Religion and Politics

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/religionandpolitics.html

Rating: 1, Awesome!

Description: There is an important national debate raging about the place for God and faith in America. From the rise to political power of the Christian right to the separation of church and state, to the changing role of religion in the public square. Of particular concern to many on both sides of the church and state divide are judges. Controversy rages over proper role of judges and the best mode of selection of the men and women of the bench. Standards 11.2.7, 11.3.5 and 12.10

Comments: This PBS site brings the issues of Church and state to the present and adds relevancy.

Resource Type: Secondary Text.

Graphics content: Low.

Resource ID: 3617

Billy Sunday, Man of God

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=854571

Rating: 2, High!

Description: In the early 1900s, Billy Sunday sold what was then a unique brand of muscular, testosterone-laden Christianity. Today, ministers in some of the country's largest churches preach in shirtsleeves and talk about God in terms of football or golf. Billy Sunday was one of the first to do this. He was a professional baseball player turned tent preacher who became the richest and most influential preacher of his time. Standards 11.2.7

Comments: This is the National Public Radio files of the program with Steven Inskeep doing a retrospective on Billy Sunday's evangelism with Robert F. Martin who wrote Hero of the Heartland: Billy Sunday and the Transformation of American Society, 1862-193. It links to recorded sermons from Billy Sunday supporting Prohibition.

Resource Type: Mix of Text and Graphics.

Graphics content: High.

Resource ID: 826

Hitting the Sawdust Trail with Billy Sunday

http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/sunday/sunday01.html/sundtoti.html

Rating: 2, High!

Description: This exhibit consists of photographs and documents which illustrate the life and ministry of evangelist Billy Sunday, accompanied by brief explanatory text. Many of the images can also be selected to view in an enlarged version at this Wheaton College site. Standard 11.2.7

Comments: Select the "Booze Sermon" to learn about the relationship of religion to early 20th c. reforms.

Resource Type: Secondary Text.

Graphics content: High.

Resource ID: 386

Essay by William Graham Sumner

http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/Best/SumnerForgotten.htm

Rating: 3, Medium.

Description: This essay is based on the reasoning of Social Darwinism of which William Graham Sumner was one of the strongest proponents. Standard 11.2.7

Resource Type: Primary Source Text.

Graphics content: Low.

Resource ID: 1112

Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinism

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/spencer-darwin.html

Rating: 3, Medium.

Description: This is a brief description of Social Darwinism by Professor Alvin Lee, National University of Singapore. A neighboring page on the Victorial Web provides a biographical essay on Spencer embedded with links to other philosophers of the day. Standard 11.2.7

Comments: The ideas are complex.

Resource Type: Secondary Text.

Graphics content: Low.

Resource ID: 1536

Thomas Robert Malthus

http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/malthus.htm

Rating: 3, Medium.

Description: This is a brief essay about economist Thomas Malthus, famous for his theory on population. It links to primary sources and Mathas writing. Standards 10.3.6 and 11.2.7

Resource Type: Secondary Text.

Graphics content: Low.

Resource ID: 3147