ABOUT THIS BOOK

Whether First Communion or bar mitzvah, religious traditions play a central role in the lives of many American children. In this collection of essays, leading scholars reveal for the first time how various religions interpret, reconstruct, and mediate their traditions to help guide children and their parents in navigating the opportunities and challenges of American life. The book examines ten religions, among other topics:

How the Catholic Church confronts the tension between its teachings about children and actual practic

The Oglala Lakota's struggle to preserve their spiritual tradition

The impact of modernity on Hinduism

Only by discussing the unique challenges faced by all religions, and their followers, can we take the first step toward a greater understanding for all of us.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

DON S. BROWNING is a professor emeritus at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Christian Ethics and Moral Psychologies and American Religions and the Family: How Faith Traditions Cope with Modernization and Democracy.

BONNIE J. MILLER-McLEMORE is a professor of pastoral theology and counseling at the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of Let the Children Come: Reimaging Childhood from a Christian Perspective and In the Midst of Chaos: Care of Children as Religious Practice.

REVIEWS

"The collection goes far in filling a major gap in readers' understanding of religion in the US. Recommended."

— Choice

"This volume fills a gap in the literature on childhood studies [and] will stand as an indispensible source for multiple approaches to questions of children, childhood, and religion in America."

— Church History

"This is a fascinating collection of essays. It gives the reader great insight into a critical aspect of contemporary American religious life through its focus on children and childhood."

— INTAMS Review - Journal for the Study of Marriage and Spirituality

"The collection goes far in filling a major gap in readers' understanding of religion in the US. Recommended."

— Choice

"This volume fills a gap in the literature on childhood studies [and] will stand as an indispensible source for multiple approaches to questions of children, childhood, and religion in America."

— Church History

"This is a fascinating collection of essays. It gives the reader great insight into a critical aspect of contemporary American religious life through its focus on children and childhood."

— INTAMS Review - Journal for the Study of Marriage and Spirituality

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
Introduction Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore and Don S. Browning
Mainline Protestants and Children Margaret Bendroth
Conservative Protestants on Children and Parenting John P. Bartkowski and Christopher G. Ellison
The Status of Children within the Roman Catholic Church Jennifer Beste
Judaism and Children in the United States Elliot N. Dorff
Children in American Islam Jane I. Smith
The Black Church and Children Cheryl Townsend Gilkes
Latter-day Saint Children and Youth in America David C. Dollahite
Hindu Children in the United States Raymond Williams
Buddhism and Children in North America Rita M. Gross
Asian American Confucianism and Children Jeffrey Meyer
Native American Children and Religion Roger Iron Cloud and Raymond Bucko
Immigrant Parochial Schools Paul D. Numrich
The Law's Influence over Children's Religious Development Emily Buss