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ABSTRACT the Great American Disappointment: an Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory As a Way to Explain the Unique Ev

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ABSTRACT the Great American Disappointment: an Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory As a Way to Explain the Unique Ev ABSTRACT The Great American Disappointment: An Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory as a Way to Explain the Unique Evolutionary Processes of Socially-Guided Religion by Means of American Civil Religion Ethan Gjerset Quillen, M.A. Mentor: Douglas R. Ferdon, Ph.D. America is unique when compared to the rest of the world for many reasons, but especially so for its religion. To this, as human beings evolve socially, in the same way animal species evolve in order to seek out variable fitness toward survival, their religion follows suit. This has been particularly so in the United States where absolute religious freedom makes way for one of three processes of evolution within the American Church of Civil Religion. These three processes, Atheism, Fundamentalism and New Religious Movements, become the direction in which Americans evolve their religious beliefs in the wake of socially- guided religious disappointment. This Great Dis appointment Theory, based on the results of William Miller‟s Great Disappointment in the 19 th century, helps explain the means by which Americans, who act as individuals within an immigrant nation, are able to come together as a congregation within the American Church of Civil Religion. The Great American Disappointment: An Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory as a Way to Explain the Unique Evolutionary Processes of Socially-Guided Religion by Means of American Civil Religion by Ethan Gjerset Quillen, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Approved by the Department of American Studies ___________________________________ Douglas R. Ferdon, Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee ___________________________________ Douglas R. Ferdon, Ph.D., Chairperson ___________________________________ T. Michael Parrish, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Maxey Parrish, M.S. Ed. Accepted by the Graduate School May 2010 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2010 by Ethan G. Quillen All rights reserved CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v DEDICATION ix INTRODUCTION: Great Disappointment and Religious Evolution 1 Evolution Ho! 2 The Great Disappointment Theory 7 The Great American Disappointment 18 Chapter Divisions—The Three Processes 20 CHAPTER II: Historicity and Theory 24 Bellah‟s Religious Evolution 25 Festinger‟s Failed Prophecy 30 Four Theories of Religious Genesis and Process 37 Conclusion 44 CHAPTER III: The First Process—Atheism 46 Epoche—The Phenomenology of Atheism 49 The Simple Problem 73 Conclusion 75 CHAPTER IV: The Second Process—Fundamentalism 77 Planet of the Apes 82 Sex! Now That I Have Your Attention… 88 The New, Grand Old Party 101 Conclusion 114 CHAPTER V: The Third Process—New Religious Movements 117 A New America—The Mormons 120 A New Messiah—The Branch Davidians 130 A New Mind—Scientology 140 Conclusion 151 iii CONCLUSION: American Civil Religion 154 Enlightened by a Benign Religion 155 When in Rome…Do as the Israelites Do 159 Two Hyphenations 163 The Three Processes in the American Church 168 The End and the Beginning 180 BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My wife, Andrea, continually tries to remind me that no man is an island. I like island living though. It is quiet. I can think without interruption, without distraction. But, of course, I always discover she is right. I believe that when people grow older they realize the truth behind the folksy wisdom of their parents and interpret it, for the sake of sanity, in a way that suits their livelihoods without having to fully admit they were wrong. Being a young man with all the answers was quite difficult. As such, I humbly came to the conclusion that my little island, that is, before I realized I barely had a quarter of the answers figured out, was quite desolate and void. Since then I have progressed from an incredibly enriching number of initial courses at a Community College, through an even more enlightening period as an undergrad, and an exceedingly humbling and rewarding stint in graduate school for my first master‟s degree, and finally to the last nine months at Baylor University, where I came to realize my academic career was only getting started. Along the way my simple island started to grow, like the Big Island of Hawaii, each course and each professor adding new volcanic rock across the coastline, until to my pleasant surprise, it became a full-blown vacation resort. I am, and always will be, indebted to those who made my time in college leading up to this point, an amazing adventure. Those in and outside of the academic field have been amazing mentors, great friends and