Stephen Prothero, an author of several books about religion, and Charles C. Haynes, a First Amendment scholar who heads the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum, recently gave a talk promoting religious literacy. They spoke at the 2015 convention of the Religion Communicators Council, and attendees tweeted out what they said.
I listened in virtually and later created a Storify – a recap – of what they said. They both promoted the idea of doing more to educate Americans about religion. Prothero talked about the ignorance about religion among adults in particular. Our politicians quote things from the Bible, but do we know enough to correct them when they’re wrong? Haynes, a key player in one of the chapters in my upcoming book, reminded the audience that teaching about religion is an important aspect of social studies. Teachers, though, have to be sure they follow the First Amendment when religion is involved. You can see the recap of their talk at this link.
In other news, if you’re a Boston-area writer and interested in attending this year’s annual conference at Grub Street, I’m once again teaching a course about networking and pitching agents, authors and editors. The course is Friday, April 24, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Grub Street in Boston. Still slots available. You can find out more at this link.
Thanks for reading!
Linda
(Faith Ed is now available for pre-order anywhere books are sold.)
