marty and moore
Required Readings (see recommended material in folders below to put these required readings into context)
- Martin E. Marty, You Get to Teach and Study Religion. Academe 82 (1996): 14-17 Marty 1996
- What is Different about Religion in the United States (Moore 2003: 1-10)
- Touchdown Jesus and Other Controversies about the Public Display of Religion (Moore 2003: 11-30)
- Post-Protestant Culture: Was There Ever Anything Else? (Moore 2003: 31-48)
- A Protestant Counter-Culture (Moore 2003:49-68)
Submit four posts on four different required readings to the discussion board for the week.
- Explain and document something you learned. Label the post: Learned
- Explain and document something you read that you did not understand. Label the post: Not Understood. Ask one question, propose two possible answers to demonstrate the confusion.
- Click on REPLY and offer an answer to a Not Understood post based on and documented from the required reading itself. Label the post:Response
- Describe a concrete, personal experience which demonstrates something in reading. Document. Do not simply express an opinion agreeing or disagreeing with a reading. Label the post: Experience.
Sample of NOT UNDERSTOOD post
Moore discusses how both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were proponents of the separation of church and state (Moore 2003:16). Yet both of these men mentioned religion in their inaugural addresses. In fact, the infusion of God into politics began with the founders of the country and the belief in Deism (Moore 2003:15). These men did believe that “religion was the foundation of virtue” (Moore 2003:15). Why did these men attempt to separate religion from the practice of running a government yet could not refrain from citing religion as an integral aspect of their personal ability to perform presidential duties? Primarily I think that the founding fathers could feel in their hearts the desire to thank God for the privilege of fostering our country in her earliest years. As their predecessor George Washington had done by swearing on the Bible and having a minister present during his oath (Moore 2003:14).Secondly, I think that maybe the founding fathers were aware of the need to create a nation of diversity where people from all walks of life would be free to choose what to believe and how to express that belief. I imaging that it must be difficult to be in a position where you want to relay to people that their country does not have a national religion, while at the same time citing an “Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising Republic” (James Madison March 4, 1809).
- Post only on the required readings. PPT’s, YouTubes, and recommended readings are supplemental to give you a context for the required readings.
- Document each post. Place documentation in body of post, not in subject line. Use the format (Coffin 2004: 107) to document print books.Use the format (Coffin 2004: Credo, Social Justice and Civil Liberties) to document an electronic reader like Kindle or Nook oriPad.
- You do not receive credit for posts not based on a reading, for posts without documentation from a required reading, for posts of only one sentence or for posts made after the deadline.
- As long as you originally post before the deadline, you can update your posts until I read and grade them.
