Public Confessions

About this book

"Why, asks Rebecca Davis, did conversions seem so prevalent between the mid-1940s and the late 1990s, and why did people care? Examining the highly-publicized and controversial conversions of individuals include Clare Boothe Luce (Protestantism to Catholicism), Whittaker Chambers ("godless Communist" to Christianity), Sammy Davis, Jr., (Christianity to Judaism), and Muhammad Ali (Christianity to Islam), Davis roots this dynamic in Cold War culture, society, and politics. She reveals how the twin and often contradictory pressures to conform to a specific vision of Americanism while simultaneously celebrating the freedom of religion as a particularly American asset made conversions both attractive and threatening to Americans. Thanks to Davis's compelling case studies, we learn that the act of breaking from the religion of one's upbringing could be seen as a selfish, reckless, and nonconformist act, but conversion also accomplished significant political work, whether fighting communism in the case of ex-spy Chambers or battling racism in the case of Ali"--