Anti-Catholic rhetoric has long been a prominent feature of American discourse. While anti-Catholic sentiment was strongest during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when many native-born Americans associated Catholicism with the influx of Irish and Eastern European immigrants, some Protestants still harbor suspicions about Catholic influence today. Anti-Catholic messages often focus on the Pope, alleging some kind of grand conspiracy for world power. Other common allegations include sexual misconduct and other forms of corruption in the priesthood. Regardless of its form, anti-Catholic rhetoric allows Protestant Americans to air their unease over “foreign” religious practices and speculate about what might be going on behind closed doors.

24 files, last one added on Jun 27, 2008

Throughout American history, Jews have been vilified and discriminated against simply because of their presence in the United States. Typically, Jews in this country are portrayed as greedy, self-serving, money hording, unwilling to help others, and simply un-American. These intolerant stereotypes are created out of fear that, as more and more Jews immigrate to the United States, they will begin to take over and displace the dominant class of Americans in society—White Protestants. Therefore, instead of welcoming Jews into the “melting pot,” many Americans have discriminated against Jews for well over a century.

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Mormons have endured persecution from mainstream American society since the founding of their church in 1830. Driven from their homes in the nineteenth century by neighbors concerned about growing Mormon power and practices such as polygamy, the Mormons retreated to the wilderness of Utah to escape persecution. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Church disbanded the practice of polygamy in 1890, yet much of anti-Mormon rhetoric today remains devoted to attacking the practice. While the scope and intensity of anti-Mormon rhetoric has decreased substantially since the 1930s, fears of Mormon political power and religious practices still divide Mormons from the more mainstream Protestant and Catholic denominations of Christianity.

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The Ku Klux Klan has been one of America’s most notable proponents of intolerance since its inception shortly after the Civil War. While the original Klan died out shortly after Reconstruction, many different groups and organizations across the country have claimed the Klan’s name over the years. While today the Klan is best known for its racial prejudice, Klansmen have railed against a number of religious groups as well, most notably Jews and Catholics. Regardless of its target, Klan rhetoric generally focuses on protecting the interests of the only people they view as truly American: native-born, white Protestants of European (specifically Anglo-Saxon) descent.

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Themes of sexuality and gender are used by perpetrators of intolerance to demonize marginalized religious groups. Religious practices that do not conform to gender and family norms, such as celibacy or polygamy, are manipulated into intolerant accusations of sexual deviance. Violent and aggressive sexuality is an allegation used to incite fear of religious groups who appear different from the norm. Gender is also used when women are depicted as vulnerable to sex-obsessed predators or victims of religious sex slavery.

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Perpetrators of religious intolerance tend to use the concept of ritual in at least two ways. First, intolerant groups use rituals to promote internal unity and external fear. For example, the Klan employed rituals, including cross burnings and robe wearing, to create Klan unity and to intimidate non-members. Second, intolerant groups often view the rituals of "other" religious groups as deviant and dangerous. Thus, religious rituals or practices, including circumcision, celibacy, and plural marriage, become the focus of intolerant attacks.

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Many movements and forms of religious intolerance use the ideals of Americanism and patriotism to bolster their claims of hatred against different faiths. Often, perpetrators justify their prejudice by highlighting how the beliefs and customs of a particular group differ from those classified as traditionally “American.” In this way, the targeted religious groups becomes characterized as “un-American”, meaning that they do not fit in with the American way of life—they are a threat. Groups can also be cast as anti-American as a means of suggesting that the group’s existence somehow does harm to the nation as a whole. These charges are often made with little or no substance and without defining what exactly it means to be “American.” Claims about Americanism are used to alienate a group and make it seem less worthy and less human than true American religion (i.e. Protestantism).

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Dehumanization, the denial of one’s humanity, is a frequent tool of religious intolerance. It blocks sympathy for a marginalized religious group by portraying the group and its members as objects or demons—as less than human. When religious intolerance denies the humanity of its victims, a dangerous environment is created that opens the door for the denial of basic human rights. Even more, dehumanization creates an environment in which acts of hatred and violence against marginalized religious individuals and groups can flourish.

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Unlike many of the other image albums on this web-site, the majority of images we have located that feature anti-Islamic sentiment are relatively recent. This pattern reflects larger socio-political trends. Seemingly “strange” and exotic religious groups on the margins of society are often deemed inferior, but they are often not seen and depicted as dangerous until social and political events occur that cast them as such. When this happens political cartoons and other intolerant imagery emerge that attack the “strange” religious group that is suddenly believed to be a social and political threat. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of anti-Islamic images. Now that Muslims are perceived by many as a very real threat to the security of the United States, anti-Islamic images have become common in mainstream media and usually depict Islam as an inherently violent religion.

9 files, last one added on Aug 18, 2009