Sunday, October 7, 2007. 10 AM
Religious America: What Do We Believe?
The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith
The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host
Two years ago, Sally Quinn considered herself an atheist. Although she had spent most of her life believing that a good God would not have permitted such evils as the Holocaust, she kept her views quiet. Atheism is unacceptable in America today, she was told.
One day Quinn divulged her atheism to her old friend Jon Meacham, a lifelong Christian, who simply refused to believe that she truly did not believe in God. At Meacham’s encouragement, Quinn began to read about faith. As she learned about the world’s religions, her views began to change. They continue to evolve today; she currently defines her beliefs as “gratitude.”
Meacham, raised and educated in Episcopal institutions, articulates his beliefs with passion and dry wit. He outlines 17th-century English struggles between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, mentioning the effect of that remembered bloodshed on the role of religion in America as the thirteen colonies gained independence from Britain.
The two guests exchange views about the nature of atheism, and the place of religion in the public square today, touching on questions about prayer in the schools and displays of manger scenes on government property.
Meacham and Quinn co-edit “OnFaith,” a web-based series of discussions about religion today. This lively discussion was the inaugural session of “The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith.”