remarkable colleagues, each of whom were the best teachers I could have ever imagined. For getting me started down the path toward Religious Studies I am grateful to two instructors at Riverside Community College. First, v by making the world‟s religions relevant and equal, I am in thanks to Richard Mahon. Secondly, for reminding me that religion and science do work together in explaining the miracle of life, I am in great thanks to Bill Phelps. At the University of California, Riverside I must acknowledge two professors, one for being horrendously annoying and the other for making fun of my hair and beard. The first, Justin McDaniel, whose senior seminar class demanded each student to live as austere a monastic lifestyle as humanly possible—especially for college students—forced me to go without shaving for three months, eat terrible food, not watch television, learn to make beer, read more than I ever thought I could, and appreciate the lives of the most devout of religious practitioners. The second, Ivan Strenski, regardless of the fact that he made jokes, in class, of the aforementioned beard, taught me that religious theory is an intriguing way of understanding and respectfully studying religious people, even when they seem odd. The three semesters I spent at California State University, Long Beach, to date, have been the most rewarding, and heartfelt, time of my academic profession. In that time I became close friends with four colleagues and two professors. The friendships I made with Gerald, Greg, Vanessa and Debra will always remind me of the ability camaraderie has in stressful times. On par with those friendships are also the relationships I made with Dr. Bradley K. Hawkins and Dr. Jon R. Stone. Without the friendship and guidance of these two professors, my academic path would have diverted into the unknown. It would be reasonably impossible to express the gratitude I have for these two men, so all I can say, in the utmost sincerity, is thank you. For the last year I have had the great pleasure of being a part of Baylor University. This experience has been eye opening both academically and culturally. I vi have found that Texans both fulfill and perpetuate the stereotypes Californians have for them, while disproving these images at the same time. Texans are passionate, and they know exactly what about. Baylor is unlike any university I have attended or visited. The faculty care—truly care—and they are all unique in their own ways. They are conservative and liberal and right down the middle. Of these instructors I am in thanks to James SoRelle for teaching me about the 1960s, Daniel Payne for valuing my opinion in a sea of opposition, Julie Sweet for making history fun, Maxey Parrish for being the editor I so greatly need, and Michael Parrish for teaching me about America and War, and especially for putting this whole thing in perspective and reminding me to keep it short and concise. Most of all though I am grateful to Professor Douglas R. Ferdon, my advisor in the American Studies program, who saw the value, as well as the ridiculous, in my crazy ideas and gave me the freedom to run with them. Outside the academic purview I am indebted to my wonderful family. My parents, Dennis and Karen, who are academics in their own way, have taught me things I could never have learned in books or classrooms. My mother for always teaching me to never make a regret and for always being my biggest advocate, after my wife of course, and my father for being the smartest man I‟ve ever known. My brother, Erik, and his wonderful wife, Holly, and their giant-headed baby, Jadon, for being passionate in ways I could not. My grandmother, Helen, for teaching me sincerity and love, and my grandfather, Russell, in so many ways, for being a great American hero and, in our memories, for tying our family to the American Church in a way many could never appreciate, nor understand. This family has taught me that regardless of religious vii affiliation or belief at all, as long as you find refuge in the monuments of the human spirit, nothing is impossible to you. Finally, and most importantly, I am in thanks to my wife, Andrea, who, at this moment is formatting this thesis because I‟m too stubborn to do it on my own. She has been the greatest inspiration I‟ve ever found. She helped me not only get my life on the right track, but got me running again. She has endured my late nights and permitted my mistress of constant reading and writing. She came with me to Texas which, in itself, deserves a lifetime of grateful appreciation. She got me back in school, has been there during the good times and the bad, and reminded me every day that I am, for my own sake, not just an island. viii To Josephine Bonaparte and Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ix CHAPTER ONE Introduction—Great Disappointment and Religious Evolution Disappointment, as could be expected, plagued, and still plagues, religious and non-religious men throughout the world.
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