Contact: Chelsen Vicari, Institute on Religion & Democracy, 202-682-4131, 540-239-2170 cell, cvicari@theird.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Actor Richard Dreyfuss and Providence: A Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy Associate Editor Susannah Black today launch a new conversation about civics. Over the next five weeks, the Providence website will publish a series of exchanges between them: a correspondence in which they explore issues such as the potential of civic education to combat the appeal of groups like ISIS, the place of the Christian tradition in public life, and the roots of the ideas of the American founding.

Dreyfuss identifies an ignorance of civics on the part of the American electorate as "the equivalent of what doctors call 'invisible killers' like hypertension... Our respect for the system of Republican democracy is not something handed down by genetic structure or breathed in through the atmosphere. It must be taught. It isn't. And no one seems to make the connection between absence of civics and the spiral of civilizational decay we are all aware of."

Dreyfuss, an Academy Award winning actor and veteran of American film, television, and theater, has long been a proponent of civic education. He is the founder of The Dreyfuss Civics Initiative, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization aiming to revive the teachings of civics in American public schools and he speaks frequently on topics of civic engagement and participation.

With the publication of their correspondence, Dreyfuss and Black hope to encourage reflection and discussion on these topics. "Richard and I may not agree," says Black, "on the source of the injustice which government ought to aim to uphold. But we have always found our disagreement both interesting and fruitful. We hope, with this series, to invite others to join in this conversation; to encourage others to return to the sources of the political tradition that he and I -- in different ways --find so compelling."

Providence is published by The Institute on Religion and Democracy and The Philos Project. It is a community of primarily Protestants and Evangelicals addressing national security and global statecraft through the lens of historic Christian thinking.

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