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Francis Beckwith on Taking Rites Seriously

tonygill — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 08:00:07 +0000

Are religious individuals and arguments disadvantaged by certain intellectual arguments in our legal system? Prof. Francis Beckwith, a professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies at Baylor University, argues that “secular rationalism” has arisen in intellectual circles as a means of dismissing the argumentation of religious individuals on a variety of social and legal issues. He explains the concept of “secular rationalism,” why scholars adhering to it tend to dismiss religious reasoning (as not being “reason” at all), and then critiques it as being epistemically suspect, not to mention that it begs several substantive questions. We then explore how a preference for secular rationalism in the legal system affects religious freedom. We review a number of cases where this manifests itself, including cases involving abortion and contraception (Webster v Reproductive Health Services, Burwell v Hobby Lobby), the Pledge of Allegiance (Newdow v Elk Grove School District), intelligent design and evolution (Kitzmiller v Dover, Edwards v Aguillard), and cases involving Sikh religious rights. Frank talks about how his views of intelligent design and the rhetoric surround it have evolved (yes, that is a play on words), and where he thinks our culture is heading with respect to religious rights in the U.S. legal system. Recorded: April 12, 2016.

Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith, by Francis Beckwith.

A Second Look at First Things: A Case for Conservative Politics: The Hadley Arkes Festschrift, edited by Francis Beckwith, Robert P. George, and Susan McWilliams.

Politics for Christians: Statecraft as Soulcraft, by Francis Beckwith.

Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic, by Francis Beckwith.

RELATED PODCASTS

Matthew Franck on Hobby Lobby and Religious Freedom Jurisprudence.

John Inazu on the Four Freedoms, Religious Liberty, and Assembly.

David Cortman on Religious Liberty Updates.

Robert P. George on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Matthew Franck on Hosanna-Tabor and Ministerial Exemptions.

Phillip Muñoz on Catholic Bishops, Religious Liberty, and Health Care Mandates.

Hunter Baker on Secularism.

David Campbell & Quin Monson on Mormons & Politics in America

tonygill — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 09:00:58 +0000

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Are Mormons a “peculiar people,” particularly as it pertains to politics? Two LDS political scientists — David E Campbell of Notre Dame and J Quin Monson of Brigham Young University — join us in our first-ever dual guest appearance to discuss this topic. We examine a variety of research findings recently published in their book Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons and American Politics, also written with John C Green (who is not a Mormon).

After a bit of personal revelations by our two guests, we jump first into a bit of sociology of religion and explore the unique distinctiveness of the Latter Day Saints. Prof. Monson elaborates on what the authors call the “paradox of Mormonism,” wherein the LDS are a quintessentially American faith, but also “outside” of American culture. We examine whether Mormons can be called a distinct religio-ethnic group, perhaps akin to Jews. Both Dave and Quin share some personal experiences growing up and being educated outside of the Mormon heartland of Utah, and they school Tony in what it means to “speak Mormon.” In respect to this “paradox of Mormonism,” Tony wonders why the LDS remain one of the most devoutly patriotic subgroups in America despite having faced enormous persecution throughout their history.

We then turn to the political identify of Mormons and Tony points out that few, if any, presidential candidates ever make a whistle stop in Utah. Prof. Campbell explains that Mormons are remarkably cohesive in their Republican affiliation (much like African-American Protestants and Jews when it comes to the Democrat Party), but it wasn’t always this way. Dave covers the Mormon partisan re-alignment that has occurred over the past half century or so and in the process we review one of our favorite topics — the God gap, an increasing cross-denominational tendency for those who are deeply religious to prefer the GOP, while secular society has trended Democrat. (See our list of additional podcasts on this topic below.) We also cover a series of specific issues to note that Mormons are not necessarily monolithic in their views and often have political preferences that are a bit at odds with the Republican base, particularly when it comes to immigration. We discuss the reasons for this more pro-immigrant stance and how it might relate to the missionary goals of the LDS. Tony also brings up the issue of school choice vouchers, a GOP-favored policy, and how it went down to a resounding defeat in Utah several years back. Both Quin and Dave offer their explanations.

