What is the history of state and religion in North America? Why did the framers of the United States Constitution include the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment? In our country’s 225 year history, what changes took place in how people understood the Establishment Clause? In our time, some people claim that the Establishment Clause contradicts the Freedom of Speech clause of the same First Amendment. What is the proper balance? People in the CSRA are invited to read books on these topics and discuss them with fellow book lovers and concerned residents.
Join us on the 1st Wednesday of every other month from August to June at The Book Tavern, 936 Broad St, at 6:30 pm to discuss the following books. Note April may change to avoid Masters Week. RSVPs via Facebook or e-mail are helpful for planning but not required. Note: The meeting space is on the 2nd floor, so you’ll need to be able to climb a flight of stairs. Here’s the schedule for 2017-18:
Aug 2 How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom by Jacques Berlinerblau (RSVP)
Oct 4 The Necessity of Secularism: Why God Can’t Tell Us What to Do by Ronald Lindsay (RSVP)
Dec 6 The Book of Dave: A Revelation of the Recent Past and the Distant Future by Will Self (RSVP)
Feb 14 “To the Far Right Christian Hater…You Can Be a Good Speller or a Hater, But You Can’t Be Both”: Official Hate Mail, Threats, and Criticism from the Archives of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation by Bonnie Weinstein (RSVP)
Apr 11 Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays by Bernadette C. Barton (RSVP)
Jun 6 The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade by Philip Jenkins (RSVP)
The Book Tavern (706.826.1940) carries these books, so check them out and purchase them there!