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    Exploring the history of the myths that define American identity, the ways many Americans have absolutized those myths, and the ways African Americans and other dissenters have exposed those myths for their discriminatory dimensions In this book Richard T. Hughes identifies the five key myths that lie at the heart of the American experience--the myths of the Chosen Nation, of Nature's Nation, of the Christian Nation, of the Millennial Nation, and of the Innocent Nation. Drawing on a range of dissenting voices, Hughes shows that by canonizing these seemingly harmless myths of national identity as absolute truths, America risks undermining the sweepingly egalitarian promise of the Declaration of Independence. The Chosen Nation myth led to the wholesale slaughter of indigenous peoples during the pioneer era. More recently the Innocent Nation myth prevented many Americans from understanding, or even discussing, the complex motivations of the 9/11 terrorists. Myths America Lives By demonstrates that Americans must rethink these myths in the spirit of extraordinary humility if the United States is to fulfil its true promise as a nation. Hughes locates the roots of each myth in a different period of America's development, and from each of these periods he finds stirring critiques offered by marginalized commentators--especially African Americans and Native Americans–-who question the predominant myth of their age. Myths America Lives By is a dialog between the mainstream mythmakers and the many critics--including Martin Luther King Jr., Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Black Elk, Anna J. Cooper, and Booker T. Washington, Malcom X, Angela Davis, and W. E. B. DuBois--whose dissent, rather than being un-American, was often grounded in a patriotic belief in the "self-evident" equality of America's fundamental creed. "This book is a wake-up call." -- Christianity Today "Myths America Lives By is ferociously rational in its moral character. Hughes has written an elegant and compelling book." -- Molefi Kete Asante "A solid contribution to the self-reassessment the US is now going through." -- Choice Richard T. Hughes is Senior Fellow in the Ernest L. Boyer Center and Distinguished Professor of Religion at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, and author or editor of more than a dozen books, Illusions of Innocence: Protestant Primitivism in America, 1630-1875. Robert N. Bellah is Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous books including The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/68gyd7ae9780252072208.html

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    Exploring the history of the myths that define American identity, the ways many Americans have absolutized those myths, and the ways African Americans and other dissenters have exposed those myths for their discriminatory dimensions In this book Richard T. Hughes identifies the five key myths that lie at the heart of the American experience--the myths of the Chosen Nation, of Nature's Nation, of the Christian Nation, of the Millennial Nation, and of the Innocent Nation. Drawing on a range of dissenting voices, Hughes shows that by canonizing these seemingly harmless myths of national identity as absolute truths, America risks undermining the sweepingly egalitarian promise of the Declaration of Independence. The Chosen Nation myth led to the wholesale slaughter of indigenous peoples during the pioneer era. More recently the Innocent Nation myth prevented many Americans from understanding, or even discussing, the complex motivations of the 9/11 terrorists. Myths America Lives By demonstrates that Americans must rethink these myths in the spirit of extraordinary humility if the United States is to fulfil its true promise as a nation. Hughes locates the roots of each myth in a different period of America's development, and from each of these periods he finds stirring critiques offered by marginalized commentators--especially African Americans and Native Americans–-who question the predominant myth of their age. Myths America Lives By is a dialog between the mainstream mythmakers and the many critics--including Martin Luther King Jr., Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Black Elk, Anna J. Cooper, and Booker T. Washington, Malcom X, Angela Davis, and W. E. B. DuBois--whose dissent, rather than being un-American, was often grounded in a patriotic belief in the "self-evident" equality of America's fundamental creed. "This book is a wake-up call." -- Christianity Today "Myths America Lives By is ferociously rational in its moral character. Hughes has written an elegant and compelling book." -- Molefi Kete Asante "A solid contribution to the self-reassessment the US is now going through." -- Choice Richard T. Hughes is Senior Fellow in the Ernest L. Boyer Center and Distinguished Professor of Religion at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, and author or editor of more than a dozen books, Illusions of Innocence: Protestant Primitivism in America, 1630-1875. Robert N. Bellah is Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous books including The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/68gyd7ae9780252072208.html

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    Myths America Lives by - Richard T. Hughes

