Word: religion
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Adams production of Agnes of God is as emotional and moving an exploration of the place of religion and sainthood in modern society as one could wish to see. The difficult and often heart-wrenching questions of what constitutes true blessedness and of the appropriateness of such a state of grace in the 20th century are discussed and disected with a rhetorical grace and lack of dogmatic insistence that makes the work a constant joy to witness...
...RELIGION: Sexual sins sideline Jimmy Swaggart, the fiery king of televangelism...
...inhabitant of Baton Rouge, home to Swaggart's multi-million dollar estate, church and Bible College, I derive particular amusement and satisfaction from his fall. Swaggart represented the hypocrisy and hatred that arises from militant organized religion. The moral of his fevered sermons--often laden with anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic overtones--was to give more money to his ministry...
...lower incomes of Robertson's followers are due in part to the fact that he got the youngest vote in Iowa, just as President Reagan carried the young in 1984. A 1979 study by the Princeton Religion Research Center found that 54% of Evangelicals are under 50 years of age -- a finding confirmed impressionistically when one travels with Robertson. His crowds are often young parents bringing their children with them. In terms of education, Christian schools, which exact long study hours as well as a strict social code, are opening at the rate of one a day, a movement surpassed...
Thus Robertson's foes must be careful about overkill. Calling him an Ayatullah points to a truth not intended -- that religion is a powerful national force, not only in exotic places but also in their own familiar country. Americans need to become more attuned to their country's desires before concluding that today's moral crisis is easily handled with secular expertise. Pat Robertson's practiced intimacy, his instant if shallow friendliness, may frighten some. But it reassures others exactly because he is not theatrical or compelling (as, say, an earlier televangelist, Fulton Sheen, was). That breathy and winking chuckle...