When American Methodist preachers first arrived to Upper Canada they brought more than a contagious religious faith. They also brought saddlebags stuffed with books published by the New York Methodist Book Concern - North America's first denominational publisher - to sell along their preaching circuits. Pulpit, Press, and Politics traces the expansion of this remarkable transnational market from its earliest days to the mid-nineteenth century during a period of intense religious struggle in Upper Canada marked by fiery revivals, political betrayals, and bitter church schisms. The Methodist Book Concern occupied a central place in all this conflict as it powerfully shaped and subverted the religious and political identities of Canadian Methodists, bankrolled the bulk of Methodist preaching and missionary activities, enabled and constrained evangelistic efforts among the colony's Native groups, and clouded Methodist dealings with the British Wesleyans and other religious competitors north of the border. Even more importantly, as Methodists went on to assume a preeminent place in the province's religious, cultural, and educational life, their ongoing reliance on the Methodist Book Concern played a crucial part in opening the way for what would later become the lasting acceptance and widespread use of American books and periodicals across the province as a whole.

Press, Platform, Pulpit examines how early black feminism goes public by sheding new light on some of the major figures of early black feminism as well as bringing forward some lesser-known individuals who helped shape various reform movements. With a perspective unlike many other studies of black feminism, Teresa Zackodnik considers these activists as central, rather than marginal, to the politics of their day, and argues that black feminism reached critical mass well before the club movement’s national federation at the turn into the twentieth century . Throughout, she shifts the way in which major figures of early black feminism have been understood. The first three chapters trace the varied speaking styles and appeals of black women in the church, abolition, and women’s rights, highlighting audience and location as mediating factors in the public address and politics of figures such as Jarena Lee, Zilpha Elaw, Amanda Berry Smith, Ellen Craft, Sarah Parker Remond and Sojourner Truth. The next chapter focuses on Ida B. Wells’s anti-lynching tours as working within “New Abolition” and influenced by black feminists before her. The final chapter examines feminist black nationalism as it developed in the periodical press by considering Maria Stewart’s social and feminist gospel; Mary Shadd Cary’s linking of abolition, emigration, and woman suffrage; and late-nineteenth-century black feminist journalism addressing black women’s migration and labor. Early black feminists working in reforms such as abolition and women’s rights opened new public arenas, such as the press, to the voices of black women. The book concludes by focusing on the 1891 National Council of Women, Frances Harper, and Anna Julia Cooper, which together mark a generational shift in black feminism, and by exploring the possibilities of taking black feminism public through forging coalitions among women of color. Press, Platform, Pulpit goes far in deepening our understanding of early black feminism, its position in reform, and the varied publics it created for its politics. It not only moves historically from black feminist work in the church early in the nineteenth century to black feminism in the press at its close, but also explores the connections between black feminist politics across the century and specific reforms.

In Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit, Nina J. Crimm and Laurence H. Winer examine the provocative mix of religion, politics, and taxes involved in the controversy over houses of worship engaging in electoral political speech. The authors analyze the dilemmas associated with federal tax subsidies benefiting nonprofit houses of worship conditioned on their refraining from political campaign speech. The Supreme Court's recent Citizens United decision invalidating federal campaign finance restrictions on corporations' political campaign speech makes the remaining, analogous restrictive tax laws constraining many nonprofit entities all the more singular and problematic, particularly for houses of worship. Crimm and Winer explore the multifaceted constitutional tensions arising from this legal structure and implicating all fundamental values embodied in the First Amendment: free speech and free press, the free exercise of religion, and the avoidance of government establishment of religion. They also examine the history and economics of taxation of houses of worship. The authors conclude that there exists no means of fully resolving the irreconcilable clashes in a constitutionally permissible and politically and socially palatable manner. Nonetheless, Crimm and Winer offer several feasible legislative proposals for reforming tax provisions that likely will generate considerable debate. If Congress adopts the proposed reforms, however, the revised system should substantially ameliorate the disquieting constitutional tensions induced by the current tax laws and curb the growing emotionally charged atmosphere about the role of religion in the public sphere.

