LAUSR

precis:Two aspects of the rhetoric of American exceptionalism have informed the interfaith movement in the United States for more than a century: (1) America is an exceptional society with an exceptional religious system, and (2) America has a global mission. This article traces the rhetoric of American exceptionalism in four interfaith cases: the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, and the Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha, Nebraska. Two supportable claims can be made: The modern interfaith movement originated in the exceptional social and civic context of the U.S. and subsequently emerged in comparable social and civic contexts.