Профессор Бойсе-Стейт обсудит связь христианства и национальной идентичности США в Кетчеме

Serving Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Carey August 29, 2026 The Community Library on Thursday will host a talk by Boise State University professor Sam Martin about the entanglement of Christianity and U.S. national identity. Boise State University professor Sam Martin will give a talk in Ketchum at The Community Library on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. about the historical intersection between Christianity and national identity in the U.S. The talk is presented in partnership with Idaho Solutions, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Mormon Women for Ethical Government — Idaho, Idaho Leaders United and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Wood River Valley. Martin wrote for a Community Library press release that her talk will focus on “examining the United States’ enduring entanglement of religion and national identity, questioning the assumption that the separation of church and state ever produced a purely secular public sphere.” Martin is the Frank and Bethine Church endowed chair of public affairs in the School of Public Service at BSU and vice chair of the nonprofit National Communication Association. “Dr. Martin brings nearly 20 years of experience in corporate, media and political campaign work to bear in her research, which investigates the discourse of conservative social movements in the contemporary United States,” states her personal profile on the BSU website. Martin is the author of “Decoding the Digital Church: Evangelical Storytelling and the Election of Donald J. Trump” and other books. “In political news right now, we encounter an assertion of Christian nationalists that there is a link between being a good citizen and having faith and patriotism,” Martin said in an interview. She said other “culturally-Christian” nations, such as Britain and France, have established state religions, whereas the U.S. does not, and that, perhaps paradoxically, they are more secular than the U.S. The press release states that Martin’s talk will “invite the audience to consider what it has meant and continues to mean to call the United States both a secular republic and a culturally Christian nation.” Rather than arguing for or against the Christian tradition, Martin wrote, she “looks to interrogate how its persistence reveals something fundamental about American political culture.” To register for in-person attendance or to livestream the event, visit comlib.org/events.