Intolerance and American Religious History

Abstract

The burning of Catholic convents, the night riding of the Klan, the bombing of abortion clinics represent just a few examples of the ways religious intolerance has been a pervasive and persistent feature of American religious life; however, until recently, it has remained absent as a category of analysis in much of the scholarship on U.S. religion. To acquaint readers with this emerging topic of interest, this essay examines how scholars are addressing the challenges of researching and teaching the not‐so‐nice dimensions of American religious history. By surveying a wide range of sources, it familiarizes readers with the prominent challenges, themes, and approaches in the study of religious intolerance. This essay suggests that studying religious intolerance can help us more accurately chronicle American religious history and provide scholars with a broader analytical construct that promotes comparisons of intolerance against religious groups and across time periods and thereby helps illuminate the enduring power of religious hatred.