From the Pulpit to the Polls: The Role of Religion in Politics
April 24, 2008, 12:30pm – 2:00pm
A light lunch will be served at 12:00 pm.
Featured Panelists:
E. J. Dionne, Jr, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, syndicated columnist, and author of Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith & Politics After the Religious Right
Amy Sullivan, Nation editor at Time magazine and author of The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats Are Closing the God Gap
Jim Wallis, President and Executive Director, Sojourners, and author of The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America
Moderated by:
Shaun Casey, Professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary and Visiting Fellow with the Faith & Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress Action Fund
Welcome by:
Sally Steenland, Senior Policy Advisor, Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress Action Fund
Is the Religious Right dead? Has the left closed the "God gap?” What religious voices are speaking out on political issues—and how effective are they? What role should religion play in politics and presidential campaigns?
In a campaign season where two of the most significant speeches by presidential candidates have been about religion—Republican Mitt Romney speaking about being a Mormon and Democrat Barack Obama speaking about his former pastor—it is important to examine the power and influence of religion in politics.
E.J. Dionne, Amy Sullivan, and Jim Wallis are expert analysts of religion in public life. Each has a new book examining the changing religious and political landscape in our nation today. Their insights, inside stories, and keen analysis offer new and hopeful ways of thinking about religion and public life in the months and years ahead.
Copies of all three books will be available for purchase.
Resources
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Location
Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Map & Directions
Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center
The Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative of the Center for American Progress works to identify and articulate the moral-ethical and spiritual values underpinning policy issues, to shape a progressive stance in which these values are clear, and to increase public awareness and understanding of these values. The Initiative also works to safeguard the healthy separation of church and state that has allowed religion in our country to flourish. In all its efforts, the Initiative works for a society and government that strengthen the common good and respect the basic dignity of all people. The Initiative informs the wide-ranging efforts of the Center for American Progress to promote a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all.