American theologies. Most of them started at the end of the 1800's, and another one or two in the 1920's. They're so new. They're not particularly based on anything that came from Europe. They're entirely American. And although I'm not always proud to be an "American" these days, I feel something like pride whenever I think of these spiritual teachings. They were conceived of by Americans who were informed partly by the Transcendentalists... Emerson and Thoreau and others, and partly by a range of other teachers and mystics from throughout recorded history.
There's always been a treasure trove of material about the American theologies, but in earlier days it resided primarily around this big country in storage at universities. You know, the literature was periodically pulled and cited in yet another thesis or 'paper'. But what about the non-academic who wanted to learn about these theologies back before the existence of the 'net? She'd only get to see the books if she attended one of the churches, and then she might only be able to get the books specific to that church.
I never see any 'popular' books about the religious movements that were born and bred in the U.S. Is that because the subject is inherently too academic or heady for regular bookstore shoppers to tolerate? Is it simply too historical in nature? Hm... maybe so. (I could see that, although these are current practices of thousands of Americans. Wouldn't that be reason enough to carry them in regular bookstores?).
Also perhaps, and this is significant, the common themes and arguments presented in these religions are so radical that a certain number (maybe even a large number) of readers quickly reject them.
There's also the idea that progressive/cultural creative and academic culture has become a-religious. After all, many many people today will close a book and put it back on the shelf the moment that they see the word 'God' in print on a page. Often if you mention 'God' in
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