7 - The View from the Back Pews

Summary

Chapter 7 brings religious and racial minorities to the forefront by investigating the relationship between adherence to American religious exceptionalism and the attitudes of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOCs) and non-Christians. The premise of this chapter is that racial and religious minorities have been the victims of those championing religious exceptionalism, thus it is imperative to establish if religious and racial minorities’ adherence to American religious exceptionalism leads to outcomes that align with those in the racially and religiously dominant group. The authors establish throughout this chapter how racial and religious minorities have used the language of American religious exceptionalism to frame challenges to the status quo. Then, statistical tests are provided to examine whether and in what ways racial and religious disciples of American religious exceptionalism apply this ideology to their political attitudes and behaviors. Is it the same way as their White Christian counterparts? This chapter suggests that it is certainly not the same for those who sit at the periphery of the hypothetical church of American religious exceptionalism.