Arthur Remillard is an assistant professor of religious studies at Saint Francis University. He has served as the managing editor and book review editor for the "Journal of Southern Religion" since 2002.
[A]ttention to the competing visions of civil religion is the most
important contribution of the book. . . . What makes Southern Civil
Religions worth a broader consideration is Remillard's attention to
how these competing visions were each tied to different claims
about the placement of civic boundaries--about inclusion and
exclusion.--Joseph Gerteis "Journal of Interdisciplinary
History"
An exciting, revisionist study that is clear in argument. Anyone
wanting to understand how a variety of people in the South have
understood its spiritual and moral meanings will like this
book.--Charles Reagan Wilson "author of Baptized in Blood: The
Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865-1920"
By focusing on a diverse set of characters, in a relatively
understudied sub-region, through the lens of people talking about a
'good society, ' and using a number of vivid examples, this book
makes a significant contribution to post-Civil War southern
history.--Paul Harvey "author of Freedom's Coming: Religious
Culture and the Shaping of the South from the Civil War through the
Civil Rights Era"
Carefully researched and gracefully written, this study transforms
our understanding of the post-Reconstruction Wiregrass South. Not
the monolith often assumed, the region nurtured a rich diversity.
Remillard demonstrates that competing and sometimes conflicting
views of the good society---of civil religion--brought white
southern Protestants, northerners, African Americans, Catholics,
Jews, nativists, and others into lively, contested conversation. He
shows how the views of each faction shaped and modified the image
of the good society fashioned by the others, resulting in a variety
of civil religious understandings. Essential reading for anyone
hoping to understand the complex spirit of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century Wiregrass South.--Charles H. Lippy
"co-editor, Encyclopedia of Religion in the South"
It is a rare treat to study the construction of southern identity
from the perspective of so many different groups interacting with
each other steadily over time. In this regard, Southern Civil
Religions can be a model for future histories of the
post-Reconstruction South.--John M Giggie "American Historical
Review"
Remillard writes with admirable clarity and brevity. He utilizes a
wide range of primary materials that present a variety of
perspectives. . . . [The] book reminds us that even a society as
locked down as the 'solid South' failed to keep down courageous,
alternative visions of the good society.--Gavin James Campbell
"Journal of American History"
This portrayal of the New South is humane and affirming, clear-eyed
and yet refusing cynicism. In Remillard's hands, civil religion
becomes not a smothering uniformity but a vocabulary in which
people of all backgrounds, even in the repressive South, claimed a
place for their vision of a just America. This book is itself an
example of the benefits of a broader and more inclusive vision of
what civil religion might mean.--Edward L. Ayers "Journal of
Southern Religion"
Remillard attempts to pull together the sundry strands and
competing visions of the Wiregrass Gulf South--upper Florida,
southern Georgia, and lower Alabama--by examining the moral vision
of not only elite whites who perpetrated the Lost Cause mythology,
but also the politically, socially and economically disadvantaged
groups who suggested what society ought to be. . . .His work
expands the dialogue and scholarly borders in analyzing the
post-Reconstruction South and brings new life to southern voices
long ignored.--Choice
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