Author Robert P. Jones and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Cynthia Tucker Haynes will be among the speakers during a series on faith and politics at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
“Faith and Politics in the 21st Century” will feature other top scholars, authors and experts in religion and culture.
As the Nov. 8 presidential election nears, the country has experienced deepening divisions in race, culture, politics and faith.
The series opens Sept. 7 with Jones, founder and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of “The End of White Christian America and Its Implications for the 2016 Election.”
Robert M. Franklin Jr., James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership, organized the series to enrich a class on Christianity and politics he is teaching this semester, choosing guest speakers from a wide variety of specialties.
The series is sponsored by Candler’s James T. and Berta R. Laney Legacy in Moral Leadership, along with Emory’s James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference.
All lectures are free and open to the public. All will be followed by a question and answer session.
Advance registration required.
Most lectures will take place on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in Room 252 of Candler’s Rita Anne Rollins Building.
Here is the list of speakers.
Sept. 7: "The End of White Christian America and Its Implications for the 2016 Election." William R. Cannon Chapel on Emory's campus.
Sept. 14: "Can Conservative Religion Save Us? Thoughts on the Media, Faith and Democracy," Marla Frederick, professor of African and African American Studies and the Study of Religion, Harvard University.
Sept. 21: "What Would Jesus Do? Developing a Political Economy of Justice," Obery M. Hendricks Jr., senior fellow, the Opportunity Agenda, and Visiting Scholar, Columbia University Department of Religion and Institute for Research in African American Studies
Sept. 28: "Faith and Economic Justice," Julianne Malveaux, founder and president, Economic Education, and professor emerita, Bennett College
Oct. 5: "Abraham Lincoln and Political Agape: Lessons for Our Own Context," Timothy P. Jackson, professor of Christian Ethics, Candler School of Theology
Oct. 12: "The Politics We Need: Faith, the Presidential Election and the Choices Ahead," Michael Wear, founder, Public Square Strategies, and former staff in the Obama administration's Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Initiatives
Nov. 9: "Diversity, Demographics and the Age of Donald Trump," Cynthia Tucker Haynes, Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist and former editorial page editor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
