Civic Virtue: John Danforth on Religion and Politics [Rebroadcast]

With this episode, Things Not Seen returns to the airwaves! Listeners in the Chicago area can hear us each Saturday evening from 7 - 8pm on WYLL 1160AM.

This week we revisit a 2015 conversation with Senator John Danforth about religion and politics.

In his new book, The Relevance of Religion: How Faithful People Can Change Politics, John Danforth argues that the voices of people of faith are needed today in the public square.

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Danforth is the former US Senator from Missouri, and he served as both an attorney general, and US Ambassador to the United Nations. He is also an ordained Episcopal priest.

Praise for The Relevance of Religion:

“Using well-supported arguments deriving from his ministerial as well as legal background, Danforth asserts that traditional religious values of sacrifice, selflessness and a commitment to the greater good can and should have prominent roles in America’s politics. . . . Danforth’s arguments are staunchly supported and clearly explained. . . . For anyone who is faithful as well as political, he provides much food for thought.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“John Danforth does his country another service after many. His book is both a serious critique of politicized religion and a strong defense of religion’s indispensable role in our common life. He talks of faith as an antidote to egotism, as a force for reconciliation, and as a source of public virtue. His case is illustrated through autobiography, in an honest, winsome, and sometimes self-critical tone. Danforth speaks for civility, collegiality, and useful compromise—and is compelling because he has demonstrated all those commitments himself over the decades.”—Michael Gerson, columnist, The Washington Post