Religious Scandals

Download or read book Religious Scandals written by Judith M. Buddenbaum and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-09-03 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume looks at headline-grabbing scandals involving American religious figures from the 19th century to the present, showing how the media and society in general reacted to these controversies. Religious Scandals brings together real-life controversies involving men and women of faith, from the media frenzy over the 1811 New York blasphemy case of People v. Ruggles that shaped American law for well over 100 years to the 2008 government raid on the fundamentalist Mormon Yearning for Zion community in Texas. Religious Scandals focuses on two types of subjects: religious figures whose lapses put them at the center of scandals involving sex, money, or crime; and those who scandalized their fellow citizens by acting out according to their own religious beliefs. Together, these stories—some familiar, some little known—offer a fascinating portrait of American religious culture, as well insights into the role of the media in religious scandals, constitutional protections of religious freedom, and the overriding issue of public curiosity versus individual privacy.