Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together
by By Danforth, John
Category: Religion , Religion, Politics & State

As a three-term Republican senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest, John Danforth has watched the changes in his party and the church with growing alarm. Now he wants to voice his concerns and call for change. Danforth speaks out clearly against the religious right's conflation of their political agenda with a religious agenda. He castigates the religious right for their focus on wedge issues that drive people apart and that create "tests" for religious orthodoxy. He looks closely at many of the major wedge issues of our day: abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, the Schiavo case, and public displays of religion; and provides a blueprint for moving forward by calling for Christians to look ways in which they can practice their faith day to day so as to inspire a trust and focus on common ground, not fringe issues.--From publisher description.A former senator and Episcopal priest examines the controversial intersection of religion and politics in America, arguing that the conservative right's focus on such issues as abortion, stem-cell research, and gay marriage has polarized the public.