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James Madison offered small “r” republican government as the sentry against the universal human tendency “to go low” and enshrine it politically. He thought large republics avoided tyrannies of majority or minority by jamming the political works with significant numbers of elected officials who disagree. More
A discussion of Election 2016, faith-based voters, and voting results; and a spot in rural Michigan is home to five retreat centers that offer stability, community, and a sense of spiritual healing.
“Donald Trump captured 81 percent of the white evangelical vote. That was key, because if you take away the evangelical share of the vote, which is about a quarter, Hillary Clinton would have won by a landslide. Now, 81 percent is slightly more than Mitt Romney got, but keep in mind that this time around there were some evangelical leaders who were telling their followers not to vote for Donald Trump,” says Jerome Socolovsky, editor-in-chief of Religion News Service. More
“My hope is that every breath I take, every step is prayer,” says Nancy Bell, a Quaker who came to Three Rivers and began receiving spiritual direction from the Benedictine monks at St. Gregory’s Abbey. “Work can be a meditation, and so I try to do what seems to be the thing to do in the moment. Basically I just do simple, everyday things. I guess gratitude probably would be my major prayer. Just being thankful.” More
Many voters this year are discouraged, disgusted, divided, and disappointed and unsure about the moral obligation to vote; how Muslim Americans view the challenges of the 2016 presidential election; and the songs that have resonated since slavery with messages of … More
“When you walk into the voting booth, I’ve compared it to the holy of holies in the ancient temple. A curtain is closed behind you. You are alone with your God and your vote. People will cast their votes listening to their hearts,” says Rabbi Jack Moline, president of the Interfaith Alliance. More
“Right now, given the current climate and the political rhetoric, we are a target,” says Olivia Cantu, South Florida director of Emerge USA, a national organization that works to increase Muslim-American engagement in politics. “We are being attacked.” More
“Spirituals are, of course, the songs that the enslaved crafted to tell the story of their experience. But more than that, to tell the story of their faith and the understanding of who they were in relationship to God, and who God was in relationship to them, and it became a story of freedom,” says Rev. Kelly Brown Douglass, Canon Theologian at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. More
How does religious faith influence the lives and the politics of this year’s nominees; A University of Michigan scholar studies what peace means in the words and world of the Quran.
United Methodism, Roman Catholicism, evangelical Christianity, and “the power of positive thinking” have all shaped the politics and personal stories of this year’s candidates for national office. More