Stephen Prothero
Encyclopedia
Stephen Prothero is a professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University
and the author of numerous books on religion in America.
He has commented on religion on dozens of National Public Radio programs and on television on CNN
, NBC
, CBS
, Fox
, PBS
, MSNBC
, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report. A regular contributor to USA Today
, he has also written for The New York Times Magazine
, The New York Times Book Review
, Slate
, Salon.com
, The Washington Post
, the Los Angeles Times
, The Boston Globe
and The Wall Street Journal
.
Prothero has argued for mandatory public school Bible literacy courses (along the lines of the Bible Literacy Project's The Bible and Its Influence
), along with mandatory courses on world religions. Prothero describes himself as "religiously confused."
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and the author of numerous books on religion in America.
He has commented on religion on dozens of National Public Radio programs and on television on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report. A regular contributor to USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, he has also written for The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
, The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
.
Prothero has argued for mandatory public school Bible literacy courses (along the lines of the Bible Literacy Project's The Bible and Its Influence
The Bible and Its Influence
The Bible and Its Influence is a textbook first published in 2005 to facilitate teaching about the Bible in American public high schools. Its publishers, the Bible Literacy Project, say the textbook allows schools to study the Bible academically while fully respecting the Establishment Clause of...
), along with mandatory courses on world religions. Prothero describes himself as "religiously confused."
Books
- God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World—and Why Their Differences Matter (2010, ISBN 9780061571275)
- Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn't (2007, ISBN 0060846704)
- A Nation of Religions: The Politics of Pluralism in Multireligious America (2006, ISBN 080785770X)
- American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon (2003, ISBN 0374529566)
- Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America (2001, ISBN 0520236882)
- The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott (1996, ISBN 0520236882)
Television appearances
- March 19, 2007 - Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml - June 5, 2010 - After WordsAfter WordsAfter Words is an American television series on the C-SPAN2 network’s weekend programming schedule known as Book TV. The program is an hour-long talk show, each week featuring an interview with the author of a new nonfiction book. The program has no regular host...
http://www.booktv.org/Program/11556/After+Words+Stephen+Prothero+God+is+Not+One+interviewed+by+Sally+Quinn.aspx - June 14, 2010 - The Colbert Report http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/312500/june-14-2010/stephen-prothero
- October 12, 2010 - The Emily Rooney Show http://www.wgbh.org/programs/episode.cfm?featureid=18789
- March 29, 2011 - The Colbert Report