One State Under God

Joseph L. Locke is an associate professor of history at the University of North Texas. He is the author of Making the Bible Belt: Texas Prohibitionists and the Politicization of Southern Religion and the coeditor of The American Yawp.

"In this much-needed book—which zooms along from prehistoric rock art to contemporary megachurches—Joseph L. Locke makes it clear that the history of Texas is inextricable from the history of the religions that have arisen from it or been imposed upon it. It's a wild tale soberly told—and proof that when it comes to God, the people of Texas have always moved in mysterious ways." - Stephen Harrigan, author of Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas"Texas religion, like Texas itself, is too big - too expansive, too complicated, too diverse - to make sense of without making judicious choices. One State Under God succinctly and compellingly organizes the state's religious history under a sequence of prevailing approaches to the worship of God. Not to be missed are the continuities that have both embraced and resisted the exercise of power. This is an impressive work that deserves the careful attention of anyone interested in the history of Texas." - Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University, author of Rough Country: How Texas Became America's Most Powerful Bible-Belt State"Barnstorming preachers and Bible-thumping culture warriors, Protestant cathedrals and populist politicians who claim God for their cause—Texas religion has earned its reputation as the nation's vanguard for the Christian Right, and Joseph Locke deftly explains how and why. With a remarkably generous range, light touch, and unmatched command of the state's ever-changing religious landscape, he paints Texas as a place where the sacred has always operated across the full spectrum of belonging and belief. A masterful survey of Texas-styled faith, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the Texas-sized role that religion has played in the development of modern American politics and culture." - Darren Dochuk, University of Notre Dame, author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America

• IntroductionChapter One. Indigenous Faiths and Catholic FrustrationsChapter Two. A Religious VacuumChapter Three. Secular Revolution, Spiritual ConquestChapter Four. The God of the Enslaved and the God of the EnslaversChapter Five. The Gods of WarChapter Six. Morality and ModernityChapter Seven. The Fundamentalist InsurgencyChapter Eight. "The Most Segregated Hour"Chapter Nine. The Partisan GodChapter Ten. Mosques and MegachurchesEpilogueAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyPhoto CreditsIndex