We follow the discussion on political preferences with an examination of whether or not religious leaders influence the voting behavior of the LDS laity. We talk a bit about the organizational structure of the church. Quin points out that there is virtually no politicking that goes on from the pulpit, but there are numerous conversations in the hallways of the ward (i.e., the LDS version of a parish or congregation). Tony brings up the recent case of Mormon involvement supporting Proposition 8, a California initiative that was designed to reverse a state supreme court ruling and define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman. The LDS Church and many of its individual members took a great deal of heat for their support of Proposition 8, and this leads us to a discussion of the efficacy of religious groups becoming closely involved in political causes.

We finish with some reflections on whether or not Mormons have broken the political “glass ceiling” with the recent presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012. Dave brings up some thoughts about how this campaign both affected the perception of Mormons in politics — with Republicans becoming more friendly to the denomination while Democrats became a bit more negative on it — and how Mitt affected Mormonism itself. We close with the two authors giving their personal reflections on what they learned throughout the process of writing their book. Recorded: October 31, 2014.

RELATED LINKS

Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons and American Politics, by David E Campbell, John C Green, and J Quin Monson.

David E Campbell’s bio at University of Notre Dame’s political science department.

J Quin Monson’s bio at Brigham Young University’s political science department.

American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, by Robert Putnam and David E Campbell.

RELATED PODCASTS

Lynita Newswander on Mormons in America

Allison Pond on Being a Mormon Missionary

Patrick Mason on Anti-Mormonism and Mitt Romney

Michael McBride on Religious Free-Riding and the Mormon Church

David Smith on Episodic Religious Persecutions

Jeremy Lott on Mormons, Pope Francis, and Ugly Churches

Ken Wald on the Puzzling Politics of American Jews

Corwin Smidt on Religion, Elections and the God Gap

Gerald De Maio on the Electoral Religion Gap

Jeremy Lott on America’s Shifting Religious Election Coalition

tonygill — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:00:19 +0000

What hath Election 2012 wrought? Are we witnessing a re-alignment of religious voters with Catholics shifting away from the Democrats and evangelicals becoming comfortable with a Mormon running for national office? Jeremy Lott, author and editor of RealClearReligion (among other sites), joins us to talk about his new, free e-book entitled Mitt Romney’s Mormon-Christian Coalition. We start off first, though, by examining if there have been any trends in how the media have dealt with the religious angle in the current election. Jeremy’s role with RealClearReligion gives him an advantage in answering this question and he provides some interesting insights on how places like The New York Times have covered religion. We then spend a short bit of time to look at how atheists have tried to get in the mix of electoral politics by putting up images of Jesus on toast and a man in glowing underwear before the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Our discussion then turns to how Democrats have dealt with religion in recent years and how President Obama’s seeming lack of faith (as viewed in opinion polls) and how the debate over contraception and abortion in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) has affected religious voters, particularly Catholics. Indeed, the politics behind getting Obamacare passed and how regulations were later imposed despite initial understandings of what that legislation would do may have shattered a fragile coalition that Democrats have maintained with Catholics since Roe v Wade and the Hyde Amendment prohibiting funding for abortion at the federal level. Tony wonders how much lay Catholic voters will respond to criticisms of the Obama Administration levelled by various Catholic Church leaders. We then look at how Mitt Romney may be using this growing rift to his advantage, in part by choosing Paul Ryan, a practicing Catholic, as his running mate. We also look at how Romney has tried to assuage the fears of evangelical leaders who have had a suspicion of Mormon religious views, and how Romney infused the Republican National Convention with how Mormon values are American values without making overt appeals to Mormonism. Jeremy also notes how Mitt’s missionary background has been influential in crafting his political career, including a life-threatening car crash. The claim is made that his ability to speak to different audiences as a missionary has affected how he positions himself on various political issues, sometimes giving him the image of being a flip-flopper. But Jeremy notes that this is also an indication of how Romney learns over time and that there is no “Romney-ism” but rather a pragmatic turn-around artist who is also a skillful politician. During an earlier point in the podcast, Jeremy claims that he will “eat his hat” if the Republicans take Pennsylvania in the presidential election, a claim that Tony intends to revisit in several weeks. Recorded: October 15, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Real Clear Religion. (You can access Real Clear Politics, Real Clear Books, Real Clear Science and other portals at this website as well.)

