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Inspired
Inspired is the nation's leading public radio show about faith, ethics and spirituality. Each week we offer you analyses of the big headlines alongside lesser-told stories – those of Orthodox Jewish artists and African-American atheists, Muslim feminists and spiritual seekers. Through these stories, a rough sketch of our country’s religious landscape begins to emerge. It’s a marketplace of beliefs and ideas too complex for sound bites, and too important to ignore.
The future of the Senate will be decided by two run-off elections taking place in Georgia on January 5th. This week we look at how the faith of Rev. Warnock has come under attack and how clergy from around the country are fighting back.
The Attack: The Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock Faith Under Fire
The 2020 elections are not over in Georgia. The high stakes January 5th run-off has attracted millions of dollars, a flood of campaign volunteers, and an unprecedented wave of negative political ads targeting the faith of one of the candidates. Emory University Assistant Professor of Political Science Audra Gillespie explains why the attacks by Kelly Loeffler’s campaign are pernicious, juxtaposing “white evangelical Christianity against Black liberation theology” putting the latter on trial.
The Response: Clergy Condemn Political Ads
To Rev. Dr. David Key is a Baptist minister and founder of a community church in Greensboro, Georgia, no one should be surprised that the candidate’s sermons would be scrutinized. However, the level of manipulation and attacks on the prophetic tradition of the black church go too far for Rev. Key. Now he’s speaking out and he’s not alone.
A New PAC Emerges: The New Moral Majority
The Moral Majority is the legacy of Rev. Jerry Falwell. For decades there were no analogs for moderates or progressives. This year a young Baptist minister from Kentucky decided it was time to change the equation. We meet the Rev Ryan Ellers, the founder of the New Moral Majority, and learn how this once Navy chaplain with roots in Appalachia decided to start a faith-based political action committee and what they hope to achieve in the coming years.
