As a sitting member of the Maine House of Representatives, Sean Faircloth once gave an opening "prayer" that quoted Susan Jacoby's Freethinkers instead of any religious text.
After five terms on the Maine legislature, he spent two years as the Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America, and is currently the Strategic and Policy Director for the Richard Dawkins Foundation. So on issues of religion in government, his opinions are supported by a wealth of real experience. And what is that opinion? The title of his book doesn't leave a lot of room for misinterpretation. Attack of the Theocrats! How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What We Can Do About It lays out Faircloth's vision to reclaim the United States as the truly secular nation it once was.
There's a reasonable chance that staunch and outspoken Catholic Tony Abbott will be our next Prime Minister, so this is not purely an academic issue for Australians. On April 2, Faircloth will be at Boffins from 12:30pm to sign copies of Attack of the Theocrats before delivering a public lecture, "Reclaiming a Secular Australia" at UWA in the evening. Our afternoon book signing is free to all, and tickets Sean's lecture can be purchased through UWA.
