So Help Me God: Religion and the Presidency Since John F. Kennedy
5:15 – 7pm
Location: Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Ave.
This timely lecture will be given by Randall
Balmer<http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Ereligion/faculty/balmer-bio.html>ml>, chair of the
Religion Department and Mandel Family Professor of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth
College.
John F. Kennedy's address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September
12, 1960 ushered in an era of voter indifference to a candidate’s faith. This
"Kennedy paradigm" persisted until the mid-1970s, when the corruptions of the
Nixon administration paved the way for a Southern Baptist Sunday-school teacher to win the
White House. The rise of the religious right during Jimmy Carter's presidency once
again altered the relationship between religion and presidential politics. But for all of
the religious rhetoric on the campaign trail, what does a candidate’s faith tell us about
how he will govern?
Please also join us for a second event on religion and the election on October 10:
Religion and the Election: Does It Matter?
5:15 – 7pm
Location: Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Ave.
Please join us for a panel of four scholars who will speak on the relevance of different
religions in this year's presidential election. The panelists are:
J. Bryan
Hehir<http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/j.-bryan-…ir>,
Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life at Harvard
Kennedy School; Ruth
Langer<http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/theology/faculty/rlanger.html>ml>, Associate
Professor of Theology and Associate Director Center for Christian Jewish Learning at
Boston College; Max Perry
Mueller<http://religionandpolitics.org/max-perry-mueller/>r/>, associate editor of the
online news journal Religion & Politics and current PhD candidate in the Committee on
the Study of Religion at Harvard; and Jonathan
Walton<http://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/faculty/jonathan-l-walton>on>, Plummer
Professor of Christian Morals, Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, and Professor of
Religion and Society at HDS. The panel will be moderated by Dan
McKanan<http://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/faculty/dan-mckanan>an>, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at HDS.
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