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kevin_shepherd 's review for:
Holy Smoke: How Christianity Smothered the American Dream
by Rick Snedeker
"I talk to God, but the sky is empty" ~Sylvia Plath
Somewhat less antagonistic than the title would suggest, retired journalist Rick Snedeker's meticulously researched Holy Smoke is both a history and an indictment of American fundamentalism. Spanning over 500 years (1492 - 2020), Snedeker chronicles the ebb and flow of religious fervor in America and its impact on social and political institutions.
1620's - Contrary to what we, as American children, were taught in elementary school, the "Pilgrims" were not stalwart bastions of civility and tolerance. In fact, one of the main reasons they set up shop in the colonies is because they were reviled in both their native England and their adopted country, the Netherlands. Known then as Brownists, they were ferverently opposed to religious freedom (unless of course your faith of choice was their faith of choice).
1630's - Enter John Winthrop and his hundreds of English Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony that is now the city of Boston. Nestled in amongst the sundry items of baggage they imported is the notion that poverty is a sin. Their belief that the poor are lazy and inherently less pious is still a component of right-wing American philosophy.
"the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy" ~H.L. Mencken, describing Puritanism
1631 - Roger Williams arrives in Massachusetts and American colonial morality sees a positive uptick, if only briefly. Williams initially intended to be a Protestant missionary but, after witnessing the plight of Native Americans, he became distraught and disillusioned. Williams spoke out against Puritan authorities, many of whom accused him of heresy.
1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony banishes Roger Williams for "diverse, new and dangerous opinions."
Can you see a pattern emerging here?
Snedeker goes on to chronicle the role sanctimonious entities and pious underpinnings played in the course of American history. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831. The Ghost Dance movement of 1870. The massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. All pieces of the complicated mosaic that is our collective identity. With so many skeletons in our closet, it's no wonder we're screwed-up.
Are we hopelessly lost? Snedeker doesn't think so. He has suggestions for our recovery (good ones) but he admits that our climb out of the abyss, IF it happens, will be slow and perilous.
Somewhat less antagonistic than the title would suggest, retired journalist Rick Snedeker's meticulously researched Holy Smoke is both a history and an indictment of American fundamentalism. Spanning over 500 years (1492 - 2020), Snedeker chronicles the ebb and flow of religious fervor in America and its impact on social and political institutions.
1620's - Contrary to what we, as American children, were taught in elementary school, the "Pilgrims" were not stalwart bastions of civility and tolerance. In fact, one of the main reasons they set up shop in the colonies is because they were reviled in both their native England and their adopted country, the Netherlands. Known then as Brownists, they were ferverently opposed to religious freedom (unless of course your faith of choice was their faith of choice).
1630's - Enter John Winthrop and his hundreds of English Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony that is now the city of Boston. Nestled in amongst the sundry items of baggage they imported is the notion that poverty is a sin. Their belief that the poor are lazy and inherently less pious is still a component of right-wing American philosophy.
"the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy" ~H.L. Mencken, describing Puritanism
1631 - Roger Williams arrives in Massachusetts and American colonial morality sees a positive uptick, if only briefly. Williams initially intended to be a Protestant missionary but, after witnessing the plight of Native Americans, he became distraught and disillusioned. Williams spoke out against Puritan authorities, many of whom accused him of heresy.
1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony banishes Roger Williams for "diverse, new and dangerous opinions."
Can you see a pattern emerging here?
Snedeker goes on to chronicle the role sanctimonious entities and pious underpinnings played in the course of American history. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831. The Ghost Dance movement of 1870. The massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. All pieces of the complicated mosaic that is our collective identity. With so many skeletons in our closet, it's no wonder we're screwed-up.
Are we hopelessly lost? Snedeker doesn't think so. He has suggestions for our recovery (good ones) but he admits that our climb out of the abyss, IF it happens, will be slow and perilous.