Religion in the Oval Office and the Paradoxes of Faith

Policy, Prayer and the Presidency

This week, we find out how private religious convictions have shaped monumental public policies over the years, and get up to speed on the spiritual inclinations of the new batch of hopefuls. Just a few of the revelations: Hillary Clinton’s quiet Methodism is “rock solid,” Marco Rubio has been a Catholic, a Mormon and an Evangelical, and Bobby Jindal had a brush with an exorcism in the early 90s.  Featuring Kevin Eckstrom, editor-in-chief of Religion News Service and Gary Scott Smith, author of Religion in the Oval Office: The Religious Lives of American Presidents

A bit of trivia: The phrase God Bless America wasn’t always the closer on presidential speeches. In fact, Richard Nixon was the first modern president to use the phrase, in an attempt to make some friends after the Watergate scandal.

Sister Joan Chittister on the Light Found in Darkness

This week, Sister Joan Chittister invites us to embrace chaos, insecurity, and the great unknown. After a battle with polio when she entered the convent at sixteen years old, she learned that spiritual growth can be ignited by the most tragic moments of life. Light, she tells us, can be birthed from the darkness.


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