Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Politics Needs Religion: Faithful Engagement in the Public Square




Listen here:


0:01: Intro
4:34: Dr. Sweetman discusses two different reasons why politics needs religion
7:11: Dr. Sweetman describes why he wrote his book
8:25: Sweetman on the difference between religious affiliation and religiosity
10:04: Sweetman on Pew Forum poll regarding a candidates religious preferences and their favorability
11:53: Sweetman on the marks of a worldview; how we invoke our worldview; secularism is itself a worldview
14:00: Sweetman on political candidates appealing to a large number of worldviews
17:26: Sweetman on the role of religion in the 2008 election cycle
19:57: Introduction to interview with the Rev. Brian Ellison
20:42: Ellison describes his Sunday School class on religion and politics
23:30: Ellison describes the discussion of the way religion is used (ie - Christians on Islamic Fundamentalism)
25:18: Ellison on Gov. Mitt Romney's Faith in America address, and the simplification of religious faith
27:24: Ellison on the benefit of the class to the church members
28:26: Ellison on the diversity of the congregation and town
30:27: Ellison on the class members' suspicion regarding faith statements by politicians
31:20: Ellison on the benefit and health of honest disagreement
31:35: Ellison on the inability to separate politics from the practice of faith
32:37: Ellison on shepherding a diverse political congregation; on giving members tools to engage the political sphere
37:00: Ellison on the diversity of theological interpretation based on political and cultural context
38:18: Ellison on his own political involvement
43:04: An "Open Letter" to President Bush
49:00: Promo of next week's show: The Rev. Dr. Eric Elnes, author of The Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of Christianity

(image: "The Lecture" by James M. Thorne)

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