti-Islamic military and political apparatuses. To be sure, religious pluralism that goes beyond the bureaucratic management of difference is admirable; however, a religious pluralism that does not consider America’s global dominance is at best short-sighted. There are instances in which Eck highlights non-patriotic expressions of religious pluralism (e.g., the response to anti-Semitism in Billings, Montana and Christian-Muslim collaboration in Fremont, California); however, Eck’s praises for America reach a crescendo towards the end of her book—a crescendo that tributes the collaboration of Muslims and the US Military in Leesburg, Virginia, and applauds the Pentagons efforts to create a multi-faith legitimization of neo-imperialistic war endeavors. I suspect that many Muslims around the world have hesitate to associate their religion with the Pentagon. So, I ask Eck, where are your examples of people of faith holding a unified front against American imperialism and exceptionalism? The examples are many; however, Eck suspiciously pays scant attention to such occurrences and rather highlights instances in which people of different faiths collaborate to strengthen American ideals and practices.
In conclusion, this review offers a short critical assessment of Eck’s A New Religious America. The merits and strengths Eck’s of the book notwithstanding, the dormant and implicit nationalism and American-first style of religious pluralism deserves critique. An international religious pluralism must begin with norms and sources that are not associated with American institutions, ideals, histories, or hopes.
As one might expect, Eck is well-versed in the struggles for religious pluralism that have been undertaken in the United States. From early Quakers in Flushing to Sikh Americans wearing turbans in public office, Eck acknowledges that the idea of a Christian America is nothing but a myth often wielded by conservatives to legally, culturally, and politically instate a normative Christian-nationalism. However, implicit, and at times explicit, in Eck’s book is both a high regard for the US Constitution and military—a regard that overlooks the horrors done in the name of military expansion and ‘due process.’ Moreover, A New Religious America is permeated in a language of an American exceptionalism which ceaselessly posits that America—owing to its religious freedom clauses—is uniquely situated to ‘lead the world.’
For instance, Eck states that a thriving religious pluralism in the United States will mold people “into Americans, not by uniformity, but by observing the same law, supporting the same government, enjoying the same liberty, and vibrating with the same national enthusiasm.” Eck’s project of religious pluralism centers people as American citizen with ‘national enthusiasm,’ citizens who do not analyze how their nationalism and citizenship has been and is continually complicit in a largely project of American supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism. As such, I take certain trajectories of Eck’s pluralism project to be worthy of critique. Hence, my hope is that a normative project for religious pluralism would critique rather than embrace American nationalism.
For example, if a prerequisite for religious pluralism is to ‘support the same government’ and ‘observe the same law,’ then such religious pluralism de facto excludes most of the world’s population. A normative project of religious pluralism must at once aim for the creation of international solidarity whose boundaries are not limited by American citizenship and support for the US government. Eck’s American conception of religious pluralism, as we see in the book’s concluding chapter, was easily draped in US imperial military practices that “aim to make the world safe for religious pluralism.” In other words, religious pluralism, when considered along such narrow and nationalistic lines, is a pluralism which precludes the possibility for deep international solidarity.
Furthermore, Eck fails to recognize how the US constitution and the legal practices it has engendered are antagonistic to religious pluralism. Eck’s fear that “we may find ourselves fragmented and divided, with too much pluribus and not enough unum” is a fear that unabashedly makes normative use of the constitution—a constitution written by a white, male, slaveholding, and property-owning class whose abstract phrases of liberty have historically not be an impediment, but a catalyst for injustice and exclusion. The US constitution and Supreme Court are hurdles, not stepping-stones, towards a thriving religious pluralism. While I can concede with Eck that religious pluralism is not an empty notion of diversity, a mere tolerance of difference, nor a simple relativism, I cannot agree with Eck that America, its citizens, its institutions, and legal processes are admirable norms and sources for a project for religious pluralism. Otherwise put, Eck’s statement “that part of the engagement of pluralism is participating in the ‘idea of America’” is a statement I would critique on the grounds that it reifies rather than transcends the exclusionary, nativist, and nationalist politics she originally sought to overcome.
