Saying It All Iin 2 Minutes & Other Faith Ed Updates

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I just returned from a trip to New York where I took part in an annual Jewish Book Council event for authors of upcoming books. The event ran over three days, and I was in a group of 50 authors, including former Meet the Press anchor David Gregory, on Wednesday evening. The challenge: Give a two minute talk about your book to an audience of 200 to 250. Finish before the emcee holds up a lime-green card “Time’s Up” card with a frowny face. Continue reading

Blurbs, Book Fest News, & More as Faith Ed Heads to Publication Day

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Publication Day:  If you’re just reading my newsletter for the first time, Faith Ed publishes on August 18, and my first reading will be on the same day – Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books in Cambridge.

Faith Ed Heads to Georgia: I’m pleased to announce that the Decatur Books Fest has invited me to give a reading/talk at this year’s festival. It will be held Sept. 4-6 in Decatur. Stay tuned for … Continue reading

Two Experts Promote Religious Literacy

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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 … Continue reading

How Faith Ed the Book Was Born

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Less than five months to go until publication day for Faith Ed (August 18), and I figured it was time to tell you a little bit about where I got the idea for this book. Two events – one in my own childhood and one in more recent history – sent me off on this journey to look at public schools’ efforts to teach about the world’s religions.

The first event or experience, really, came from my family’s move from the Finger Lakes Region in western New York state to a small … Continue reading

Church/State Issues, Update on Faith Ed

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Thought you’d enjoy my latest piece of writing – a post for The Huffington Post in response to a school district that advertised for a superintendent with Christian values. Yes, some school systems have not yet realized that it’s unconstitutional to promote one religion. You can find that article at this link.

Meanwhile, in other news, my new Writing About Religion class at Grub Street is just about full. There are just four spots left. The … Continue reading