Jeremy Lott’s Diary on Patheos.com (pithy and profound insights galore).

Mitt Romney’s Mormon-Christian Coalition by Jeremy Lott courtesy of Human Events (asks for your email to download).

In Defense of Hypocrisy: Picking Sides in the War on Virtue, by Jeremy A. Lott.

The Warm Bucket Brigade: The Story of the American Vice Presidency, by Jeremy A. Lott.

William F. Buckley (Christian Encouter Series), by Jeremy A. Lott.

I’ll Never Forget It: Memoirs of a Political Accident from East Baltimore, by Marvin Mandel, Jeremy Lott, and Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.

RELATED PODCASTS

Jeremy Lott on Episcopalians, Ex-Athiests, Health Care, and German Circumcision.

Jeremy Lott on Real Clear Religion.

Philip Muñoz on Catholic Bishops, Religious Liberty, and Health Care Mandates.

Gerald de Maio on the Electoral Religion Gap.

Corwin Smidt on Religion, Elections, and the God Gap.

Kevin Cooney on Christianity in Japan

tonygill — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:00:31 +0000

Welcome RealClearReligion visitors. Please help us get to 300 “likes” on our Facebook Fan Page and get weekly updates and cool promo photos of upcoming issues.

Japan is not known for being an overly religious country. Indeed, compared to its neighbors in Korea and even the People’s Republic of China, the Japanese look downright secular. Prof. Kevin Cooney of Northwest University joins us to talk about the interesting religious landscape in Japan. Having lived there for five years as a Christian, Kevin offers some unique insights on Shintoism, Buddhism, and Christianity. We start with a general survey of what Japan would look like spiritually to a person who just stepped off an airplane in Tokyo today. This leads to a bit of a discussion on Shintoism and Buddhism. However, Tony asks Kevin what it was like to live as a practicing Christian in Japan where only 1% of the population identifies as such. This sets off a discussion about the “secret history” of Christianity that dates back to the “Church of the East” (sometimes referred to as the Nestorian Church). This history pre-dates the arrival of the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier who arrived on the shores of Japan in the early 1549. We then map out what happens to Christianity in the subsequent centuries, particularly when Christians are forced underground in the midst of religious persecution. Kevin tells interesting stories of how underground mining museums still present representations of Christians being married by priests, and we also cover how these Christians were forgotten by the Vatican yet remained rather orthodox (small “o”) in their theological outlook. Our journey continues through the Meiji and Toisho eras and through World War II where, ironically, the largest concentration of Christians in Japan was destroyed in the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. What happens after this event, particularly the disillusionment following Emperor Hirohito’s surrender and announcement that he was not of divine character, sets up our conversation to again examine the contemporary religious landscape of Japan. Kevin shares his thoughts on why Christianity has taken firmer hold in South Korea and China as compared to Japan. We leave off with an intersting discussion of fertility rates, how this relates to religion, and the future of the Japanese nation. Recorded: September 29, 2012 in Match Coffee & Wine Bar (Duvall, WA).

RELATED LINKS

Kevin Cooney’s website at Northwest University.

RELATED PODCASTS

Kevin Cooney on Religion and the Rule of Law in China.

Hunter Baker on Secularism

tonygill — Mon, 28 May 2012 08:00:15 +0000

What role should religion be allowed to play in the public square? With a presidential election heating up, this question will undoubtedly be debated time and time again. Research on Religion jumps headfirst into this debate with Prof. Hunter Baker, an associate professor of political science and the associate dean of Arts & Sciences at Union University. Prof. Baker discusses his recent book, The End of Secularism.

