Helping the World Make Sense of the Election
This weekend, I hosted a segment for the God TV Network live from Chicago on the American elections. God TV is a global faith-based network seen in more than 70 countries, and in the United States on DirecTV. They were interested in both sides of the election equation, particularly the Democratic side, since so many personalities in Christian media are Republicans. So I recruited Craig Detweiler, filmmaker and author of “A Purple State of Mind” – a documentary and book that explores
the red state / blue state polarization in America. Craig’s a registered Democrat and is supporting Obama, so I asked him about his perspective on the candidates, his own personal faith journey, and why he supports Obama. We uplinked the segment because Craig was at the national conference of the American Association of Religion – the national organization for teachers of religious studies. Craig has a Ph.D. in Theology and is on the faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary. Although we are members of different political parties, Craig and I are alike in that we both have Ph.D.’s and are working producers in Hollywood.
It was interesting that Craig grew up in a Republican household, and didn’t become a Democrat until he became a Christian. In the interview Craig said it was his reading of the Bible that made him start thinking about issues of poverty, homelessness, and social justice, and the Democratic party seemed for him to have the most compelling answers.
The most important issue we hope people walked away with from our conversation was the idea that rational people can have a thoughtful discussion about the issues. Although we disagree on many of the answers, we can still be friends, and search for common solutions.
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The Zoo Keeper
