As a former three-term Republican U.S. senator from Missouri and an ordained Episcopal priest, John Danforth has watched the changes in his party and the church with growing alarm. Now he wants to voice his concerns and call for change. Danforth speaks out clearly against the religious right’s conflation of their political agenda with a religious agenda. He argues that no one should presume to embody God’s truth. He castigates the religious right for their focus on wedge issues that drive people apart and that create “tests” for religious orthodoxy. In fact, Danforth looks closely at many of the major wedge issues of our day: abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, the Schiavo case, and public displays of religion. In Faith and Politics, Danforth provides a blueprint for moving forward that is based on years of hard-won political experience and a life of religious service by calling for Christians to look to the Bible and Christian teachings for ways in which they can practice their faith day to day so as to inspire a trust and focus on common ground, not fringe issues. As a respected former senator, ambassador to Sudan, priest, and especially here as an author who writes openly about political life, and ambition, humbly about his achievements, and above all with clarity and reason that both Republicans and Democrats hear all too little of, Senator Danforth is uniquely qualified to call for the change we so desperately need.
