Whether intentionally or not much of our public discourse on religion involves a subtle, but incredibly powerful, distinction between “good” and “bad” religion. The implications of these labeling practices are far-reaching, indeed, for such judgments manifest in terms such as “fundamentalist,” “radical,” and “extremist,” words that are often the gauge by which governments worldwide determine everything from the parameters of religious freedom, to what constitutes an act of terrorism, to whether certain groups receive legal protections. Conversely, it is often surprising to see how different groups that may otherwise better typify the extremist profile remain unscathed by punitive governmental or social measures because of their pre-existing social popularity or perceived normalcy. This volume argues that public inquiry into religion is guided by unspoken value judgments, which are themselves the products of rarely-discussed political interests. This volume opens with a brief discussion on the nature of the issue and its practical ramifications, demonstrating how one can analytically critique the good/bad religion rhetoric as it appears in scholarship today. From there, the book is then organized around four different social institutions through which these value judgments have been established and deployed — namely, within politics, the media, the university, and the classroom. Each of these four sections works from a central chapter that highlights a particular case study or example of this good/bad distinction at work. The three to four responses that follow extrapolate from some element of the exemplar to provide an analysis on how such rhetoric operates in that particular social realm.

Table of Contents:
Preface Leslie Dorrough Smith, Steffen Führding, and Adrian Hermann Section 1: The Public Rhetoric of Good and Bad Religion 1. Introduction: “And What Kind of Society Does That Create?” Russell T. McCutcheon, University of Alabama 2. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: Neo-Orientalism and the Study of Religion Aaron W.Hughes, University of Rochester 3. Religious Studies and the Jargon of Authenticity Jason Ā. Josephson-Storm, Williams College Section 2: Politics Introduction to the Politics Section Leslie Dorrough Smith, Steffen Führding, and Adrian Hermann 4. Toward a Critique of Postsecular Rhetoric Naomi R. Goldenberg, University of Ottowa 5. The Political Utility of the Past: The Case of Greek Fire-Walking Rituals VaiaTouna, University of Alabama 6. Privatized Publics and Scholarly Silos: Gender, Religion, and their Theoretical Fault Lines K. Merinda Simmons, University of Alabama 7. What’s Religious Freedom Got to Do With It? On the Niqab Affair in Canadian Politics Matt Sheedy, University of Manitoba Section 3: Media Introduction to the Media Section Leslie Dorrough Smith, Steffen Führding, Adrian Hermann 8. The Strange and Familiar Spiritual Journey of Reza Aslan Martha Smith Roberts, Denison University 9. The Journalist-Ethnographer, Religious Diversity, and the Euphemisation of Social Relations Carmen Becker, Leibniz University Hannover 10. Scopophilia and the Manufacture of “Good” Religion Leslie Dorrough Smith 11. Naturalizing the Transnational Capitalist Class: Reza Aslan’s Believer and the Ideological Reproduction of an Emerging Social Formation Craig Prentiss, Rockhurst University 12. Authentic Religion – Or, How To Be A Good Citizen Steffen Führding Section 4: University Introduction to the University Section Leslie Dorrough Smith, Steffen Führding, Adrian Hermann 13. ‘Bad Religion’ on the University Campus: “Political Correctness” and the Future of the Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion Adrian Hermann and Stefan Priester, University of Bonn 14. Studying Religion in a Post-Truth World Stephanie Gripentrog, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel 15. The Good, The Bad, and the Non-Religion: The Good/Bad Rhetoric in Non-Religion Studies Christopher R. Cotter, University of Edinburgh 16. The Campus as a ‘Safe Space’? A Sociology of Knowledge Perspective on the New Student Protests David Kaldewey, University of Bonn Section 5: Classroom Introduction to the Classroom Section Leslie Dorrough Smith, Steffen Führding, Adrian Hermann 17. What Teaching New Religions Tells Us about the Discourse on ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Religion David G. Robertson, The Open University 18. Unintentionally Constructing ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Religions in Teaching Classical European Social Theories at a Japanese University Mitsutoshi Horii, Chaucer College 19. Good and Bad, Legitimate and Illegitimate Religion in Education Wanda Alberts, Leibniz University Hannover 20. Benign Religion as Normal Religion Suzanne Owen, Leeds Trinity University