Religion and Public Life in the Mountain West
Sacred Landscapes in Transition
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- $36.99
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- $36.99
Publisher Description
Huge mountain ranges and vast uninhabited areas characterize the Mountain West. The region is home to several dense urban centers, but there is enough space between cities for three very distinct religious cultures to develop. Arizona and New Mexico's religious public life is still dominated by the Catholic church which was in place three centuries before these areas became U.S. states. Mormons came to Utah and Idaho in the 19th century to set up their own church-state and only later were admitted to the Union. Religious minorities from Native Americans to 'mainstream' Protestants must contend with these religious establishments. In the third subregion of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana no one religious body dominates and many inhabitants claim no religious affiliation at all. Religion and Public Life in the Mountain West explores these three distinct religious regions but then goes on to see how they work together and what they have in common.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This book, the second in a series of nine reports on religion in various regions of the United States, explores contemporary religious life in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. Although the region still features a spread-out population (22 people per square mile, compared to the national average of 80), it has the fastest-growing population of the nation. While Shipps and Silk concede that it is difficult to think of these seven states as a cohesive unit, they identify three religious traditions that dominate the area: Roman Catholicism, established by Spanish missionaries in the southwest in the 17th century; Mormonism, which dominates Utah and Idaho; and pluralism, the catch-all category which describes the more diverse states of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, with their mix of evangelical Christians, New Agers, Catholics and "nones" (those who claim no affiliation). The authors of the various essays pay special attention to the ways in which religion has influenced public life in the Mountain West through politics, philanthropy and education.
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