Moreover, as Eck’s chapter on Muslims in America illustrates, the moments bigotry has been overcome and religious pluralism embodied, for Eck, are moments in which more are simply ‘included’ within America’s civil, legal, and political systems; for instance, Siraj Wahaj in front of the House offering the first Muslim invocation. While the extension of civil and legal inclusion isn’t wrong, it does overlook many instances in which people of faith, Muslims included, have called for a transformation of American institutions. Again, this is not to dismiss the strengths of Eck’s chapter on Muslims in America; I appreciated the analyzes of enslaved Muslim Africans and the Muslim community in Sharon. However, Eck pays little attention to Malcolm X’s hatred and life-long critiques of American imperialism. Moreover, Eck does not consider how Malcolm X’s internationalism and universalism confronts her own American-first religious pluralism. Rather, Eck accentuates dilemmas of religious pluralism that are strictly internal to America: “Can a Sikh wear his turban on a hard-hat job or as part of his uniform in the U.S. Army? … Will a young Jain, an observant vegetarian, find the contents of the meals in her school cafeteria clearly marked?”
Crucially, in recent decades, America as an ‘idea’ and as a nation-state has been criticized on the grounds of its world-wide anti-Islamic military and political apparatuses. To be sure, religious pluralism that goes beyond the bureaucratic management of difference is admirable; however, a religious pluralism that does not consider America’s global dominance is at best short-sighted. There are instances in which Eck highlights non-patriotic expressions of religious pluralism (e.g., the response to anti-Semitism in Billings, Montana and Christian-Muslim collaboration in Fremont, California); however, Eck’s praises for America reach a crescendo towards the end of her book—a crescendo that tributes the collaboration of Muslims and the US Military in Leesburg, Virginia, and applauds the Pentagons efforts to create a multi-faith legitimization of neo-imperialistic war endeavors. I suspect that many Muslims around the world have hesitate to associate their religion with the Pentagon. So, I ask Eck, where are your examples of people of faith holding a unified front against American imperialism and exceptionalism? The examples are many; however, Eck suspiciously pays scant attention to such occurrences and rather highlights instances in which people of different faiths collaborate to strengthen American ideals and practices.
In conclusion, this review offers a short critical assessment of Eck’s A New Religious America. The merits and strengths Eck’s of the book notwithstanding, the dormant and implicit nationalism and American-first style of religious pluralism deserves critique. An international religious pluralism must begin with norms and sources that are not associated with American institutions, ideals, histories, or hopes.
July 24, 2007
A tour through America’s new immigrant religions where the old country meets the new. Not really a good book although it calls for a pluralism that is hard to argue with.
December 16, 2017
Eck's book examines the richly diverse religious make up of America and how the presence of these communities has shaped our nation and will continue to do so. Exploring the meaning of pluralism in the United States and then delving into three in-depth studies focusing on Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam in America, Eck presents readers with a fuller understanding of varied beliefs, practices, and perspectives of the peoples that constitute the word "American." The interactions between these communities, whether they be positive, negative, or neutral, are examined as well.
Having devoted much time and energy to the study of religious diversity in America, both individually and via assistance from the collection of information of others through her Pluralist Project, Eck puts forth a detailed and thoughtful representation of the various and thriving religious practices in the United States. Laced throughout her writing is a call to readers and Americans at large to move past mere tolerance of religious diversity and to actively seek out understanding of our neighbors who practice spirituality in ways that may differ from our own. Eck addresses the struggles, rejection, and the acts of intolerance that many minority faith communities have faced from their fellow Americans, but is also quick to point out that such hardships in many cases have lead to surprising positive outcomes such as awareness, outreach, and the unifying of communities to face these adversities in solidarity. Acts of bridge building and active engagement between communities, Eck stresses, is an important step toward the goal of transforming our fellow Americans from strangers into neighbors.
Eck's book not only considers the historical contexts of the diversification of religious expression in America, but also looks forward and speculates the future of American religions. Published in 2001, this book can serve as a great launching point to those looking to study the subject of religious diversity in the United States, what happens when traditional religions are passed down to younger generations, how religions experience change when transplanted to a different nation, and the intermingling of these various faith groups. However, with nearly 17 years having passed since the publication, much has changed in the American religious and political landscape and one would need to reach for additional sources to take into account a fuller, more updated view.
