Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

A novel account of the relationship between sincerity, religious freedom, and the secular in the United States....
BD$75.33 BMD
BD$75.33 BMD
SKU: 9780226817958
Product Type: Books
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Author: Charles McCrary
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: BD$75.33
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Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers by McCrary, Charles

Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

BD$75.33

Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

BD$75.33
Author: Charles McCrary
Format: Paperback
Language: English
A novel account of the relationship between sincerity, religious freedom, and the secular in the United States.

"Sincerely held religious belief" is now a common phrase in discussions of American religious freedom, from opinions handed down by the US Supreme Court to local controversies. The "sincerity test" of religious belief has become a cornerstone of US jurisprudence, framing what counts as legitimate grounds for First Amendment claims in the eyes of the law. In Sincerely Held, Charles McCrary provides an original account of how sincerely held religious belief became the primary standard for determining what legally counts as authentic religion.

McCrary skillfully traces the interlocking histories of American sincerity, religion, and secularism starting in the mid-nineteenth century. He analyzes a diverse archive, including Herman Melville's novel The Confidence-Man, vice-suppressing police, Spiritualist women accused of being fortune-tellers, eclectic conscientious objectors, secularization theorists, Black revolutionaries, and anti-LGBTQ litigants. Across this history, McCrary reveals how sincerity and sincerely held religious belief developed as technologies of secular governance, determining what does and doesn't entitle a person to receive protections from the state.

This fresh analysis of secularism in the United States invites further reflection on the role of sincerity in public life and religious studies scholarship, asking why sincerity has come to matter so much in a supposedly "post-truth" era.


Author: Charles McCrary
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 04/08/2022
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9780226817958


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/28/2022
Library Journal 06/17/2022 pg. 1

About the Author
McCrary, Charles: - Charles McCrary is a postdoctoral scholar at the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University.

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