Item Detail
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26806
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2
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1
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English
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Chosen Land, Chosen People : Religious and American Exceptionalism Among the Mormons
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Mormonism and American Politics
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New York
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Columbia University Press
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102-114
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"Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the Mormons - have long harbored the notion that American is a special place. The specialness of this place, populated by a chosen people for a singular destiny, is a controlling premise and motif of the Book of Mormon. Following the perspective of their founding prophet, Joseph Smith, contemporary Mormons tend to construe the United States Constitution as an inspired document. For the past three-quarters of a century, American Saints have been viewed as dependably patriotic and are often recruited for sensitive government work, such as within the FBI. American exceptionalism seems a feature of Mormonism's DNA." [From the text]