Why Does Religion Play So Prominently in the Saga of American Oil?

From Edwin Drake’s 1859 discovery of oil in Pennsylvania to our 21st century entanglements in the Middle East, oil’s influence on America is vast. Religion’s role in this American oil story is outsized, and relatively unknown, and understanding it will help us more fully comprehend what religion has done to America, and what America has done to religion—which is understanding America itself.

We trust that at the conclusion of this podcast, listeners will have a deeper appreciation of religious freedom as a governing principle in the United States and will see to its protection as an indispensable part of the fragile American experiment in self-government.

Today we have with us Darren Dochuk, the Andrew V. Tackes College Professor of History at The University of Notre Dame, and author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. Mr. Dochuk’s primary research interest is 20th century United States, with an emphasis on the intersections of religion, politics, and the rising influence of the American west and Sunbelt Southwest in national life. He is the author, editor and co-editor of many books, including From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism, God’s Businessmen: Entrepreneurial Evangelicals in Depression and War, and Faith in the New Millennium: The Future of Religion and American Politics. Professor Dochuk received his PhD from The University of Notre Dame.  

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