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Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Christopher Hedges will present a lecture entitled “The Christian Right and the Open Society” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room 104. The event is free and open to the public.
Hedges argues that the Christian Right’s role in American politics continues to grow, and he believes a certain faction of it is dangerous for a democratic society. In an article titled “The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism,” he asserts that the ideology of the Christian Right is destructive and has been fueled by the country’s ongoing war on terror. He goes on to say that its violent messages run contrary to the central themes of Christ’s teachings of love and compassion. He believes it is attempting to merge church and state, which could be disastrous for a society whose government is founded on a separation of the two.
“We are giving the students and the community at large an opportunity to hear a nationally recognized speaker on this matter and to engage him after his talk, since there will be a question-and-answer period,” says Stephen Lammers, Manson Professor of Religious Studies.
Hedges was a foreign correspondent for 15 years, joining the staff of the New York Times in 1990. He was a member of the New York Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism, and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism.
His most famous book is War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. His other books include Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.
Hedges now teaches at Princeton Theological Seminary, and was a 2006 recipient of Princeton University’s Anschutz Distinguished Fellowship. He holds a B.A. in English literature from Colgate University and a master of divinity from Harvard University.
The lecture is sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies under the auspices of the Lyman Coleman Fund.