Overview

The pandemic presented religion as a paradox: faith is often crucial for helping people weather life’s troubles and make difficult decisions, but how can religion continue to deliver these benefits and provide societal structure without social contact?  The topical volume, An Epidemic among My People explains how the COVID-19 pandemic stress tested American religious communities and created a new politics of religion centered on public health. The editors and contributorsconsider how the virus and government policy affected religion in America. Chapters examine the link between the prosperity gospel and conspiracy theories, the increased purchase of firearms by evangelicals, the politics of challenging public health orders as religious freedom claims, and the reactions of Christian nationalists, racial groups, and female clergy to the pandemic (and pandemic politics). As sharp lines were drawn between people and their governments during this uncertain time, An Epidemic among My People provides a comprehensive portrait of religion in American public life.  

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9781439923399

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Reviews

“What power does religion hold in times of crisis? Drawing on a wealth of research conducted over the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the thoughtful editors and contributors to An Epidemic among My People uncover how faith communities and religious identities shaped responses to the pandemic. At the same time, the broad range of research contained here underscores how a crisis impacts religious beliefs and practices. This unique collection of essays from across the social sciences showcases findings and insights essential to understanding how religious forces matter in our collective experience of major national and worldwide events.”—Janelle Wong, Professor of American Studies and Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, and author of Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change “COVID-19 had colossal impacts on public health and mortality, with immense social, political, economic, and psychological consequences. Our understanding of its more precise consequences in particular spheres of society remains thin. An Epidemic among My People offers a reliable, in-depth account of the impacts of COVID-19 on one major area of social life—religion. An impressive array of scholars use very strong empirical data to insightfully sort out the many ways religion and the pandemic interacted, and with what consequences. It is essential reading not only on religion, but for anyone wishing to understand the impact of COVID-19 in society generally.”—Christian Smith, Wm. R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame ""The book covers a lot of territory, with unexpected findings throughout....Through its remarkable collection of new research and data analysis, this book provides a broad foundation for scholars to build on to better understand the complex, multifaceted relationship between the Covid-19 pandemic and American religion and politics.”— Politics and Religion   ""[T]his text offers timely and wide-ranging analyses on religious behaviors during the pandemic and will serve as a helpful reference for scholars of American religion.""—The Journal of Religion

What power does religion hold in times of crisis? Drawing on a wealth of research conducted over the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the thoughtful editors and contributors to An Epidemic among My People uncover how faith communities and religious identities shaped responses to the pandemic. At the same time, the broad range of research contained here underscores how a crisis impacts religious beliefs and practices. This unique collection of essays from across the social sciences showcases findings and insights essential to understanding how religious forces matter in our collective experience of major national and worldwide events. --Janelle Wong, Professor of American Studies and Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, and author of Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change COVID-19 had colossal impacts on public health and mortality, with immense social, political, economic, and psychological consequences. Our understanding of its more precise consequences in particular spheres of society remains thin. An Epidemic among My People offers a reliable, in-depth account of the impacts of COVID-19 on one major area of social life--religion. An impressive array of scholars use very strong empirical data to insightfully sort out the many ways religion and the pandemic interacted, and with what consequences. It is essential reading not only on religion, but for anyone wishing to understand the impact of COVID-19 in society generally. --Christian Smith, Wm. R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame

Author Information

Paul A. Djupe teaches political science at Denison University. He is the coauthor of God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion, the coeditor of The Evangelical Crackup?: The Future of the Evangelical-Republican Coalition, and the editor of Religion and Political Tolerance: Advances in the State of the Art (all Temple). He is also the editor of the Religious Engagement in Democratic Politics series with Temple, and the cofounder of the blog Religion in Public.  Amanda Friesen is Associate Professor of Political Science and Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Western University, London, Ontario, and serves on the editorial boards of Politics and Religion, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Sex Roles.

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