This volume examines the business side of religious organizations, focusing on business activities supporting religion that historians of religion often overlook. The essays collected in this volume explore the financing, production, marketing, and distribution of religious goods and services through worship, charity, philanthropy, and missionary work. Illustrating the role of business in a variety of different religious traditions, this volume lays important groundwork for understanding the parity and symmetry between religious and business life in America. Revising scholarly discourse on the ... More

This volume examines the business side of religious organizations, focusing on business activities supporting religion that historians of religion often overlook. The essays collected in this volume explore the financing, production, marketing, and distribution of religious goods and services through worship, charity, philanthropy, and missionary work. Illustrating the role of business in a variety of different religious traditions, this volume lays important groundwork for understanding the parity and symmetry between religious and business life in America. Revising scholarly discourse on the relationship between religion and business, the book shows how business pursuits shaped the meaning of the term evangelical, how fundamentalists linked financial support for “old-time religion” to American patriotism, and how deeply intertwined American Christianity and global capitalism have become. Mormons have developed an array of business practices to support their faith as well. Fund-raising campaigns have supported Jewish causes and shaped Jewish identity. Hindu businesses in America support Hindu nationalism in India as well as Hindu prosperity in America. Native American casinos market tribal identity and religious sovereignty as part of tourism and gambling. The financial success and political influence of conservative Catholics in the United States also challenge the old idea that capitalism is uniquely suited to Protestant religion.