Being Religious American Style

Popular religion rarely expresses itself in the artifacts of high culture. In this book Lippy approaches the study of popular religion by asking how ordinary people have gone about the process of being religious in America. Along the way he examines popular religious periodicals newspapers novels diaries devotional materials hymnals promotional materials for revivals and camp meetings religious tracts as well as vernacular art and architecture other artifacts and especially in the 20th century radio film and television. He avoids the traditional focus on religious movements and institutions choosing instead to illuminate the cultural impact of what people in America think and do when they are being religious by highlighting aspects of private life.