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    Cocceius
    Exploring the history of the myths that define American identity, the ways many Americans have absolutized those myths, and the ways African Americans and other dissenters have exposed those myths for their discriminatory dimensions In this book Richard T. Hughes identifies the five key myths that lie at the heart of the American experience--the myths of the Chosen Nation, of Nature's Nation, of the Christian Nation, of the Millennial Nation, and of the Innocent Nation. Drawing on a range of dissenting voices, Hughes shows that by canonizing these seemingly harmless myths of national identity as absolute truths, America risks undermining the sweepingly egalitarian promise of the Declaration of Independence. The Chosen Nation myth led to the wholesale slaughter of indigenous peoples during the pioneer era. More recently the Innocent Nation myth prevented many Americans from understanding, or even discussing, the complex motivations of the 9/11 terrorists. Myths America Lives By demonstrates that Americans must rethink these myths in the spirit of extraordinary humility if the United States is to fulfil its true promise as a nation. Hughes locates the roots of each myth in a different period of America's development, and from each of these periods he finds stirring critiques offered by marginalized commentators--especially African Americans and Native Americans–-who question the predominant myth of their age. Myths America Lives By is a dialog between the mainstream mythmakers and the many critics--including Martin Luther King Jr., Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Black Elk, Anna J. Cooper, and Booker T. Washington, Malcom X, Angela Davis, and W. E. B. DuBois--whose dissent, rather than being un-American, was often grounded in a patriotic belief in the "self-evident" equality of America's fundamental creed. "This book is a wake-up call." -- Christianity Today "Myths America Lives By is ferociously rational in its moral character. Hughes has written an elegant and compelling book." -- Molefi Kete Asante "A solid contribution to the self-reassessment the US is now going through." -- Choice Richard T. Hughes is Senior Fellow in the Ernest L. Boyer Center and Distinguished Professor of Religion at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, and author or editor of more than a dozen books, Illusions of Innocence: Protestant Primitivism in America, 1630-1875. Robert N. Bellah is Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous books including The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/68gyd7ae9780252072208.html

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    Myths America Lives By Richard T.

    Hughes University of Illinois Press, 2004 Endorsements

    www.press.uillinois.edu

    This most timely book comes at a point where our American myths may prove more dangerous that salutary in a world which sees our political practice at odds with our civic profession. Hughes has done the nation a great service in making us see ourselves as we are and as others see us. This is one book George Bush and company should read, and fast.
    PeterI.Gomes,authorofTheGoodLife:TruthsThatLastinTimesofNeed

    Myths America Lives By is ferociously rational in its moral character. Hughes has written an elegant and compelling book. I am convinced that the reader will come away with a deeper appreciation of the major myths that govern our lives.
    MolefiKeteAsante,authorofErasingRacism:TheSocialSurvivalofthe AmericanNation

    An outstanding book. Because the perspectives of minorities are prominent throughout, many whites may find it challenging and difficult to read. If, however, they press forward with empathy, they will gain a larger perspective on America that will enable them to work together with African Americans and others in making this land an oasis of freedom and justice for all its citizens.
    JamesH.Cone,authorofRisksofFaith:TheEmergenceofBlack TheologyofLiberation,19681998

    Hughes is a storyteller who makes the familiar strange and the strange familiar. From a belief-full and respectful vantage, here he takes on our American founding myths, inherently religious in inspiration, showing their important strengths as well as their vulnerability to distortion. In the process, he carries the reader along to a deeper, purer patriotism that is open to correction and flexible enough to change with our changing culture and society.
    BarbaraDeConcini,authorofNarrativeRememberingandexecutive director,AmericanAcademyofReligion

    By holding Americas guiding myths up to the critique of Americas minorities, especially African Americans, Hughes helps us to distinguish the best in Americas story from its absolutized perversions. In a time of much official self-righteousness about Americas role in the world, Hughes helpfully reminds us that Americas virtues, as Reinhold Niebuhr famously observed, can ironically turn into vices when too complacently relied upon.
    MarkU.Edwards,Jr.,associatedean,HarvardDivinitySchool,and formerpresident,St.OlafCollege

    Richard Hughes is one of our most gifted commentators on the deepest hopes and fears that guide us and drive uson our national pilgrimage. And here he is at his best. This is an important book for all who care deeply about a healthy American self-understanding.
    RichardJ.Mouw,authorofUncommonDecency:ChristianCivility inanUncivilWorld

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