Having devoted much time and energy to the study of religious diversity in America, both individually and via assistance from the collection of information of others through her Pluralist Project, Eck puts forth a detailed and thoughtful representation of the various and thriving religious practices in the United States. Laced throughout her writing is a call to readers and Americans at large to move past mere tolerance of religious diversity and to actively seek out understanding of our neighbors who practice spirituality in ways that may differ from our own. Eck addresses the struggles, rejection, and the acts of intolerance that many minority faith communities have faced from their fellow Americans, but is also quick to point out that such hardships in many cases have lead to surprising positive outcomes such as awareness, outreach, and the unifying of communities to face these adversities in solidarity. Acts of bridge building and active engagement between communities, Eck stresses, is an important step toward the goal of transforming our fellow Americans from strangers into neighbors.
Eck's book not only considers the historical contexts of the diversification of religious expression in America, but also looks forward and speculates the future of American religions. Published in 2001, this book can serve as a great launching point to those looking to study the subject of religious diversity in the United States, what happens when traditional religions are passed down to younger generations, how religions experience change when transplanted to a different nation, and the intermingling of these various faith groups. However, with nearly 17 years having passed since the publication, much has changed in the American religious and political landscape and one would need to reach for additional sources to take into account a fuller, more updated view.
October 24, 2018
Excellent overview of the diversity of religions that now find a home in the US. Gives some hope that we can manage a religious plurality peacefully. Recent political events seem to represent a step backwards, but the amount of dialogue across religions covered in this book still gives me hope.
December 10, 2023
This book was fascinating but I needed a new shelf for it because I did in fact abandon it. Honestly, I found some parts of this book to be unnecessary, but in all Eck provides an insightful account of the imperative of religious pluralism in the US.
Read
October 29, 2023I read a chapter, in my device (kindle) and liked so much!
October 7, 2012
1. What did you find moving, notable and/or surprising about the information or point(s) of view introduced in this book?
Shocked that there has been no post-9/11 update. The information regarding attacks on Muslims and western perceptions of Islam is quite outdated. Also, the fact that so much of the information was anecdotal made it harder to find it useful.
2. There are many provocative ideas in this book. Name one and explain why it captured your attention.
The fact that there is often strong opposition to the building of these houses of worship. I had thought the many Buddhist/Hindu/Islamic places of worship nearby were mostly a phenomenon of the Bay Area + other cities with not only large immigrant populations, but also general populations with tolerant, liberal views. I didn’t realize there were so many places with strong opposition to the building of houses of worship.
3. Did reading this book increase your interest in the subject matter? Decrease? Explain.
The book itself was very dry and hard to get through (consisted of occasionally-repeated recitation of facts rather than an engaging story), but it did cultivate compassion and greater interest in the struggles of these minority religious groups.
4. How has the information or point(s) of view in this book changed your view of certain situations, conditions, people or topics?
I have greater sympathy for those who have faced discrimination due to religion. I didn’t realize the degree to which this was happening in the U.S.
I was also pleasantly surprised at the way some Christian organizations stepped in to help these groups.
5. In what ways does the book speak to your experience (currently or in the past)? Did you find any elements of this book discordant with your personal experience?
The details listed in the ceremonies reminded me of the Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies I attended as a child. I didn’t enjoy such ceremonies and rituals as a child, and found it hard to get through these sections of the book as an adult.
6. Did certain parts of this book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?
The details on ceremonies made me uncomfortable. I didn’t find them engaging. I found myself noticing a tensing in my body while reading these sections and made effort to relax myself. I suppose in some ways my practice has helped me cultivate more patience than I used to have.
7. Given the specific point(s) or theme(s) that the author emphasizes throughout the book, what questions or issues arise for you?
Discomfort with ceremonies have been a struggle with me for most of my life. I’ve come to a greater appreciation through my work at San Quentin, and seeing how the zen ceremonies help to foster the sense of Sangha and community. While I have a difficult time being inspired when reading about such ceremony, I am able to notice my boredom and keep reading.
