Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions

Megan Goodwin

Published by Rutgers University Press 2020

Abusing Religion

Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions

Megan Goodwin

https://doi.org/10.36019/9781978807822

Overview
Contents

About this book

Sex abuse happens in all communities, but American minority religions often face disproportionate allegations of sexual abuse. Why, in a country that consistently fails to acknowledge—much less address—the sexual abuse of women and children, do American religious outsiders so often face allegations of sexual misconduct? Why does the American public presume to know “what’s really going on” in minority religious communities? Why are sex abuse allegations such an effective way to discredit people on America’s religious margins? What makes Americans so willing, so eager to identify religion as the cause of sex abuse? Abusing Religion argues that sex abuse in minority religious communities is an American problem, not (merely) a religious one.

Author / Editor information

MEGAN GOODWIN is the program director for Sacred Writes: Public Scholarship on Religion, a Henry R. Luce-funded project hosted by Northeastern University, and a visiting lecturer with Northeastern University’s Philosophy and Religion Department.

Reviews

"Evocative, theoretically compelling, and not mincing words, Abusing Religion offers profound new insights into pulp fiction on sexual abuse in/by minority religious communities. Goodwin's 'reproductive nationalism,' bringing together race, religion, sexuality, and gender, will surely change conversations in more than one field."

— Juliane Hammer, author of Peaceful Families: American Muslim Efforts against Domestic Violence

Sacred Tension: QAnon, Satanic Panic, and New Religious Movements with Prof. Megan Goodwin
https://stephenbradfordlong.com/2020/07/14/sacred-tension-qanon-satanic-panic-and-new-religious-movements-with-prof-megan-goodwin/

— Secret Tension podcast

"QAnon Didn't Just Spring Forth from the Void—It's the Latest from a Familiar Movement" by Adam Willems - interview with Megan Goodwin
https://religiondispatches.org/qanon-didnt-just-spring-forth-from-the-void-its-the-latest-from-a-familiar-movement/

— Religion Dispatches

"A major and multidisciplinary contribution."

— Sean McCloud, author of American Possessions: Fighting Demons in the Contemporary United States

"Abusing Religion should, and must, initiate long overdue discussion within communities where abuse occurs, but continues outside the spotlight."

— Nova Religio

"Abuse Happens Because We Let It," by Megan Goodwin
https://sojo.net/articles/abuse-happens-because-let-it-Menlo-Park-John-Ortberg-Lavery

— Sojo

"[A] careful analysis."

— Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"The University of Vermont might be done with Religion, but Religion isn't done with us," by Megan Goodwin

— Religion Dispatched

"A strength of this work is its ability to hold the tension between taking seriously allegations or cases of abuse while rejecting religious difference as the source of this abuse. In so doing, Goodwin reveals the complexity and deep entrenchment of contraceptive nationalism in the United States."

— Reading Religion

"Significant and eminently timely."

— Melissa M. Wilcox, author of Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism, and Serious Parody

"In addressing such a fraught, painful, and controversial topic, scholars and students alike would be well served by heeding Goodwin’s persuasive warning."

— American Religion

"Are you one of the many Revealer readers who appreciated Megan Goodwin’s 'Abusing Religion' series that explored mainstream media portrayals of Mormons, Muslims, and Satanists and their alleged greater prevalence of sexual abuse? If so, you’ll want a copy of her book, Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions."

— The Revealer

"Ultimately, Goodwin's excellent book provides a foundation for future scholarship on the real-life texture of minoritized believers who have heretofore lacked opportunities to inhabit the kinds of privileged narratives that, for example, Catholics have."

— American Literary History

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION. Contraceptive Nationalism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. AMERICA’S CONTRACEPTIVE MENTALITY Catholic Co-belligerence and the New Christian Right Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
Part 1. SEX, ABUSE, AND THE SATANIC PANIC
2. SATAN SELLERS Michelle Remembers and the Making of a Sex Abuse Panic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
3. BELIEVE THE CHILDREN? Catholicizing Public Morality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Part 2. SEX, ABUSE, AND AMERICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA
4. DARK RELIGION FOR DARK PEOPLE Race, American Islam, and Not Without My Daughter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
5. THE WAR AT HOME Muslim Masculinity as Domestic Violence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
Part 3. SEX, ABUSE, AND MORMON FUNDAMENTALISM
6. FROM SHORT CREEK TO ZION Mormons, Polygyny, and Under the Banner of Heaven Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
7. THIS IS NOT ABOUT RELIGION Raiding Zion to Save It Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
CONCLUSION. Religion, Sex, Abuse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
EPILOGUE. Religion Trains Us Like Roses Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221

Language: English
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 238
Illustrations
- Other: None
Keywords: religion; sex scandal; american minority religion; american religion; Mormon; Latter Day Saints; Islam; Islamic; Muslim; sex abuse; religious leaders; Catholic; Catholic church; Catholicism; Christian; Christianity; Islamophobia; American Islam; Zion

eBook

Published: July 17, 2020
ISBN: 9781978807822