
Damon Linker
The Religious Test: Why We Must Question the Beliefs of Our Leaders
- This event has passed.
The Constitution states that “no religious test” may keep a candidate from aspiring to political office. Yet, since John F. Kennedy used the phrase to deflect concerns about his Catholicism, the public has largely avoided probing candidates’ religious beliefs. Is it true that a candidate’s religious convictions should be off-limits to public scrutiny?
Damon Linker doesn’t think so, and in this book he outlines the various elements of religious belief that are incompatible with high office in a democracy. He explains the complicated interrelations between churches and states, consistently applying a political litmus test to a range of theological views. Linker urges both believers and atheists to behave better in the public sphere, and he offers a carefully charted road map for doing so.
Linker is a contributing editor at The New Republic and a Senior Writing Fellow in the Center for Critical Writing at the University of Pennsylvania. He will be interviewed by Richard Just, Executive Editor of The New Republic.

-
Aug 18, 2022 • 8:00 pm ET
Calum Scott
With Special Guest Jamie Miller
-
Sep 13, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
Abdulrazak Gurnah
In Conversation with Tope Folarin
-
Sep 14, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
Randall Munroe
In Conversation with Derek Thompson
-
Sep 15, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
LADYGANG Presents: The Lady Secrets Tour
-
Sep 20, 2022 • 8:00 pm ET
Al Di Meola
-
Sep 21, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
In Conversation with Soraya Chemaly
-
Sep 29, 2022 • 8:00 pm ET
RY X
-
Oct 2, 2022 • 7:30 pm ET
Pete Souza
-
Oct 11, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
Temple Grandin
-
Oct 13, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know
Ben Bowlin, Matthew Frederick, and Noel Brown
-
Oct 20, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET
Phil Rosenthal
-
Oct 22, 2022 • 8:00 pm ET
MATISYAHU