Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Years after 9/11, America is still struggling with how to balance the demands of national security with its commitment to religious liberty, and the FBI has been at the front lines of this struggle. The FBI and Religion is the first attempt to tell the story of the FBI's interaction with religion from its beginnings in 1908 through the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, the "cult wars" of the late Twentieth Century, and the counter-terrorism efforts of the Twenty-First century.
In chapters written by the leading scholars of Religious Studies, African-American studies, American history and other fields, the book explores the FBI's tense and complex relationship with various American Muslim communities, but also with Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons and other religious groups percieved either as allies or as potential enemies of the state. The resulting volume sheds light not only on the FBI itself but on the role of the federal government as a part of American religious history, and on the role of religion and religious bias in shaping the government's response to security threats and religious dissidence.