In the waning weeks of what has felt like an endless campaign season, millions of Americans are gearing up to vote – and many already have, as states across the country report record high turnout levels for early voting. Faith organizations of all theologies and denominations – Interfaith Alliance included – are encouraging people to exercise their right to vote, as it is one of the most direct ways we can impact the moral arc of our nation. On this week’s episode of State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we will take the pulse of religion and politics in today’s America, just over one week out from election day.
How QAnon uses religion to lure unsuspecting Christians. It’s a chilling headline, and we’ll get details when the author, CNN religion editor Daniel Burke, joins Rev. Welton Gaddy, host of State of Belief, to discuss the conspiracy and the troubling rise of such theories more broadly in American politics.
As the founding Executive Director of Faith in Public Life Action, Rev. Jennifer Butler has long used lessons of faith to fight for justice. She will join Welton to discuss her recent Religion News Service column, headlined As political violence rises, we need peacemakers at the polls, as well as her new book Who Stole My Bible? Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny, which sounds the alarm about those who hijack religion for partisan, political purposes and lays a path forward to ensure that religion does not become completely consumed by partisan politics.
Every year, the Public Religion Research Institute issues a comprehensive American Values Survey which takes the pulse of Americans on the key issues of the day. The 2020 Survey is full of surprises, and this week, Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI, will speak with Welton about some of the more surprising results, including partisan divisions over certain beliefs.
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