Menu
Idea

religious identity

114
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Abandoned church in Coaldale, Pennsylvania, with an American flag hanging upside down over its door.

The Decline and Fall of Christianity in America

If we imagine religion as a technology, argues Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith, we can better see the cause of its decline: obsolescence.
by Daniel N. Gullotta via The Bulwark on July 1, 2025
Illustration equating Israel's “Who is a Jew?” policy with the Nazi selection process.

Jew? Not a Jew?

The untold story of how American Jewry and the Jewish state almost resolved the question of who is a Jew.
by Tracy Frydberg via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on June 10, 2025
The Jewish Catalog

When Judaism Went à la Carte

On the 50th anniversary of "The Jewish Catalog."
by Jane Eisner via The Atlantic on July 28, 2023
Collage of a hand raised up toward major conservative Christian figures throughout American history.

The Evangelical Question in the History of American Religion

The disturbing conclusion might just be that evangelicalism does not exist.
by Kirsten Sanders via The Hedgehog Review on July 23, 2022
Illustration of bishops titled "The Mitred Minuet"

No Bishops, No Kings: Religious Iconography and Popular Memory of the American Revolution

Popular religious iconography and art in the decades preceding the Revolution offer a fuller narrative arc of the development of revolutionary ideas within American society.
by J. L. Tomlin via Age of Revolutions on December 6, 2021
The Oquirrh Mountain Temple in Salt Lake City

The Most American Religion

Perpetual outsiders, Mormons spent 200 years assimilating to a certain national ideal—only to find their country in an identity crisis.
by McKay Coppins via The Atlantic on December 16, 2020

Three Decades Ago, America Lost Its Religion. Why?

“Not religious” has become a specific American identity—one that distinguishes secular, liberal whites from the conservative, evangelical right.
by Derek Thompson via The Atlantic on September 26, 2019
Places of origin for early Eastern Mediterranean immigrants. The dot size reflects the relative number of immigrants.

“Like A Wolf Who Fell Upon Sheep”: Early Lebanese Immigrants and Religion in America

For some Lebanese immigrants, religion was a comfort, providing a sense of home in an new world. For others, it was a constant reminder of what was left behind.
by Akram Khater, Marjorie Stevens via Khayrallah Center For Lebanese Diaspora Studies on February 6, 2019

Are White Evangelicals Sacrificing The Future In Search Of The Past?

The religious profile of young adults today differs dramatically from that of older Americans.
by Daniel Cox via FiveThirtyEight on January 24, 2018

5 Questions with Ronit Stahl

A Q&A with the author of "Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America."
by Ronit Y. Stahl, Lauren Turek via Religion in American History on November 27, 2017
Wooden cross across blue sky in background

What Is an 'Evangelical'?

The terms meaning has shifted throughout Christianity’s long history, making it difficult to define.
by Jonathan Merritt via The Atlantic on December 7, 2015
Photo of a newspaper referring to Jewish riots in the New York Times

The Festive Meal

There once was a time when Yom Kippur was a time to eat, drink, and be merry.
by Eddy Portnoy via Tablet on September 24, 2009
Protestors at the Global Climate Strike in London, March 2019.

Why Everyone Hates White Liberals

1988 was a pivotal year in how “white liberals” are perceived by their fellow Americans.
by Kevin M. Schultz via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on June 25, 2025
Rufus Anderson

Christ vs. Culture, Religion vs. Politics

Religious leaders hid behind the separation of church and state to uphold the institution of slavery and the forcible removal of Native Americans.
by Emily Conroy-Krutz via Panorama on March 26, 2025
Henrietta Szold welcoming Jewish refugees from Poland to Palestine, February 1943.

Henrietta Szold & the Return to Zion

Henrietta Szold devoted her life to building a Jewish society in Palestine. But how useful is her ’cultural’ Zionism for Jewish Americans today?
by Nicholas Lemann via New York Review of Books on February 20, 2025
Bookcover of Golden States, of people in bathing suits doing yoga.

