LEWISBURG -- A panel of distinguished religion experts representing a broad spectrum of thought will examine "Religion and Politics in America" in a Bucknell Forum discussion Wednesday, Feb. 6.

The 7:30 p.m. panel discussion will be held in Trout Auditorium at Bucknell University. It is free and open to the public.

It is the fifth event in the national speaker series, "The Bucknell Forum: The Citizen & Politics in America," which started September 2007 and will continue to the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States in January 2009.

Tony Massoud, associate professor of political science and a member of the national speaker series task force, said that even before the 2008 presidential field narrowed religion was playing a significant role in shaping the views that citizens have of presidential candidates.

"Are religion and politics inseparable in America?" said Massoud. "Our panel of religion experts will help explain and, perhaps, define what role religion is playing in today's fabric of partisan politics."

The panel will include:

Obery Hendricks, professor of biblical interpretation at the New York Theological Seminary;

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission;

Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life; and

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Julie Segal Walters, founder of Civic Action Strategies, will be the moderator. An attorney specializing in strategic planning and mobilizing citizen political actions, Walters has appeared as a commentator on religion and politics on National Public Radio, Court TV, C-Span, and Univision.

"The Bucknell Forum: The Citizen & Politics in America" is a national speakers series exploring major issues in the 2008 presidential election, notably those at the forefront of the national discourse. The series features nationally renowned leaders, scholars, and commentators exploring these issues from multi-disciplinary perspectives and offers opportunities for campus and community conversations.

In January, CNBC-TV "Mad Money" host, best-selling author, and Wall Street investor Jim Cramer is scheduled to give a talk titled, "The Capitalist Citizen and Democracy."

On March 17, best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich will speak on "Class, Citizenship, and the Presidency." Pulitzer-prize winning syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts will speak on March 24.