Religious scholar Steven Tipton to speak about religion and public life

EUGENE, Ore. — (Nov. 1, 2007) — Religious scholar Steven M. Tipton will discuss the role of religion in shaping American politics and public life during a speech at the University of Oregon on Monday, Nov. 19th.

The Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics is sponsoring the free public event which will begin at 7 p.m. in Room 175, William W. Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

Tipton's speech on “Public Pulpits: Religion in the Moral Argument of Public Life,” will address the tension between government and the growing number of religious institutions pursuing politicized moral advocacy.

Tipton teaches sociology, religion, and ethics at Emory University and its Candler School of Theology where he is a professor of sociology of religion. A graduate of Harvard University, he is the author of “Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life,” a study of national religious advocacy by the mainline churches in Washington (forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press in early 2008).

A reception and book signing in the Knight Law Center's Morse Commons will follow the lecture.

For more information or directions to the event, contact the Wayne Morse center, 541-346-3700. Information also is available on-line at http://www.waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu.

Contact: Pauline Austin, 541-346-3129, paustin@uoregon.edu

Link: Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics: http://www.waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu/_pages/events/tipton.html