Beyond idols [[electronic resource] ] : the shape of a secular society / / Richard K. Fenn

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910465193603321
• Autore: Fenn Richard K
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Oxford [England] ; ; New York, : Oxford University Press, 2001
• ISBN: 9786610531479; 1-280-53147-9; 1-4237-4573-6; 1-60256-924-X; 0-19-803285-4
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (207 p.)
• Disciplina: 306.6
• Soggetti: Secularism - United States; Civil religion - United States; Christian sociology - United States; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-187) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Introduction; 1 Idols, Idolatry, and Unnecessary Suffering; 2 Starting on the Path to Secularity: The Agony of the Possible; 3 Heroes, Charismatic Figures, and Celebrities as Cultural Idols; 4 Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods, and Secularization: Creativity, Secularity, and the Creation of Space for the Present Generation; 5 Toward a Theory of a Society without Idols: From Civil Religion to Public Religiosity; 6 Stifling the Sociological Imagination; 7 Ambiguity, Controversy, and the Limits of Language as the Bearer of the Sacred; 8 Beyond Idolatry: Religionless Christianity; Notes; BibliographyIndex; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y
• Sommario/riassunto: This study attempts to articulate the nature of a secular society, describe its benefits, and suggest the conditions under which such a society could emerge. To become secular, argues Fenn, is to open oneself to a wide range of possibilities.