tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post7426171603324095743..comments2024-03-28T02:46:03.227-04:00Comments on The Historical Society: American Religious History RoundupRandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-46631895520866491402013-08-08T09:25:44.267-04:002013-08-08T09:25:44.267-04:00I'm late to this party, but it seems to be ong...I'm late to this party, but it seems to be ongoing, so I'll comment on the James Byrd Washington Post article. <br /><br />He asks the wrong question. Certainly the Revolution was a religious war for some people. Just as certainly it was NOT for many others. And for a small group of anticlerical people, it was a rebellion against both established political and religious institutions. Byrd's article provoked nearly 500 comments, so there's interest in this issue. Interestingly, the top comments deal with Byrd's credentials as a historian (he's apparently a professor of religion, not history).<br /><br />As historians, shouldn't we be trying to reframe the question? Something like this: "For whom was the Revolution a holy war?" And (for grad students) what does the historiography of the "holy war" thesis look like? What does it say about privileging one group's interpretation over others and calling that point of view "American History?"Dan Allossohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06200498584099656356noreply@blogger.com