A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation Hardcover - 2001

From the publisher

Author and Harvard professor Diana Eck reveals the remarkable new landscape of faith that is dramatically broadening the debate about what it means to be an American.

Religions that we used to think of as existing on the other side of the world are now right around the corner, all across the United States. American Muslims, for instance, are fast outnumbering the memberships of several major Christian denominations as well as the number of American Jews. And second- and third-generation Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and others are now taking up crucial roles in business and community life. A New Religious America traces the history of freedom of religion and religious diversity in this country. It shows how the Immigration Act of 1965 has led to a transformation of the U.S. population, giving the country an increasingly diverse religious makeup. Eck highlights the challenges posed by intolerance and hatred, and how American culture can be enriched by embracing its growing religious diversity. Diana L. Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University and Director of The Pluralism Project. Her book Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras won the prestigious Grawemeyer Book Award. In 1998, President Clinton awarded her the National Humanities Medal for the work of The Pluralism Project in the investigation of America's religious diversity.