We start with a bit of revealing banter about the cover of that book but quickly turn our attention to more academic discussion of secularization theory and its ideological outgrowth, “secularism.” Hunter defines “secularism” as an ideological position wherein religious practice and discourse must be removed from public visibility, either physically in terms of the display of religious symbols (e.g., creche scenes) or rhetorically in terms of how religious ideas influence policy. He argues that while many people feel that a secular public square provides a neutral ground for persons of all different creeds, in reality such a view privileges this specific ideology of secularism and thereby excluding alternative voices from being heard. Hunger further notes that secularism is often applied selectively depending on what political or economic issue is at stake. This is aptly illustrated with a comparison of how Judge Roy Moore was vilified when he tried to display the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, whereas the efforts of Susan Pace Hamill and Governor Bob Riley explicitly used religious justifications for implementing a progressive tax structure in Alabama.

When pressed as to whether secularism as an ideology is gaining an upper hand in America, Prof. Baker acknowledges that it may be in terms of displaying Nativity scenes on public property, but that attitudes towards rhetoric are changing so as to consider religiously-influenced speech to be more acceptable today than compared to the past few decades. A spirited discussion over whether city hall should display a creche around Christmas reveals some interesting insights, with the conversation then veering into the realm of public education, John Stuart Mill, and school choice.

Prof. Baker then reviews and critiques a number of arguments that have been advanced for supporting a secularist vision of governance over one that has religious mixed in, including ideas that religious conflict gives rise to violence, that science is a much better guide for life than religious faith, and whether or not secularism can generate its own moral code of behavior without relying upon Christian foundations. This leads to a discussion of moral relativism and Prof. Baker noting that those who claim relativism are not as relativistic as they seem. Tony then asks Hunter what a world without secularism as a guiding principle looks like and he answers that we already have a working model of that world here in the United States, which in turn generates an interesting comparison with other nations, most notably Sweden. We discuss education policy and health care mandates along the way to our concluding segment wherein Prof. Baker gives his prognostication about the future of secularism and religious liberty in the U.S. Recorded: May 9, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Hunter Baker’s biography at academia.edu, Union University.

The End of Secularism, by Hunter Baker. Click on this site to see the cover, which we talk about early in the interview.

“Reflections on the Spirit of the Age,” a blog by Hunter Baker.

Political Thought: A Student’s Guide, by Hunter Baker (available July 2012).

RELATED PODCASTS

Phillip Muñoz on Catholic Bishops, Religious Liberty, and Health Care Mandates.

Luis Bolce on the Media and Anti-Fundamentalism.

Douglas Baker on Dominionism, Michelle Bachman, and Rick Perry.

William Donohue on Secular Sabotage.

Jon Shields on Democratic Virtues and the Christian Right.

Phillip Muñoz on Catholic Bishops, Religious Liberty, and Health Care Mandates

tonygill — Mon, 07 May 2012 08:00:11 +0000

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently released a document on religious liberty that criticized a new regulatory provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a., Obamacare) requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraceptions, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. Prof. Phillip Muñoz, the Tocqueville Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and an associate professor in the Notre Dame Law School, helps us wade through this controversy by explaining the bishops’ argument and how it relates to religious liberty. After briefly outlining the controversy, we take up the initial issue of religious liberty with Phillip discussing what it means to have a right to religious liberty and then outlining the Catholic position on religious freedom. We use the realm of educational policy to help frame the general theoretical and political issue, specifically pointing to the Wisconsin v Yoder Supreme Court case that challenged whether Amish citizens could exempt their children from mandatory schooling laws based on religious grounds. Cases of parents refusing to have their children vaccinated for theological reasons is also discussed, and we note the tension between trying to balance the public interest with the right to individual conscience. Following this general discussion, we return to the recent health care mandate, discussing the politics behind the new regulations and the Catholic bishops’ reaction. Prof. Muñoz notes how the Catholic Church’s response was not to ask for particular exemptions from these regulations for their institutions (including dioceses, hospitals, and universities), but rather to oppose the mandate on a more general ground. It is noted that it is not just Church-owned institutions that are affected, but these regulations can have an impact on secular business owners who may be Catholic and/or simply opposed to paying for the contraception and abortions of their employees. The reaction of the Obama administration, including the testimony of HHS Director Kathleen Sebelius, is considered. Phillip notes how the issue of religious freedom, or the desire to opt out of these policies on grounds of moral conscience, never really occured to the people drafting and implementing the regulations. Tony then asks Phillip about a tension he has noticed within Catholic social thought, between a tendency among bishops and other Church leaders to prefer a larger government-run welfare system and the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. That latter principle states that social problems should be handled at the lowest level possible, a philosophy akin to notions of federalism and a more laissez-faire political philosophy. We speculate about how this issue may affect the upcoming presidential election, and Tony asks Phillip how much sway the opinion and pronouncement of bishops has over Catholic voters. We finish our discussion by noting that the letter drafted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also contained concerns over violations of religious freedom in other areas of public policy, including the immigration issue. Here, the bishops appear to stand with the Obama administration in opposing recent laws in Alabama and elsewhere that make it difficult for the Catholic Church to minister to undocumented immigrants. We end the podcast with Phillip reading the prayer that the bishops used to close their pastoral letter, a salient reminder of how the secular and the sacred cross paths in the public square and the importance that freedom represents to a religious society. Recorded: May 2, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Phillip Muñoz’s biography and website at Notre Dame.

