American Gospel (Meacham) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for American Gospel:

1. Begin by talking about the religious views of each of the Founding Fathers. In their writings, they considered religion to be the basis for morality, but what were their individual, personal religious beliefs? Were they Deists, Christians, or aethists? Or doesn't it matter?

2. Why did the Founding Fathers consider religion important for the nation? What role did they envision it playing in communal life and in government? What was meant by "religious freedom"? What do we mean by it today? What about the phrase "separation of church and state"—where did it come from and what did it mean, then and now?

3. Jon Meacham says of the early years of this nation that "their time is like our time." What does he mean...and do you agree?

4. How would you describe the religious environment in colonial, revolutionary and post-revolutionary times? Why, for instance, in 1774 was there opposition to prayer in the Continental Congress? Why did the Episcopalians object?

5. In a treaty ratified by the Senate in 1797, John Adams wrote that "the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion," a statement that has caused much discussion and controversy as to its intent. What does Meacham have to say about Adam's statement? In what context does he place it?

6. Overall do you find that Meacham's discussion of religion in politics—arguably America's most divisive issue—makes any progress in moderating the subject? Do you find his book satisfying...enlightening...or off the mark? Has it altererd, or confirmed, your understanding of the place of religion in America?

7. Meacham seems to place himself in the middle: neither a religious zealot nor a diehard aethist. What does it mean to be moderate, to be in the middle of the road when it comes to religion in public life? Is compromise weakness, a betrayal of deeply held principles? Or is moderation the basis of tolerance? Where do you place yourself?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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