Free Inquiry Class - March 12

This Sunday we have Sam Hendricks leading the class in a discussion about the article linked below. Here are Sam's comments:

We will be discussing a 2018 article by Kjell Lejon, a Swedish academic, entitled "From Civil Religion to Presidential Public Theology - A Re-evaluation of the American Civil Religion Phenomenon. The Case of George H.W. Bush." A link to the article is attached.

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7a41d5c8/4-j96glGrkujaZj9f9gxTw?u=https://revistia.com/files/articles/ejms_v3_i4_18/Lejon.pdf

Sam continues:
There is a broad consensus that America adheres to a civil religion: i.e., a non-sectarian quasi-religious faith and set of beliefs that is drawn from, among other things, sacred texts, symbols, and history and that finds expression in quasi-religious rituals and practices. In his article, Professor Lejon posits that public theology, rather than civil religion, more accurately describes the religious dimension of at least some modern U.S. presidents, and he uses President George H.W. Bush as a case study. Professor Lejon's article is topical, as the Free Inquiry class has been grappling with, among other things, issues and questions about the proper role of civic religion and public theology in light of the First Amendment's prohibition against laws "respecting an establishment of religion" and protection for "the free exercise" of religion. I look forward to exploring these and other issues in this Sunday's class.