A few years ago, as the debate raged over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, religion scholar Stephen Prothero watched and wondered what all the fuss was about. Hoping to better understand our current culture wars, he began researching similar clashes in America’s past, and he arrived at a provocative conclusion. Conservatives, Prothero says, almost always start the culture wars, and, equally often, liberals end up winning. Thursday, we’ll talk to Prothero about America’s long history of moral and religious battles and why liberals win.

On Thursday, October 6, Stephen Prothero will be at the Salt Lake Public Library to talk about and sign his new book Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars. It’s an event presented by the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah, and it’s free and open to the public. DETAILS

Stephen Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Slate, Salon, and other publications. He’s the author of several books. His newest is called Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections) [Amazon|Indiebound].