Panel Discussion: “Religion and the Public Square: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry”
Posted September 13, 2006FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
YORK, Pa. – It was John Locke who, in his famous "A Letter Concerning Religious Toleration" said, "every church is orthodox to itself; to others, erroneous or heretical. For whatsoever any church believes, it believes to be true and the contrary unto those things it pronounce; to be error."
For better or worse, Locke's assessment of religion was driven by a range of dichotomous categories: religion/secularity, public/private, freedom/coercion, rights/power.
Four York College professors will address how their own work in philosophy, theology and rhetoric impacts on two central dichotomies operative in the religion-public square debate Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Evelyn and Earle Wolf Hall, Recital Hall.
Professors Dominic Delli Carpini and Randi Rashkover will examine the limits surrounding modern conceptions of religious freedom and/or tolerance in relation to the demands of a pluralist society. Professor Michael Zerbe will offer a close examination of the rhetoric of mission or crusade as it has been adopted by religionists in contemporary times. Finally, Professor Colbey Reid will examine the categories of pornography and evolution as present in modern literature to show how these discourses inform religion in unexpected ways and problematize overly simplistic accounts of the religion-secularity divide.
The purpose of this panel is to consider how new work in rhetoric, philosophy and theology can challenge the simple dichotomies that have governed the religion-public square debate and introduce new accounts of the meaning of religion, tolerance and the political that more accurately contend with the complex character of the religion-politics debate in America today.
For more information call 815-1349.
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