Announcements Podcasting in the Age of Corona 28 Mar 202028 Mar 2020 Now that classrooms across the country--including mine--have moved online, I have been trying to find ways to supplement my students' education. In addition to lecturing via Zoom and using discussion…
Announcements… Now out from New Political Science 23 Feb 202023 Feb 2020 I'm excited the announce that my article on Occupy Wall Street's liberal civil religion, what I term a civil religion of the Nones (CRN), is now out from New Political Science.…
Blog Posts… Election Day a National Holiday 11 Nov 201911 Nov 2019 I published the following piece about making election day a national holiday in the Providence Journal. As I say toward the end of the Op-Ed: We are in the midst of…
Announcements “Rediscovering Civil Religion in America” TEDx Tufts talk 11 Nov 201911 Nov 2019 This last March I had the honor of giving a TEDx talk at Tufts University. My talk, "Rediscovering Civil Religion in America," offers some thoughts on the value of a…
Blog Posts… A Nation Without a Soul? A Response to Sarah L. Houser’s “Accountability Nationalism” 8 May 201711 Nov 2019 [NOTE: This piece first appeared in Starting Points, a Journal of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy] Nationalism and religious life are intricately intertwined in the United States. A “civil religion…
Blog Posts The Constitution: An Owner’s Manual Without Instructions 20 Mar 201711 Nov 2019 NOTE: This originally appeared on my personal profile through Huffington Post Contributor's platform. When I teach my introduction to Political Science class about the Constitution, I tell them to think of it…
Blog Posts… Bernie Sanders’s Religion Problem 1 Feb 201611 Nov 2019 There is a spectre haunting Bernie Sanders’s presidential run, but it isn’t the one you’re thinking. I’m talking about the other “S” word—not socialism, but secularism. It is a facet of…
Blog Posts… Nation with the Soul of a . . . Nondescript Religious Establishment 24 May 201511 Nov 2019 Last week I had the privilege of having my Op-Ed, "The Rise of the 'Nones,'" published in the Providence Journal. The piece can be found at the paper's opinions website, or read here…
Uncategorized Prayer Breakfast Primer 18 Mar 201519 Mar 2015 The National Prayer Breakfasts began as anything but national. Founded by a Norwegian methodist minister, Abram Vereide, they offered Seattle businessmen spiritual support during the depths of the Depression. The…
Uncategorized Forthcoming: Discussion of Prayer Breakfasts 4 Mar 2015 Last month, President Obama delivered--what turned out to be--a somewhat controversial address. The majority of the speech condemned religious violence, in particular ISIS, in the strongest possible language. At one point…