Teaching World Religion in the West Through Western Religious Imagery

Abstract

Las Vegas is a particularly interesting manifestation of the Judeo-Christian binary of sin and salvation as fueled by capital. Over half of the American population has been to Vegas, it is the Mecca of American capitalism. It is also home to a powerful evangelical community that draws strength on being a beacon of light in a city of sin. It is part of the mythology of exodus associated with the west (specifically the sun belt), but also acts as a fascinating self-contained microcosm for the nation at large, a single point at which some of the most significant cultural, religious, and political threads of America intersect.