How Dr. Bronner’s Spiritual Messaging Became a Global Brand

Dr. Bronner blends spirituality, ethical consumerism, and social activism, aiming to support both community and environmental causes through “All-One” values.
by Eileen Luhr via University Of California Press Blog on October 23, 2024
Teenagers marching in civil rights rally holding large sign reading "Black Power."

Black Church Leaders Brought Religion to Politics in the ‘60s

But unlike today's white Christian nationalism, Black church leaders called for healing internal divisions through engagement.
by Tobin Miller Shearer via The Conversation on September 6, 2024
A political cartoon depicting Brighma Young walking in front of a group of his wives, the majority of whom are depicted as non-white.

The Sovereignty of the Latter-day Saints

Less about morality than about rights, the Mormon War of 1858 hinged on the issue of polygamy, pitting a Utah community against federal authorities.
by Katie McBride Moench via JSTOR Daily on August 28, 2024
Mary Baker Eddy and a church.

Christian Science as Jewish Tradition

Why did so many American Jewish women find Christian Science appealing?
by Noah Berlatsky via The Revealer on June 11, 2024
Statue of Sojourner Truth.

The Remarkable Untold Story of Sojourner Truth

Feminist. Preacher. Abolitionist. Civil rights pioneer. Now the full story of the American icon's life and faith is finally coming to light.
by Cynthia R. Greenlee via Smithsonian on February 12, 2024
Jacob Schiff.

Jewish Leaders a Century Ago Had Complicated Feelings About Israel

Fierce disagreements over Zionism have played out from the movement’s inception among Jews, including community leaders who worried it would spark antisemitism.
by Daniel Schulman via Retropolis on November 19, 2023
partner

When Art Fuels Anger, Who Should Prevail?

Controversial artworks are flashpoints when artistic freedom and religious sensitivities collide.
via Retro Report on November 9, 2023
J. Edgar Hoover in front of a stained glass church window

One Bureau Under God

On the white Christian legacy of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.
by Jeanne Theoharis, Lerone A. Martin via Boston Review on October 10, 2023
Shelby Foote with a drawing of a Civil War battle superimposed over him.

The South’s Jewish Proust

Shelby Foote, failed novelist and closeted member of the Tribe, turned the Civil War into a masterpiece of American literature.
by Blake Smith via Tablet on September 6, 2023
Jewish headstones in an abandoned graveyard in North Dakota.

In North Dakota, Endless Sky, A Few Gravestones, and the Remnants Of A Little-Known Jewish History

While most Jewish immigrants flocked to urban centers, a few -- like the Greenbergs -- tried their luck as homesteaders.
by Robert Zaretsky via Forward on August 21, 2023
Golda Meir.

One of Those Extremists

A feminist perspective on the first and only female prime minister of Israel.
by Seth Anziska via London Review of Books on July 13, 2023
Abraham Lincoln.

Abe’s Ambitious Religious Creed

Through the tragedies and uncertainties of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln may have found a deepened connection to his religious faith.
by Barton Swaim via The Wall Street Journal on May 5, 2023
Little Richard holding his arms out at a performance.

What Little Richard Deserved

The new documentary “I Am Everything” explores the gulf between what Richard accomplished and what he got for it.
by Hanif Abdurraqib via The New Yorker on April 26, 2023
A painting of Mother Cabrini.

Mother Cabrini, the First American Saint of the Catholic Church

Remembering Mother Cabrini's humanitarian work for Italian immigrants.
by Nick Ripatrazone via Humanities on April 6, 2023
Sam Yudin of the Jewish American Military Historical Society, left, and Joseph Golden of Temple Beth El in Beckley, W.Va., unveil a sign Monday near Fayetteville marking the 1862 Passover Seder by Union soldiers.

Jewish Soldiers Held a Makeshift Seder in the Middle of the Civil War

Union soldiers improvised a Passover celebration near what's now Fayetteville, W.Va. They're being honored with a sign at the approximate site.
by Gillian Brockell via Retropolis on April 5, 2023
View More
30 of
114

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History