Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

A novel account of the relationship between sincerity, religious freedom, and the secular in the United States....
$321.12 SGD
$321.12 SGD
SKU: 9780226817934
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 384 left in stock
Author: Charles McCrary
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $321.12
10 customers are viewing this product
Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers by McCrary, Charles

Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

$321.12

Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

$321.12
Author: Charles McCrary
Format: Hardcover
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: 296
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.29lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d
ISBN: 9780226817934

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

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Related Products

Recently Viewed Products