Taking California as a window into the diversity of religion in America; Golden States of Grace documents marginalized communities at prayer in their own faith traditions. The collection is thoroughly interfaith; introducing us to the nation's only halfway house for addicts self-identified as Jewish; a transsexual gospel choir; a Buddhist community in San Quentin; a Mormon congregation organized by the deaf for the deaf; Latina sex workers worshipping the female folk deity SantÃsima Muerte; and more. Depictions of conventional middle-class religion are widely visible in the media; but the American public rarely sees the sacred worlds of society’s marginalized: the outcasts; the fallen; those that have been labeled “otherâ€--ironically; those whom religion aims to serve. The poignant stories Nahmias has gathered here cross numerous boundaries and ask difficult questions few outsiders have been willing to pose.
#2011998 in Books University of Missouri 2006-05-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .80 x 6.13l; .99 #File Name: 0826216609312 pages
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