Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History
Almost 60 years after Gunnar Myrdal argued that America's distinctive moral consciousness might prove "the salvation of mankind," Morone finds that same characteristic at least as likely to legitimate invidious discrimination as to inspire utopian strivings. As he probes the sermonizing style of moral politics that has so profoundly shaped America, Morone highlights two contrasting impulses: a Victorian censoriousness and a Social Gospel communalism. The narrative first traces the Victorian impulse--arising from Puritan fears of witchcraft and debauchery--as it inspires the fervor of nineteenth-century abolitionists and twentieth-century prohibitionists. Later, readers witness the emergence of a long nascent Social Gospel--springing from Puritan pledges of mutual love--as it stirs the visionary hopes behind the New Deal and the civil rights movement. Though a partisan of Social Gospel politics and a critic of Victorian conservatism, Morone illuminates the complexities in both impulses. Readers trying to peer into the nation's post-9/11 moral future will thank Morone for clarifying the path along which righteous fervor has already impelled us.Bryce ChristensenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved