Faith and Politics

Last Saturday evening, Rick Warren, the California mega-church pastor and best-selling author, hosted a forum on faith and politics in his church. The forum, televised nationally, included interviews with presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. The fact that Warren could compel the appearance of both candidates (who have not shared a stage in several months) was interesting, and the nature of his interviews as well.

This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, we're talking about the intersection of religious faith and civic engagement in American life. Should an individual's faith have nothing to do with her politics? Should a church dictate a person's political values, even how he votes?

Our guide in this inquiry will be Bee Moorhead, the executive director of Texas Impact. Texas Impact is one of those "faith-based organizations," a grassroots network that includes regional and statewide religious organizations, local congregations and alliances, and individuals. Texas Impact strives to make information about state government and public policy accessible to people of faith and all interested Texans. Bee has been with Texas Impact since 2000, but before that served our state as a policy analyst in the Comptroller's Office. Her insights will be both entertaining and, well, insightful.

The show airs every Wednesday from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT on KOOP, Austin’s community radio station. KOOP broadcasts at 91.7 FM in Austin and also streams live over the Internet at http://www.koop.org/. Tune in for this interesting presentation!


TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is the weekly radio show devoted to Texas state and local politics. TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is produced by longtime Capitol insider Deece Eckstein, who shares hosting duties with Austin community leader David Kobierowski.