Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. is a CEP (Civic Education Project) Fellow and teaches American studies at the American University Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

" Equal Rites is an imaginative and ambitious book." -- Grant Underwood, Journal of American History "This is an important book on the history of American religion, culture, and society." -- Choice "[ Equal Rites] is well written and engaging." -- D.E. Mills Jr., Reviews in Religion and Theology "A uniquely insightful answer to scholars' recent calls for greater understanding of Mormon theology, culture, and institutional character." -- Religous Studies Review

• Preface: Mormon Masonry? Introduction: The Wax and Wane of Masonry in American Culture Part I. The Mormon-Masonic Nexus Reading a Sealed Book Was Joseph Smith a Mason? Dreaming Masonry: Getting the Story Plumb As the Words of a Book That Is Sealed: The Book of Mormon as Esoteric Male (Hi)Story Fleeing Babel with Mother and Child in Tow Part II. The Quest Within the Quest A Bible! A Bible! We Have Got a Bible The Search for the Long Lost Book in the Book of Mormon What Manner of (Masonic) Men? Part III. The "Anti-Evangelical" Mind of Joseph Smith Jr. Whether a Man Can Enter a Second Time into His Mother's Womb Heaven and Hell: Divining the Ghost of Emmanuel Swedenborg Father-Son and Holy Ghost--Mother? The Mormon-God Question Part IV. The Millennial, Racial, Economic, and Political Confederacy Thy Kingdom Come: On Earth as It Is in Heaven The Lost Ten Tribes Found: Mormons and Jews The Curse and Redemption of the Lamanites The Economic Kingdom of God: Masonic Utopianism Unveiled Postscript: The "Americanness" of Mormonism Notes Bibliography Index