People of different religious and societal persuasions should come together across the country on the issue of church and state, School of Law professor Jay Wexler said. The relationship between church and state in the U.S. turned to a lighthearted conversation on Tuesday night at the Barnes & Noble in Kenmore Square when Wexler entertained the crowd at the promotional event for his new book. Wexler read excerpts from ‘Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars’ to an audience of about 40 or so attendees, all of whom laughed with Wexler through his jokes, impersonations and anecdotes. Wexler set out on a road trip throughout the eastern and southern parts of the country, visiting the settings of some of the most widely known legislative decisions regarding church and state. ‘I wanted to explain to the lay audience what the issue of church and state means and explain it in very non-expert language,’ Wexler said. ‘I wanted to see the places I was teaching about and maybe make my classes better.” He said he seeks to clarify some common misconceptions about the laws surrounding the separation of government and religion. ‘People think the Supreme Court kicked prayer out of schools, but it’s not true,’ Wexler said. ‘It’s illegal to lead kids in prayer, to draft prayers in school, but the kids can make their own decisions. If they want to pray, they can.’ Wexler read from several chapters in his book, touching on the 1992 Lee v. Weisman decision that declared a rabbi’s prayer at a middle school graduation in Providence, R.I. unconstitutional.’ He also read an account of his travels to Santa Fe, during which, he said, he wanted to find out if the prayer ritual before the high school football games remained intact after it was deemed unconstitutional in 2000 under Santa Fe Independent School District v. Jane Doe.’ ‘I even got there an hour before the game to make sure I didn’t miss crucifixion reenactments or something,’ Wexler said. Though the prayers no longer occurred, Wexler said he was able to talk to a former Santa Fe Indians football player, who ‘went on a mini lecture on constitutional law,’ and boasted about his fighting skills and gun collection. ‘I didn’t agree with anything he was saying,’ Wexler said. ‘But it’s not helpful to start playing law professor in a football stadium. I do not like to challenge guys in Texas who like to fight and shoot guns.’ Jeanne Haight, assistant trade book manager at Barnes & Noble, said Wexler drew a fairly large audience. ‘The event was quite good,’ she said. ‘It was well attended. It definitely showed humor as well as explained the issues.’ One of Wexler’s former students, BU Law School alumnus Aaron Agulnek, said though he may be biased since he is a character in the book, he appreciates Wexler’s writing.’ ‘Aside from my personal interests, it is great reading,’ Agulnek said. ‘It’s an interesting topic and he has a masterful view of explaining.’ Wexler’s used these explanations when he took questions regarding the passion behind religion in schools. ‘Schools are battlegrounds where there is a fight over who will transmit value to the next generation,’ he said. ‘It’s not surprising to me that there’s such a disagreement over what the rules should be.’ When College of Communication junior Morgan True asked how this opinion related to President Obama’s recent address to school children, Wexler said the central issue is tolerance, no matter the viewpoint. ‘It seemed like a lot to do about not much, but it’s not surprising that people objected,’ he said. ‘But I think we have to remain civil and respect those with different views from our own.’ ‘ ‘We don’t get anywhere by insulting them. It really is possible to talk about these issues without losing our temper,’ he said.