Ballot talks: Faith and Politics

Guests: Jacob Bender, Harry Bruinius, Anne Pluta

In this week’s edition of Ballot Talks: we’ll talk about religion and politics. How important is religion to the candidates and to the voters, and is there a difference between the political parties when it comes to the importance of faith? We’ll begin by discussing President Obama’s visit to a mosque yesterday – the first of his presidency – where he will speak to the Islamic Society of Baltimore. We’ll speak with JACOB BENDER, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Pennsylvania about the historic visit. Then, we’ll be joined by HARRY BRUINIUS, the Christian Science Monitor’s New York staff writer and editor, to talk about his new article “Rise of Trump and Sanders: Does religion still matter in politics?” And we’ll discuss the role of faith and politics with ANNE PLUTA, an assistant professor of political science at Rowan University, who recently wrote an article for FiveThirtyEight called “The Rise of The ‘God Gap.’”