Course Description

Instructor: Ed Buckner, MEd, PhD

Eight classes: I. Why secularism is logical and important; II. Primary relevant American history; III. Legal and constitutional issues regarding American secularism Declaration of Independence; US Constitution; First and Fourteenth Amendments; IV. The effects of religion on politics in the US; V. Morality and conscience in a secular democracy; VI. Secularism and public schools in the US; myths about church-state; VII. Blasphemy, heresy, Ten Commandments, Sharia Law, tolerance v. liberty; and VIII. The conclusion that the US is a free country and not a Christian nation.
Recommended text but not required: In Freedom We Trust: An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty (Buckner and Buckner). See instructor for details on how to purchase book.