Professor of Political Science at Furman University
Professor of Political Science
at Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, he has studied, read
and taught about religion and politics for 20 years; co-author of The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy
Religion and Politics in America Kevin Phillips worked in the White House during the Nixon years and discovered what he called "the Emerging Republican Majority." Sure enough, the party gained strength until it took a fall in last month's elections. The man who predicted the "emerging Republican majority" now says the party has been "transformed," and that the rising power of radical Christians endangers the separation of church and state. We talk with Phillips and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, a group Phillips says he's alarmed about. How many Republicans think America should be a Christian state? Does religion threaten democracy in a diverse country?
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.