Above is part one of five parts from a Larry King Live show where he touches on the issue of faith and politics. The show has the following guests, as Larry King introduces them (click here for the full transcript):
They are, in Louisville, Kentucky, Reverend Albert Mohler, Jr. president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Time.com described him as “the reigning intellectual” of the Evangelical movement in this country. And in Washington is David Kuo, the Washington editor of Beliefnet.com, the best-selling author of “Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction.” He’s former special assistant to President Bush, deputy director of the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives.
In Orlando is Reverend Jim Wallis, best-selling author of “God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.” He’s president and executive director of “Sojourners”
“Call to Renewal;” editor-in-chief of “Sojourners” magazine.
In Washington, Reverend Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He’s a best- selling author, including the book, “Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault On Religious Freedom.”
And in Boston, our man, David Gergen, who served as White House adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton; editor-at- large, “U.S. News & World Report”; and professor of public service at Harvard’s JFK School of Government.
These types of conversations are important. There is prevalent language in our culture that seems to suggest that one can separate what he believes from what he applies in life. This point of view gives rise to irrational statements such as: “I believe abortion is morally wrong, but women should have the right to choose.” Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr. lived with that point of view: “I have a dream that all people should not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, but people should be given the right to be racially prejudice.” The truth is that what we fundamentally believe about the world overflows into how we live, and what we fight for. That means a politican’s belief or unbelief about God will have application in her or his politics. In light of the aforementioned, it is important to understand that a person’s beliefs about God has a lot to do with politics, as does belief about humanity or reality or history, etc.
To see the other four parts, click here for part 2, here for part 3, here for part 4, and here for part five.