God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson, by Vincent Phillip Muñoz.

“Catholic Bishops Take on Obama,” by Vincent Phillip Muñoz in The Weekly Standard.

“Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty,” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.

Wisconsin v Yoder Supreme Court Case (mentioned in podcast).

HHS Director Kathleen Sebelius testimony on contraception mandate and religious liberty, mentioned in the podcast (from GetReligion).

RELATED PODCASTS

Joe Fuiten on Clergy and Politics.

Erik Stanley on Clergy & Free Speech.

Corwin Smidt on Religion, Elections, and the God Gap.

Allen Hertzke on Religious Liberty.

Bradley Wright on the Upside of Life

tonygill — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:00:08 +0000

If you are feeling depressed about all the horrible news you’ve been hearing recently, Prof. Bradly R.E. Wright — associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut — returns to Research on Religion to deliver you some upbeat news from his recently published book Upside. Brad starts by reminding Tony that it was the Connecticut Huskies, not the Washington ones, that recently won a basketball championship and that is one of the reasons he is in a good mood. But more than that, Prof. Wright shares a number of suprising statistical trends that show the world is becoming a better place all around. We begin our discussion with the state of the economy, covering growing wealth in the US and the world over the past 50 years. This discussion covers the oft-repeated claim that the middle class is disappearing and we take a closer look at income inequality. Our attention then turns to crime , showing that crime rates have decreased significantly since the 1970s. The middle part of our interview takes a step sideways to reflect upon why so many people think the world is getting worse even though the statistical record suggests otherwise. We look at the role of the media, clergy, and academics in perpetuating negative information about the state of the world. After this discussion we move on to health, happiness, marriage, and the environment, before closing with reflections on whether Christianity is on the brink of disappearing. Throughout this podcast, Brad spices up his statistics with stories about how Christians are actively engaged in making a positive difference in people’s lives. Listen until the end to discover what prescriptions Prof. Wright has for continuing the positive trends we’ve seen over the past half century. Recorded: June 7, 2011.

RELATED SITES

Bradley Wright’s website and blog.

Upside: Surprising GOOD NEWS About the State of Our World by Bradley R.E. Wright.

Christians Are Hate Filled Hypocrites … and Other Lies You’ve Been Told by Bradley R.E. Wright.

News about the North Korean happiness survey, ranking China and North Korea #1 and #2 respectively!

Urban Ministry website.

HOPE International website.

RELATED PODCASTS

Paul Froese on America’s Four Gods

tonygill — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:00:38 +0000

Prof. Paul Froese — associate professor of sociology at Baylor University and research fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion — discusses his critically-acclaimed book America’s Four Gods (co-authored with Chris Bader). Unlike many surveys of religion that simply ask if a person believes in God, these authors examine how different people conceptualize God and find four relatively distinct images that Americans have of God based upon two important dimensions — the level of engagment that people think God has with this world, and the extent they think God is judgmental of humanity. We cover the four principal images of God, including: Authoritative God (engaged and judgmental); Benevolent God (engaged, but less judgmental); Critical God (not engaged, but judgmental); and Distant God (not engaged and not judgmental). Paul details the socio-demographic and denominational characteristics associated with each of the four conceptualizations of God and discusses how different regions of the United States tend to favor different visions of God. We further talk about how these foundational images affect our beliefs in different areas of life including cultural issues such as abortion and adultery, the relationship between science and faith, support for social welfare policies, and how people view natural disasters and war. Your host took the authors’ online survey and reveals what those questions said about his image of God. Recorded: December 15, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Paul Froese’s website at Baylor University.

