Religious Literacy by Prothero

I really enjoyed this book because it had a significant effect on my understanding of US history.

This book is divided into three sections.  The first part, "The Problem" gives data and anecdotes to support the author's claim that Americans have no clue about religion.  It had a bit of a "preaching to the choir" feel to it.

The second part, "The Past", was the most interesting for me.  It lays out a brief history of how religion and religious education has changed in the US over time.  I had no idea about a lot of it, and it explained a lot of things about American Christianity that confused me.

The third part, "The Proposal", gives the author's plan for reversing the effect of history along with a short dictionary of religious terms that one should be familiar with as an American citizen.  I found the dictionary interesting to read through (this coming from a girl who used to read the encyclopedia for fun as a child), and I liked how Prothero explained why the term was important to American politics/society.

All in all I'm glad I read it, though I could have done without most of it.  Anyway, I plan on checking out some of the references for more in-depth explanations.