Tri-Faith America : How Catholics and Jews Held Postwar America to Its Protestant Promise

President Franklin D. Roosevelt put it bluntly, if privately, in 1942-the United States was "a Protestant country," he said, "and the Catholics and Jews are here under sufferance." In Tri-Faith America, Kevin Schultz explains how the United States left behind this idea that it was "a Protestant nation" and replaced it with a new national image, one premised on the notion that the country was composed of three separate, equally American faiths-Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. Tracing the origins of the tri-faith idea to the early twentieth century, when Catholic and Jewish immigration forced Protestant Social Gospelers to combine forces with Catholic and Jewish relief agencies, Tri-Faith America shows how the tri-faith idea gathered momentum after World War I, promoted by public relations campaigns, interfaith organizations, and the government, to the point where, by the end of World War II and into the early years of the Cold War, the idea was becoming widely accepted, particularly in the armed forces, fraternities, neighborhoods, social organizations, and schools. Tri-Faith America also shows how postwar Catholics and Jews used the new image to force the country to confront the challenges of pluralism. Should Protestant bibles be allowed on public school grounds? Should Catholic and Jewish fraternities be allowed to exclude Protestants? Should the government be allowed to count Americans by religion? Challenging the image of the conformist 1950s, Schultz describes how Americans were vigorously debating the merits of recognizing pluralism, paving the way for the civil rights movement and leaving an enduring mark on American culture. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 PART ONE: INVENTING TRI-FAITH AMERICA, ENDING “PROTESTANT AMERICA”......Page 22 1. Creating Tri-Faith America......Page 24 2. Tri-Faith America as Standard Operating Procedure......Page 52 3. Tri-Faith America in the Early Cold War......Page 77 PART TWO: LIVING IN TRI-FAITH AMERICA......Page 106 4. Communalism in a Time of Consensus: Postwar Suburbia......Page 108 5. A New Rationale for Separation: Public Schools in Tri-Faith America......Page 127 6. Choosing Our Identities: College Fraternities, Choice, and Group Rights......Page 147 7. Keeping Religion Private (and Off the U.S. Census)......Page 168 8. From Creed to Color: Softening the Ground for Civil Rights......Page 188 Conclusion: The Return of Protestant America?......Page 207 Notes......Page 220 A......Page 255 C......Page 256 D......Page 257 G......Page 258 J......Page 259 M......Page 260 N......Page 261 R......Page 262 S......Page 263 U......Page 264 Z......Page 265 While explaining the rise of the "Judeo-Christian" arrangement, Kevin Schultz shows how Catholics and Jews used the tri-faith image to force America to confront the challenges of pluralism.