8. How might the information, point of view, or content of this book apply to the provision of spiritual care?
Knowing more about the various religions practiced in America could help us better relate to the people to whom we are providing care.
May 16, 2009
The topic was interesting and eye opening. "We the people" now includes Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus and it's important to be open to understanding their religions in order for our country to maintain the freedom of religion with which it was founded. That said, it took me a long time to get through this book. The Pluralism Project sounds really cool (college students tracking the growth of "non-traditional" religions in their hometowns during the summer) but I sometimes felt like I was reading a list. The names of the people from various congregations just weren't key bits of info that this reader needed. I felt like Eck also didn't get into the really tough stuff. If we're supposed to be pluralist, is there ever a religion that's not acceptable? What about Satanism - do we have a welcome to the neighborhood picnic with them? She mentions interfaith groups that have monotheism as a criteria, but doesn't expand on that. I would have preferred an exploration of that issue to a rehash of hate crimes from newspaper stories. We get it that there is intolerance in the world. What I'd like from someone with her credentials is what a person of faith can DO about it.
December 9, 2009
Don't read this book ever. I had to read this book for a class for school and i hated it. The author is so stuck in her sugar coated world that i'm surprised she didn't get diabetes writing this book. It was biased against the Christian faiths and over emphasized others for being a book about "religious pluralism". Plus the author was unable to even realize that many religious do not allow for a pluralism in the way she talks and emphasizes. This is because many has religious tenants or taboos against practicing other religious rituals or the things involved in them. Therefore her idea of religious pluralism is not all religions living together in harmony, but all religions coming together as one (though she denies such a thing, but it's implied through-out the book). I would instead recommend people read Livingston if they are looking for material on religious "diversity" since anyone who has ever studied other religious will realize that religious "plurality" is not possible.
September 26, 2022
I think I have a huge woman-crush on Diana Eck. Sure she's 65, but the woman still looks good PLUS she is smart to boot. Enter this book.
For my final undergraduate semester I figured I'd take a religion class (religion fascinates me like car wrecks fascinate most of you), but I have to admit: most literature on the subject is boorriinngg.
I mean, c'mon guys. Religion is the driving force for so much war, death, love, and charity, how did you manage to make it so dull? I found myself buried in texts for this class, crying out: "can't anyone write worth a damn about this subject?!"
Eck, however, does a pretty good job of keeping the narrative going. Sure, she can fall into the type of diction only a professor lecturing has, but all in all I found myself enthralled with her explanation of the Other in America, and would recommend this book to anyone slightly interested in the subject.
For my final undergraduate semester I figured I'd take a religion class (religion fascinates me like car wrecks fascinate most of you), but I have to admit: most literature on the subject is boorriinngg.
I mean, c'mon guys. Religion is the driving force for so much war, death, love, and charity, how did you manage to make it so dull? I found myself buried in texts for this class, crying out: "can't anyone write worth a damn about this subject?!"
Eck, however, does a pretty good job of keeping the narrative going. Sure, she can fall into the type of diction only a professor lecturing has, but all in all I found myself enthralled with her explanation of the Other in America, and would recommend this book to anyone slightly interested in the subject.
November 25, 2017
I had high hopes for this book.
Its main problems are organizational. She's incredibly redundant; many chapters use the same stats over and over again - not so much in a "I'm going to help you learn this" way as in a "I expect that teachers will only assign one chapter of this" way. Which makes reading the entire book very tedious. Also, the narrative moves between structural formats haphazardly: chronological, cultural, theme.
The deepest disappointment for me was that the differences emphasized are civic, not theological. It's more about how religious groups engage with the dominant culture and political life, rather than how they fundamentally view the world and their place in it. So, it's useful for that, if you're into that kind of sociological read. Less so if you're interested in the theological conversation.
Its main problems are organizational. She's incredibly redundant; many chapters use the same stats over and over again - not so much in a "I'm going to help you learn this" way as in a "I expect that teachers will only assign one chapter of this" way. Which makes reading the entire book very tedious. Also, the narrative moves between structural formats haphazardly: chronological, cultural, theme.
