America is truly unique-so diametrically different from any other nation conceived. But many people don't understand and appreciate America's distinctive qualities. In Letters to the Editor, author Jon Michael Hubbard questions whether all of those who reside in the United States are capable of being Americans; he contends that America cannot be all things to all people.

In this collection of letters written to newspaper editors, along with other related articles, the author shares his personal feelings and fears about an array of topics important in today's world, including: liberals, patriotism, the military, politics, government, education, race relations, immigration and Christianity. Providing a provocative and informative discussion, he also delves into other related topics such as national security, energy issues, American industry, the mortgage crisis, and a woman's right to choose.

In Letters to the Editor, Hubbard, a Vietnam era veteran with a deep love for this country, describes what it's like to be a true American who understands and appreciates what this land offers. The mindset of a true American is fueled by ambition and a burning desire to succeed. Being an American is definitely not to be taken for granted.

Betwixt and Between Liminality and Marginality: Mind the Gap offers an interdisciplinary thinking on "the marginal" within society. Using the framework of Victor Turner's earlier notions of liminality, the book both challenges Turner's symbolic anthropology, and celebrates its continued influence across disciplines, and under new theoretical constraints. Liminality in its simplest forms provides language for meaningful approaches to articulate transition and change. It also represents complex social theories beyond Turner's classical symbolic approach. While demonstrating the enduring relevance of Turner's language for expressing transition, this volume keeps an eye toward the validity of critiques against him. It thus theorizes with Turner's work while updating, even abandoning, some of his primary ideas, when applying it to contemporary social issues. A central focus of this volume is marginality. Turner recognized that marginals, like liminars, are betwixt and between; however, they lack assurance that their ambiguity will be resolved. This volume explores the dialogic relationship of space and agency, to recognize marginal groups and people, and inquire, without a harmonious resolution, what happens to the marginals? Have race, class, gender, and sexual orientation become the space for thinking about reintegration and communitas? Each chapter examines how marginal groups, or liminal spaces and ideas, destabilize, shape, and affect the dominant culture.

Some urgent new thinking is needed if any lessons are to be learnt from the recent disasters. This book brings together the experience of a number of writers who have worked on, or studied, poverty alleviation programmes in Asia and Africa.

The Mormon tradition's emphasis on prophetic authority makes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unique within America's religious culture. The religion that Joseph Smith created established a kingdom of God in a land distrustful of monarchy while positioning Smith as Christ's voice on earth, with the power to form cities, establish economies, and arrange governments.Michael Hubbard MacKay traces the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' claim to religious authority and sets it within the context of its times. Delving into the evolution of the concept of prophetic authority, MacKay shows how the Church emerged as a hierarchical democracy with power diffused among leaders Smith chose. At the same time, Smith's settled place atop the hierarchy granted him an authority that spared early Mormonism the internal conflict that doomed other religious movements. Though Smith faced challenges from other leaders, the nascent Church repeatedly turned to him to decide civic plans and define the order of both the cosmos and the priesthood.

The Mormon tradition's emphasis on prophetic authority makes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unique within America's religious culture. The religion that Joseph Smith created established a kingdom of God in a land distrustful of monarchy while positioning Smith as Christ's voice on earth, with the power to form cities, establish economies, and arrange governments.Michael Hubbard MacKay traces the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' claim to religious authority and sets it within the context of its times. Delving into the evolution of the concept of prophetic authority, MacKay shows how the Church emerged as a hierarchical democracy with power diffused among leaders Smith chose. At the same time, Smith's settled place atop the hierarchy granted him an authority that spared early Mormonism the internal conflict that doomed other religious movements. Though Smith faced challenges from other leaders, the nascent Church repeatedly turned to him to decide civic plans and define the order of both the cosmos and the priesthood.

America is truly unique-so diametrically different from any other nation conceived. But many people don't understand and appreciate America's distinctive qualities. In Letters to the Editor, author Jon Michael Hubbard questions whether all of those who reside in the United States are capable of being Americans; he contends that America cannot be all things to all people.

In this collection of letters written to newspaper editors, along with other related articles, the author shares his personal feelings and fears about an array of topics important in today's world, including: liberals, patriotism, the military, politics, government, education, race relations, immigration and Christianity. Providing a provocative and informative discussion, he also delves into other related topics such as national security, energy issues, American industry, the mortgage crisis, and a woman's right to choose.

In Letters to the Editor, Hubbard, a Vietnam era veteran with a deep love for this country, describes what it's like to be a true American who understands and appreciates what this land offers. The mindset of a true American is fueled by ambition and a burning desire to succeed. Being an American is definitely not to be taken for granted.