Intelligence Squared US

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

AMERICA IS TOO DAMN RELIGIOUS

About This Debate

Debate description coming soon.

The Panel

For The Motion

  • Susan Jacoby
    Susan Jacoby
    FOR THE MOTION
    Susan Jacoby
    is the author of seven books, including Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism and Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1984. Jacoby’s articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Harper’s, and the New Republic, among other publications.
  • Rev. Barry W. Lynn
    Rev. Barry W. Lynn
    FOR THE MOTION
    Rev. Barry W. Lynn
    is executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a position he has held since 1992. A long-time civil liberties attorney and ordained minister, Lynn is a frequent guest on television and radio talk and news programs. His daily talk show, “Culture Shocks”, is heard on radio stations around the country. Lynn is the author of book Piety & Politics: The Right Wing Assault on Religious Freedom, which was released in October 2006.
  • Alan Wolfe
    Alan Wolfe
    FOR THE MOTION
    Alan Wolfe
    is a professor of political science and director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. His books include Does American Democracy Still Work? and The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Practice Our Faith. He currently chairs a task force of the American Political Science Association on "Religion and Democracy in the United States."

Against The Motion

  • Jean Bethke Elshtain
    Jean Bethke Elshtain
    AGAINST THE MOTION
    Jean Bethke Elshtain
    a political philosopher, is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. Her books include Public Man, Private Woman: Women in Social Thought, The Family in Political Thought, and Democracy on Trial. In 2006, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
  • William A. Galston
    William A. Galston
    AGAINST THE MOTION
    William A. Galston
    is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Prior to 2006, he was a professor at the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland; director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy; and founding director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. From 1993 until 1995, Galston served as deputy assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy.
  • Albert J. Raboteau
    Albert J. Raboteau
    AGAINST THE MOTION
    Albert J. Raboteau
    teaches at Princeton University where he holds the Henry W. Putnam Chair in Religion. He specializes in religion in America, teaching and researching in the areas of African-American religious history, Roman Catholicism in America, and religion and social reform. He has served as chair of his department and dean of the Graduate School at Princeton. His publications include Slave Religion, A Fire in the Bones, Canaan Land, and A Sorrowful Joy.

Moderator

John Donovan is a correspondent for ABC News Nightline. He has served as ABC White House Correspondent, along with postings in Moscow, London, Jerusalem and Amman.

Poll Results

Pre-Debate Poll Results
68% For | 24% Against | 8%

Post Debate Poll Results
70% For | 24% Against | 6%

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