The spiritual-industrial complex : America's religious battle against communism in the early Cold War

Author(s)

    • Herzog, Jonathan P.

Bibliographic Information

The spiritual-industrial complex : America's religious battle against communism in the early Cold War

Jonathan P. Herzog

Oxford University Press, c2011

Available at  / 4 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

In his farewell address, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the nation of the perils of the military-industrial complex, but Eisenhower had spent his presidency contributing to another, lesser known, Cold War collaboration: the spiritual-industrial complex. This fascinating volume argues that American leaders in the early Cold War considered the conflict to be profoundly religious, that they saw Communism not as godless but as a religion fighting faith with faith. As a result, they deliberately used religious beliefs and institutions as part of the plan to defeat the Soviet enemy. Jonathan Herzog offers an illuminating account of the spiritual-industrial complex, chronicling the rhetoric, programs, and policies that became its hallmarks. Herzog shows how these efforts played out in areas of American life both predictable and unexpected-from pulpits and presidential appeals to national faith drives, military training barracks, public school classrooms, and Hollywood epics. Finally, he reveals that if the spiritual-industrial complex faded in the 1960s, its echoes could still be heard in Ronald Reagan's 1980s.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Part I: Roots
  • Ch : A Colossus of Straw
  • Ch 2: Enemy
  • Part II Mobilization
  • Ch 3: Public Servants
  • Ch 4: Security Analysts, Soldiers, and Propagandists
  • Ch 5: Educators, Media, Big Business, and Citizen Groups
  • Part III Consequences
  • Ch 6: The Renewal, Its Critics, and Its Unraveling
  • Ch 7: The Remains
  • Epilogue
  • Notes
  • Bibliography

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