Faith and Politics

Last night I spoke at Southwest Baptist Church in St. Louis. They were starting a series on faith and politics. Next week they will hear the state senator who represents the area where the church is, and the week after that they will watch and discuss the film Golden Rule Politics from the Baptist Center for Ethics (which is excellent). My topic was to address how we got to where we are today with religion and politics being so closely intertwined. The presentation, which traced political and religious changes during the past half century, came from my dissertation research (being asked to give this presentation helped push me along even more on the dissertation). It was a really exciting evening that I think led to some good questions and discussion. With so much attention being given to religion during this political season, it is good to see a church giving attention to these important issues and helping lead the discussion. If churches do not address important issues, then church members will seek answers elsewhere. Hopefully, more churches will offer a time for serious reflection on issues of faith and politics.