The America’s Four Gods website (including the God test and Images of God).

America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God & What that Says about Us by Paul Froese and Chris Bader.

The Plot to Kill God: Findings from the Soviet Experiment in Secularization by Paul Froese.

RELATED PODCASTS

James Wellman on Evangelical versus Liberal Christians.

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Iniative.

Chris Bader on Ghosts, UFOs, and the Paranormal.

Jon Shields on Democratic Virtues & the Christian Right

tonygill — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:15 +0000

Prof. Jonathan A. Shields (assistant professor of government, Claremont McKenna College) talks about about his latest book, The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right, with Tony. Whereas popular media accounts of the Christian Right during the 1980s portrayed this loosely knit movement as belligerent, Prof. Shields finds that Christian activists are often trained to press their issues in the public arena in ways that facilitate deliberative democracy. Taking the pro-life movement as his primary test case, he examines how this movement has evolved over the past four decades. Jon interestingly notes that the anti-abortion movement had its roots in Catholic progressivism and the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s. During the 1970s, evangelical Protestant Christians became increasingly involved in promoting a pro-life agenda. We examine Operation Rescue, one of the more confrontational groups within this movement and explore why it eventually fizzled out as a major organization, and what strategies and organizations played a more prominent (albeit quieter) role, including the National Right to Life Committee. Jon covers some of the strategies and training methods activists use that promote democratic norms and enhance issue deliberation. We broaden our discussion to examine the rise and decline of the Moral Majority and what groups such as the Christian Coalition have done in its place. Contrary to what one might glean from media reports over the past several decades, evangelical Christians have become more politically active in the 1990s and continue to be in the first decade of the 21st century. We finish off with some thoughts about the future of the Christian Right and the role it may be playing in the Tea Party movement. Recorded: November 2, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right by Jonathan A. Shields.

RELATED PODCASTS

David Brody on the 2010 Midterm Elections and Religious Journalism.

Corwin Smidt on Religion, Elections, and the God Gap.

David Brody on the 2010 Midterm Elections and Religious Journalism

tonygill — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:42 +0000

What role did religion play in the 2010 midterm US elections? While scholarly assessments of this question may take awhile to be published, we turn to David Brody, chief political correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), to get his perspective from inside the beltway. Mr. Brody — an Emmy Award-winning journalist and frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News — has interviewed a number of prominent politicians who played a role in the recent elections, including Barack Obama, John McCain, Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle. He shares his unique perspective on being a journalist for a religiously-affiliated news outlet regarding how the the 2008 and 2010 elections played out and what changes occured in the religious and political landscape over the past two years. We talk about the role that evangelicals played in the Tea Party movement, a story that Mr. Brody considers to be one of the most under-reported stories of the election. Our discussion also covers what happened to pro-life Democrats following their vote for major changes in health care insurance, the consequence for three Iowa judges following their decision to overturn a voter iniative on gay marriage, and what role religion played in the candidacies of Christine O’Donnell (Delaware) and Sharron Angle (Nevada). We explore the various tensions between evangelical Christians, secular libertarians and Mormons within the Tea Party phenomenon and David tells us about where “teavangelicals” came from. David also offers up some thoughts on the upcoming 2012 presidential election. We finish with an interesting discussion on what life is like for a Christian journalist in Washington, DC and a secular media world. Recorded: November 9, 2010.

NOTE: Shortly after posting this podcast, David Brody was promoted from wnior White House correspondent to chief political correspondent at CBN. Us folks at Research on Religion can only assume that we played a vital role in this promotion. After all, once you are on RoR, you’ve reached the pinnacle of your profession.

The Brody File blog on CBN.

RELATED LINKS

Corwin Smidt on Religion, Elecctions and the God Gap.