Chevrei Tzedek Congregation is honored to welcome
SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
Jerome Copulsky
speaking on
Becoming and Unbecoming Americans:
Jews and Other Religious Minorities in the US
Jerome Copulsky is a research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University and a Scholar in Residence at American University. Dr. Copulsky specializes in modern Western religious thought, political theory, and church/state issues. His scholarly work has been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Journal of Religion, Political Theology, and Perspectives on Political Science, and in Political Theology for a Plural Age (2013) and Judaism, Liberalism, and Political Theology (2013). His writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, Washingtonian, The Forward, Jerusalem Post, Jewish Review of Books, The Christian Century, and Religion Dispatches.
Jerome Copulsky is a research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University and a Scholar in Residence at American University. Dr. Copulsky specializes in modern Western religious thought, political theory, and church/state issues. His scholarly work has been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Journal of Religion, Political Theology, and Perspectives on Political Science, and in Political Theology for a Plural Age (2013) and Judaism, Liberalism, and Political Theology (2013). His writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, Washingtonian, The Forward, Jerusalem Post, Jewish Review of Books, The Christian Century, and Religion Dispatches.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits Congress from enacting laws regarding the establishment of a national religion or restricting the free exercise of religion. Nonetheless, the process by which Jews, Catholics, Mormons and other religious minorities found their place in the American civil and political order was slow and complicated. At times, all of these groups have been considered un-American and a danger to democracy and national security. Still, painfully slowly, these communities moved from being suspicious outsiders to insiders.
By the mid-twentieth century, Americans would speak of their “Judeo-Christian” heritage. This concept of a Judeo-Christian heritage served to unite and motivate the country in its struggles against fascism and “godless Communism”. But while the United States is a much more diverse country than it was in the 1940's and 50's, the term is still deployed in political rhetoric, often to support a conservative agenda. It is time to move beyond the idea of a Judeo-Christian America?
Lecture 1: American Jews (and other religious minorities) in Protestant America
Saturday, February 26 at 11:30AM
IN PERSON following Shabbat Services
How did Jews and non-Protestant Americans contest the unofficial Protestant establishment throughout the 19th century?
Lecture 2: The Making of a Judeo-Christian America
Saturday, February 26 at 7:00PM
On Zoom--register to receive the link
How did Jews help construct "Judeo-Christian America" from World War II through the Cold War?
Lecture 3: The Possibility of a Post-Judeo-Christian America
Sunday, February 27 at 5:00PM
On Zoom--register to receive the link
Has the idea of a shared “Judeo-Christian tradition” become problematic as the country has become more religiously (and non-religiously) diverse?
By the mid-twentieth century, Americans would speak of their “Judeo-Christian” heritage. This concept of a Judeo-Christian heritage served to unite and motivate the country in its struggles against fascism and “godless Communism”. But while the United States is a much more diverse country than it was in the 1940's and 50's, the term is still deployed in political rhetoric, often to support a conservative agenda. It is time to move beyond the idea of a Judeo-Christian America?
Lecture 1: American Jews (and other religious minorities) in Protestant America
Saturday, February 26 at 11:30AM
IN PERSON following Shabbat Services
How did Jews and non-Protestant Americans contest the unofficial Protestant establishment throughout the 19th century?
Lecture 2: The Making of a Judeo-Christian America
Saturday, February 26 at 7:00PM
On Zoom--register to receive the link
How did Jews help construct "Judeo-Christian America" from World War II through the Cold War?
Lecture 3: The Possibility of a Post-Judeo-Christian America
Sunday, February 27 at 5:00PM
On Zoom--register to receive the link
Has the idea of a shared “Judeo-Christian tradition” become problematic as the country has become more religiously (and non-religiously) diverse?
Register above to receive the link for the virtual lectures.
This program was funded through a grant from the Jewish Education Enhancement Projects fund of the Macks Center for Jewish Education, an agency of the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.
This program was funded through a grant from the Jewish Education Enhancement Projects fund of the Macks Center for Jewish Education, an agency of the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.
