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God and Politics

Abortion - Gay Marriage - Family Values - Who qualifies as Christian and who doesn’t.

How did religion become such a big deal in presidential politics?

We talk with two scholars with different takes on that question.

Guests:
Martin Cohen, PhD - Specialist in research on the influence of the Religious Right in American politics.  Co-author of  The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform [University of Chicago Press, 2008].  Assistant Professor of Political Science, James Madison University.

Brian Kaylor, Ph.D. - Author of the books: Presidential Campaign Rhetoric in an Age of Confessional Politics [Lexington Books, 2011] and For God’s Sake, Shut Up!: Lessons for Christians on How to Speak Effectively and When to Remain Silent [Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2007]; as well as author of the blog: For Gods Sake Shut Up.  Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at James Madison University.

Tom Graham was Senior Producer and host of WMRA's Virginia Insight from 2006 to 2015.