One June 28th, the Drinking Liberally Discussion/Reading Group will meet at Piper Down (back room) from 6:30 pm to closing (formal discussion 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm).

The featured topic = The Religious Right and everything that we need to know about the RR.

Since we do not yet have a “chat room” for exchanging ideas before each month’s discussion, anyone wishing to suggest reading materials for others prior to the meeting should e-mail “www.johnkarls.com” and start the subject with “Drinking Liberally” (otherwise, the filter might shred it). READING MATERIALS CAN COMPRISE NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE ARTICLES, BOOKS OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS EITHER ATTACHABLE TO AN E-MAIL OR READILY ACCESSIBLE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

However, NO PREPARATION IS REQUIRED FOR PARTICIPATION!!!

A short book (148 pages) has been suggested by our June facilitator, Matt McGee –

Title = Religious Literacy

Author = Stephen Prothero (Chair of the Religion Department at Boston U.)

Publisher = Harper Collins, 2007

Availability = local book stores, libraries, www.amazon.com

Price through www.amazon.com = 16.47 new + shipping and 13.98 used + shipping

Special offer – if you don’t want to purchase and you can’t find it in your local library, please e-mail Matt at saturn222_7 (at) MSN (dot) com or John Karls at john (at) johnkarls (dot) com and one of them might be able to loan you a copy.

Matt’s description of “Religious Literacy” –

“The teaching of Christianity in the US school system has been a debate that has culminated into a political issue of whether to privatize the American education system. The need to fundamentally alter our school system over the issue of teaching religion has become so powerful that it continually resurfacing in various courts, and politicians en masse have been bringing it to the floor of the House and the Senate. What are the driving forces behind this movement?

“In another vein, how are political pundits able to cite ‘Jesus’ as evidence during debate over public policy and be taken seriously? How are elected officials are able to have such an easy time justifying policies(such as the Iraq war) by saying it would be ‘what Jesus/God would want?’ and ‘Jesus talks to me’ and not be laughed out of office?

“What are the four major religious groups that influence the United States culturally and politically? Who are the Evangelicals and what sort of impact do they have on US culture and modern laws and policies (here’s a hint: The last five presidents from Carter to Bush were all Evangelicals).

“Whether you are a Bible scholar, devout religious worshipper, an occasional church-goer, agnostic, atheist, or just someone who’s concerned about current events taking place in our country, Stephen Prothero (Chairman of the Religion Department at Boston University), in his book Religious Literacy, offers a brief and concise (148 pages) treatise about how religious beliefs and knowledge have been powerful factors in wars, public policies, and who holds national office. A short, worthwhile look at American history through a religious scholar’s lens.”

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We hope each of you will be able to join us on June 28th!!!

Matt McGee and John Karls