The deepest disappointment for me was that the differences emphasized are civic, not theological. It's more about how religious groups engage with the dominant culture and political life, rather than how they fundamentally view the world and their place in it. So, it's useful for that, if you're into that kind of sociological read. Less so if you're interested in the theological conversation.
May 12, 2008
This was a text for the class "Understanding Religious Traditions in Multicultural America." Confusing, verbose with too many examples and without direction, the entire class recommended our professor to never use it again. (We were her guinea pigs.) Fortunately she agreed with us, but it meant we couldn't sell back our books to the bookstore since it wasn't in demand the next year. However sore that is, to lose money over a horrible book, I'm glad others at my college won't be tortured by it.
I would only recommend this book if someone wants//needs a lot of examples about various religions (Islam, Buddhism, etc.) blooming up in the US and the hardships they had to overcome/impressive places of worship.
I would only recommend this book if someone wants//needs a lot of examples about various religions (Islam, Buddhism, etc.) blooming up in the US and the hardships they had to overcome/impressive places of worship.
May 11, 2009
The Christian Right would have you think that America is a "Christian" country, when in fact there are substantial numbers of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists practicing their faith in this country. They are Americans just like you and I, although America may not be their country of orgin. These people have made it a point to introduce themselves to their neighbors and to the other churches/temples/mosques in their communities and could be an example to many Christians about what religous tolerance really means. We need to learn, because religious diversity is going to become an even greater part of our cultural landscape. This book is a nice overview of how this process works and has been working. Well written, entertaining and enlightening.
March 15, 2008
I read this in the context of a museum education class, in order to think about how museums might reach out to new audiences and how to use collections to teach about new immigrants and their cultural traditions. Although I think this book can be a little repetitive at times (she often resorts to recounting every instance of whatever her topic is), it is overall a useful primer. Reading it has produced in me a real sense of urgency to teach the value(s) of pluralism, not just tolerance. Eck formulates pluralism as a process of engagement, i.e., it is an active process, unlike tolerance, which can be passive.
August 4, 2008
I had to read this book for a world religions class in college, I would have never read it otherwise. I rate it low but mention it on this site because if someone is looking to really see how the various main religions are present and coping within the United States, then this is a good book. It's not the easiest read, but it is very interesting. By now it's information is a little dated but nonetheless a solid read.
October 25, 2015
well researched, but stretches on her premise. philosophically, she is not incorrect in her deductions about religious freedom in America. it is not mainstream but i have used her viewpoint in some of my personal"debates".
i almost threw the book away twice while reading, but made it through. the book apologizes for Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam but not Christianity and again, i feel she stretches to make her points. not recommended.
i almost threw the book away twice while reading, but made it through. the book apologizes for Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam but not Christianity and again, i feel she stretches to make her points. not recommended.
July 20, 2007
This was one of the more interesting books I read in college. OK, one of the few books I was assigned in college that I actually finished. But it combines religion with American history, two subjects I like to learn about.
December 21, 2008
I read this book as part of an American Religions class in college. Diana gave cites how immigrant religions have made a home in America. I found it interesting and insightful as to how the different religions have changed from their birth to fit with American culture.
July 15, 2011
Good stories and themes but it has a tendency of listing examples (a Buddhist temple in Kansas, a Muslim mosque in Oregon...) that makes me not want to give it 5 stars. Other than that, it's a great book.
April 17, 2007
unrealistically optimistic essentialist bullshit. worth the read to incite anger and check reality against what idiot harvard professors are writing. nice lady.
January 18, 2008
Shows that non-Christian religions are finding a home in America, often without people in the religious mainstream being aware of it; promotes tolerance and respect of others.
May 20, 2014
Interesting and illuminating, if not perfect.
August 16, 2014
zinn would dig it.
November 7, 2015
Eck is clearly part of my "tribe" on many levels, so it pains me to give this such a low rating but could she ever use an editor with a backbone. Lazy rhetoric about powerful stuff leaves me limp
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews