What does American religious history actually tell us about the present moment? In this episode, Brad sits down with historian and author Brook Wilensky-Lanford to discuss her sweeping new book, A God-Shaped Nation: 500 Years of Religion in America. Rather than focusing on famous founders and powerful institutions, Wilensky-Lanford tells the story of America through ordinary people—religious dissenters, immigrants, Native Americans, enslaved Africans, and others whose struggles shaped the nation's understanding of freedom, belonging, and identity. Together, Brad and Brooke explore how figures like Anne Hutchinson, Mary Dyer, Roger Williams, and members of the Native American Church challenged religious domination and expanded the meaning of religious liberty.

The conversation also examines the darker side of America's religious history, from the persecution of Japanese American Buddhists during World War II to Supreme Court battles over patriotism, conscience, and the limits of state power. As Christian nationalism continues to reshape American politics, Wilensky-Lanford argues that understanding the country's religious past is essential for making sense of the present. This wide-ranging discussion offers a powerful reminder that the struggle over whose religion counts—and who counts as a real American—has been at the center of the American experiment from the beginning.

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Brook Wilenksy-Lanford: A God Shaped Nation? https://groveatlantic.com/book/a-god-shaped-nation/

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