More than ever, it feels like cultural and political divisions over firearms are tearing the United States apart. Guns are an undeniable and contradictory presence in America, both widely owned and controversial. This book does something remarkable: it promotes insight over animosity in understanding the complex reality of guns in America. It challenges firearms skeptics, entertains enthusiasts, and informs the uncommitted by taking readers on a surprising journey inside gun culture.

Conversion has been an essential element of Christianity, and especially of Roman Catholicism, for centuries--from the Apostle Paul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus to the spiritual transformations of such prominent modern individuals as Cardinal Newman, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Thomas Merton, and G.K. Chesterton. In a 1926 essay, Chesterton expressed reluctance to describe his conversion, on account of "a strong feeling that this method makes the business look much smaller th...

Beginning with the premise that a comprehensive understanding of American life must confront the issue of race, sociologist David Yamane explores efforts by students and others to address racism and racial inequality—to challenge the color line—in higher education. By 1991, nearly half of all colleges and universities in the United States had established a multicultural general education requirement. Yamane examines how such requirements developed at the University of California at Berkele...

The liberalization of concealed carry laws over the past several decades represents a dramatic expansion of the right to bear arms in the United States. Concealed Carry Revolution offers the first comprehensive but concise history of the development of these laws, from the restricted era of gun carry in the 19th century, through discretionary permitting systems in the 20th century, to today's shall issue and permitless carry regimes. It also explores variation in the implementation of shal...

More than ever, it feels like cultural and political divisions over firearms are tearing the United States apart. Guns are an undeniable and contradictory presence in America, both widely owned and controversial. This book does something remarkable: it promotes insight over animosity in understanding the complex reality of guns in America. It challenges firearms skeptics, entertains enthusiasts, and informs the uncommitted by taking readers on a surprising journey inside gun culture.

Understanding America's Gun Culture focuses on building understanding of some of the issues associated with U.S. gun culture and the contemporary debate about the availability and use of guns. This edited volume is unique in that it draws on a wide variety of disciplines and presents perspectives on both sides of the debate. Contributors hail from the academic disciplines of history, social work, criminal justice, sociology, religion, and theological ethics as well as policy agencies. Some...

Understanding America’s Gun Culture focuses on building understanding of some of the issues associated with US gun culture and the contemporary debate about the availability and use of guns. This edited volume is unique in that it draws on a wide variety of disciplines and presents perspectives on both sides of the debate. Contributors hail from the academic disciplines of history, social work, criminal justice, sociology, religion, and theological ethics as well as policy agencies. Some c...

What role, if any, should religion play in politics? By what authority and methods does the Catholic Church apply its teachings to public policy discourse? How do Bishops and lay leaders work together in Catholic conferences, and how do they work with political leaders? What impact do they have? The political advocacy of the American Catholic Bishops at the state level is one of the Church's best-kept secrets. In this groundbreaking work, David Yamane reveals the rich history, accomplishme...

Religion in Sociological Perspective, Eighth Edition introduces the systems of meaning, structure, and belonging that make up the complex social phenomena we know as religion. The author team uses an active learning approach to illustrate the central theories and methods of research in the sociology of religion and show students how to apply these analytical tools to new groups they encounter.

This book describes critically reviewed key aspects of organic farming and provides a unique and timely science-based resource for researchers, teachers and extension workers, undergraduates, postgraduate students, primary producers and others interested in organic farming. The first section of the book provides an overview of organic farming: a general introduction followed by the origins of organic farming, the principles of organic farming, challenges for organic farming, crop protectio...

The Handbook of Religion and Society is the most comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of a vital force in the world today. It is an indispensable resource for scholars, students, policy makers, and other professionals seeking to understand the role of religion in society. This includes both the social forces that shape religion and the social consequences of religion.This handbook captures the breadth and depth of contemporary work in the field, and shows readers important future...