Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion

by David Gelernter

Book Overview

What does it mean to "believe" in America? Why do we always speak of our country as having a mission or purpose that is higher than other nations? Modern liberals have invested a great deal in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385513127
• ISBN13: 9780385513128
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Finally, the truth about the U.S.A.!

This book is a must-read for all Americans. It exposes the left loonies'drivel that we have had to swallow the past 50 years. The truth is:The U.S.A. is the best country in the world! - BAD NEWS PERHAPS FOR THE LEFT, BUT TRUE NONETHELESS! signed, GRATEFUL TO BE AMERICAN!

A very interesting approach to American history and American Exceptionalism

David Gelernter is passionate, intelligent, and a wonderful writer. I enjoyed reading this book a great deal. It's a fresh approach to the wellsprings of American Exceptionalism, which he finds in our religious heritage, especially Puritanism. But not the Puritanism we use as shorthand for tyrannical sex hating killjoys. He shows us who the real Puritans were, what they were concerned with, and what became of them. Gelernter contends that as Puritanism lost its fire it cooled into Unitarianism as a faith, but the passion passed to the idealism of what America represented to its citizens and what they believe it can mean for the world. He sees the great phases of the development of Americanism as a faith from its founding by the Puritans, transformed during the Revolution by the original founders, and transformed again by Lincoln, whom he calls the final founder. He then sees Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson as taking the faith into its international doctrines including the Spanish American War and World War I. I do not share his enthusiasm for the Progressives because I am quite uncomfortable with their dismissal of the Constitution as antiquated and that it must yield to their doctrines of progress. But this is not something Gelernter is addressing too directly, because he wants to get us someplace else. The author does not see FDR as a high priest of Americanism, but with Harry Truman and the Truman Doctrine and his support of the founding of Israel we get another transformation and big step forward in Gelernter's view of the foreign policy of Americanism. I did find his discussion of Vietnam, the four lies that too many people believe about the war, and how intellectuals have pressed that war into an American equivalent to what the First World War did to Europe to be quite interesting. He does support George W. Bush's efforts in foreign policy if not every practical application. While I did not agree with every step of his arguments and have more reservations that I laid out in this review, I did gain a lot from reading this book and thinking about the arguments presented by the author. Very much worth reading. Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI Another book with a different take on a similar topic is Promisted Land Crusader State by Walter MacDougall Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776

A fascinating discussion

Riding on the heels of Dangerous Nation: America's Foreign Policy from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Vintage) and Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity this book tries to examine the culture of America and its uniqueness. His greatest quest is to discover the deep hidden and subconscious traits that have made America and Americans throughout the years since independence. He encourages readers to learn more about America through this prism rather than judging America based on simplistic views of 'conservative' and 'Fast food nation.' THe only slight qualm is that the author describes something called 'American Zionism' when he should properly have called it American israelitism, which was the term for it in the 19th century. It is no secret that from the earliest pilgrims such as Winthrop through the present day America has been seen as a 'city on the hill' or the 'new Jerusalem'. Mormons took this a step further and created a religion where America literally became the new Zion. This book examines the religious heritage of America, her Protestant origins and her insistance on freedom and individualism. A very well written account that provides further understanding of American heritage, history and culture. Seth J. Frantzman

Americanism and it's effect on our culture, a clear distinction

An excellent insight into the development of the religious context of American history. The religious underpinnings of the American culture are very well expressed and their historic significance makes clear a fundamental difference we have and will continue to have with Europe, necessitating, I believe, a better understanding of why we see the world and our role in it through a different lens.

A fascinating analysis of our American history

Wow was this a revelation to me! I felt as if I was in the beginning class and an expert professor was leading me through some fasinating connections. You might not agree with the good Professor's conclusions but you must read them and be tested on your previous views of the world of the Founders and those of us who have followed them. Based on previous articles I have read by the author and some blogger recommendations, I bought the book, couldn't put it down and will be chewing it over for several re-reads. This is what thinking leads to and I urge you to exercise your mind with this book. Plus it is beautiful.