Our nation is becoming ever more politicized. Everything from the environment to human gender have become political issues. While the old sentiment of not preaching politics from the pulpit may have once been good advice, it is increasingly more difficult not to. The problem preachers have is knowing how to wade through political issues without becoming a political pundit. A preacher can end up either merely repeating party talking points, or retreating into avoiding biblical topics to avoid dealing with political hot button issues. Thankfully, our age is not the only one to have ever suffered political crises and we can learn from the preachers of the past. One such preacher was John Chrysostom. He was not just a preacher, but also a man steeped in a sensitive political climate. Through the work of a dedicated sermon series, Chrysostom was able to calm tensions in a city who had rioted and destroyed statues of the emperor. These Homilies on the Statues proved to be a pivotal and powerful example of political preaching. By examining the homiletical methods of John Chrysostom's Homilies on the Statues we can learn how to responsibly and powerfully engaging political topics in our own day.

Pulpit and Politics presents the most current and comprehensive examination of the religious beliefs and political behavior of American clergy at the advent of the new millennium. Based on data gathered during the 2000 Presidential election, this study examines the relationship between belief and behavior, theology and politics, religious commitments and social activism from African-American, Baptist, Jewish, Mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic and other religious groups. Pulpit and Politics is a treasure trove of historical, comparative and statistical information about the political behavior of America's clergy.

The United States is home to some 2000 different religious denominations, a fact which makes remarkable the relative calm that has marked the nation's spiritual life. The authors discuss the political and social contexts within which American religious congregations manage to get along so well.

The cornerstone of the public presidency is the ability of the White House to influence, shape, and even manipulate public opinion. Ultimately, although much has been written about presidential leadership of opinion, we are still left with many questions pertaining to the success of presidential opinion leadership efforts throughout the modern presidency. What is still missing is a systematic, sequential approach to describe empirical trends in presidential leadership of public opinion in order to expand on important scholarly queries, to resolve empirical disputes in the literature, and to check the accuracy of conventional political wisdom on how, when, and under what conditions presidents lead public opinion. In The Provisional Pulpit, Brandon Rottinghaus develops a simple theory of presidential leadership, arguing that presidential messages are more likely to be received if there are fewer countervailing agents or messages to contradict the president’s message. He concludes, based upon the findings presented in this book, that the “bully pulpit” is largely provisional for modern presidents. The more the president can avoid the political echo chamber associated with partisan battles or communications, the better the chance the president has to lead public opinion. The Provisional Pulpit adds an important layer of understanding to the issue of how and under what conditions presidents lead public opinion. All modern presidents clearly attempt to lead public opinion; often, due to factors outside their control, they fail. This book is an exploration into how and when they succeed.

In this book, the presidential debates of 2000, 2004, and 2008 are analyzed in terms of linguistics, rhetoric, and religious context to offer a unique perspective on the styles, beliefs, and strategies of the two major parties and their candidates. In The Podium, the Pulpit, and the Republicans: How Presidential Candidates Use Religious Language in American Political Debate, a veteran minister analyzes the religious metaphors Republicans use at the podium and alleges that the party deliberately employs blaming tactics, fear metaphors, and coded references to apocalyptic judgment to sway undecided voters. Over the past 40 years, Frederick Stecker charges, the Republican Party has created fear for political expediency. Stecker's book traces the development of the Republican rhetoric of polarization and applies the linguistics-based "nation-as-a-family" political typology of George Lakoff to an analysis of the presidential debates of 2000, 2004, and 2008. He demonstrates how Republican candidates select their language and metaphors to signal adherence to rigid belief systems and simple, black-and-white choices in domestic and foreign policy.

Issue framing is the way that people, especially politicians, get other people to view a particular problem or issue. By framing the issue in a particular way, the goal is to get people to think about the issue, to believe that an action is required and, most importantly, to believe that a particular action (the one being proposed by the framer) is the right one. The use of language and imagery is an essential part of issue framing and has been an integral part of the presidency since our nation’s founding, but it has become particularly important since Theodore Roosevelt began to take his message directly to the people. This work examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy. Each chapter will examine the situation or background for the problem, include a transcript of the speech the president delivered, and conclude with an analysis of the speech in terms of the particular frame that the speech utilized and the eventual outcome, or policy direction, inspired by the speech.

In this groundbreaking work, Paul A. Djupe and Christopher Gilbert analyze national data from a survey of over 2,400 Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America clergy, looking deeper into their motivations for political action. Using these data, the authors argue that clergy roles in politics and civic life result from the intersection of their personal beliefs and interests, the specific needs of their congregation and community, and ongoing influences from their denomination.