Title The end of empathy : why white Protestants stopped loving their neighbors / John W. Compton

Published New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, [2020]

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Description 1 online resource (399 pages) Contents Cover -- Half title -- The End of Empathy -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- part 1 -- 1. The Road to Armageddon -- 2. The Brief Reign of Whirl -- 3. The Churches Do Their Part -- part 2 -- 4. The Battle for the Clergy -- 5. Assaulting the Citadel -- 6. Inventing the Old-​Time Religion -- 7. The Last Hurrah: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- part 3 -- 8. Revolt in the Suburbs -- 9. The Twilight of the Protestant Establishment -- 10. Why the Prophetic Torch Wasn't Passed -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix -- Archival Sources and Abbreviations -- Notes -- Index Summary "The End of Empathy develops a theoretical framework capable of explaining both the rise of white Protestant social concern in the latter part of the nineteenth century and its sudden demise at the end of the twentieth. The theory proceeds from the premise that religious conviction, by itself, is rarely sufficient to motivate empathetic political behavior. When believers do act empathetically - for example, by championing reforms that transfer resources or political influence to less privileged groups within society - it is typically because strong religious institutions have compelled them to do so. For much of American history, mainline Protestant church membership functioned as an important marker of social status - one that few upwardly mobile citizens could afford to go without. The socioeconomic significance of membership, in turn, endowed Protestant leaders with considerable authority over the beliefs and actions of their congregations. At key junctures in U.S. history - the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the civil rights movement - the nation's informal Protestant establishment used this authority to mobilize rank-and-file churchgoers on behalf of government programs that increased economic opportunity and promoted civic inclusion. When this pattern of religious authority collapsed in the late 1960s - thanks to a confluence of trends in the labor market, higher education, and residential mobility - it produced a large population of white suburbanites who had little reason to seek out mainline Protestant churches or heed their advice on the burning social questions of the day. The churches that flourished in the new age of personal autonomy were those that preached against attempts by government to promote a more equitable distribution of wealth and political authority"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on July 06, 2020) Subject Christianity and politics -- United States Empathy -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. Christianity and politics Empathy -- Religious aspects -- Christianity SUBJECT United States -- Church history -- 19th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85139928 United States -- Church history -- 20th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85139929 Subject United States Genre/Form Electronic books Church history Form Electronic book LC no. 2019044730 ISBN 9780190069216 019006921X 9780190069193 0190069198 0190069201 9780190069209

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