Devotions and Desires

“Hallelujah! Historians of sexuality and historians of religion are writing their entangled histories, and setting aside repression and rebellion as the primary frameworks for understanding as they do. This pathbreaking volume will spark conversation and spur research.” — Margot Canaday, Princeton University

“I am struck by the originality, precision, and importance of this volume, which builds on the latest scholarship on U.S. religion and sexuality and will push the fields of history, religious studies, American studies, and other areas toward fuller and much-needed consideration of the nexus of sexuality and religion. My enthusiasm for the book is boundless.” — Julie Byrne, Hofstra University

“Provides a landmark moment in the historiography of religion and sexuality. The richness of these essays brings much needed contour to emerging conversations about religion and sexuality and helps to define these conversations as part of a critical new subfield in US history and American religious history. The study of religion and sexuality is no longer a niche topic, but rather a central area of concern if we want to understand US culture and politics.”—Reading Religion

“This addition to work on religion and sexuality pushes us along—to think both at large scale and small about what has defined the United States, history, religion, and sexuality then and now. These moments matter.”—Journal of American History

“This edited volume brings together thirteen essays on the intersection of two historical fields that have more often stared awkwardly at each other from across the room than embraced in the same bed: religious history and the history of sexuality. . . . An essential starting point for an introduction . . . and an ideal launching pad for future work.”—Journal of Southern History

“One of the most coherent, focused editorial collections on religion in American history: the authors have common argumentative purpose, the essays are themselves equal in accomplishment and quality, and the vision of religion and sexuality in the twentieth-century United States is intelligible. This is a one-stop recalibration for historians of sexuality.”—Church History and Religious Culture

“The authors have exploded the myth that a monolithic, oppressive 'religion' has been at odds with sexual liberalism in the twentieth century. In its place, they have left us with over a dozen rich case studies in which religious actors have reconfigured their theologies and communities to accommodate new sexualities.”—American Historical Review

“This edited volume makes a significant contribution to several fields (American Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Religious Studies, to name just a few) by examining the interconnected discourse on religion, gender, and sexuality that innovatively challenges conceptions of American religion.”—American Religion

“A bold contribution . . . with an interventionist spirit that few edited collections dare to muster. . . . Devotions and Desires should be commended for its interventions, the tight thematic connections between the chapters, its neat chronological layout, and its clear, polished prose, all of which make this a book that will be accessible not only to specialists but also to students at all levels of higher education.”—Journal of the History of Sexuality