A guide to religion and politics

Posted on May 21st, 2007

Archived in 2008, Religion in American life

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As the 2008 election campaigns accelerate, ReligionLink offers an extensive guide to experts on religion and politics, from issues, including abortion and church politicking, to faith and ethnic groups.

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National Sources
Academic Centers
Abortion
African-Americans
Asian-Americans
Bioethics
Catholics
Church Politicking
Clergywomen
Ethics
Evangelical Christians		 Hindus
Hispanics
Iraq War
Judaism
Mormons
Muslims
Native Americans
‘Religious Left’
Polls And Research
Articles

National sources

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  • Randall Balmer is Ann Whitney Olin Professor of American Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University in New York. His numerous books include, as author, Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America – An Evangelical’s Lament. Contact 212-854-3292, rb281@columbia.edu.
  • Michele Dillon is a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. She has written on the issue of abortion and Catholics, and on the connection between Catholic identity and behavior. She also explores attitudes among rural Americans, particularly regional differences, regarding gays, abortion and other issues. She wrote Catholic Identity: Balancing Reason, Faith and Power and, with Paul Wink, co-authored the 2007 book In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice and Change. Read an overview of the latest book. Contact 603-862-2925, michele.dillon@unh.edu.
  • John Green is director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Akron in Ohio. He is also a senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Green is one of the foremost experts on religion and politics. Contact 330-972-5182 or 202-419-4588, green@uakron.edu.
  • Ted G. Jelen is a political science professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He follows religion and politics, including the participation of the Catholic Church and the role abortion politics plays. His many books include, as co-editor, The One, the Few and the Many: Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective. Contact 702-895-3355, jelent@unlv.nevada.edu.
  • M.A. Muqtedar Khan is an assistant professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware, and his interests include Islamic political thought. His books include American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom and, due in July 2007, Beyond Jihad and Crusade: A New Framework for U.S. Policy in the Muslim World. Contact 302-831-1939, mkhan@udel.edu.
  • Barbara A. McGraw, professor of business administration at St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga, chairs the religion, politics and state unit of the American Academy of Religion. She wrote Rediscovering America’s Sacred Ground: Public Religion and Pursuit of the Good in a Pluralistic America and co-edited Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously: Spiritual Politics on America’s Sacred Ground. Contact 925-631-4061, bmcgraw@stmarys-ca.edu.
  • Laura Olson is a political science professor at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. Olson has studied the role of clergy in politics, and her books include, as co-author, Women With a Mission: Gender, Religion and the Politics of Women Clergy, and, as author, Filled With Spirit and Power: Protestant Clergy in Politics. She says women clergy are overwhelmingly politically liberal, and they vote for Democratic candidates and hold liberal positions on most issues. She says some politically conservative women clergy can be found in rural areas and in evangelical Protestant traditions. Contact 864-656-1457, laurao@clemson.edu.
  • Political scientist Michael Leo Owens studies the intersection of politics, religion and social welfare, especially black church involvement in government programs. He is an assistant professor in the political science department and a faculty associate of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in Atlanta. He is author of the 2007 book God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America and numerous articles and essays on faith-based community development and political mobilization by congregations in the United States. Contact 404-727-9322 (office), 404-727-6572 (department), michael.leo.owens@emory.edu.
  • The Rev. Thomas J. Reese is a Jesuit priest and former editor in chief of America magazine. He writes and comments widely on Catholics and politics. He is a senior research fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. Read a news release. He wrote Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. Contact 202-687-3532, TR89@georgetown.edu.
  • Mark J. Rozell is a professor of public policy at George Mason University in Arlington, Va., and his research includes conservative Christian politics. His books include, as co-editor, The Values Vote? The Christian Right and the 2004 Elections, and the 2007 releases Religion and the American Presidency and Religion and the Bush Presidency. Contact 703-993-8171, mrozell@gmu.edu.
  • Corwin Smidt is directing a study surveying clergy about political participation. He is a political science professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., and executive director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics. He is studying religion’s role in promoting civic responsibility, evangelicals within American electoral politics, clergy and politics, and Pentecostals and charismatics.His books include, as editor, Pulpit and Politics: Clergy in American Politics at the Advent of the Millennium and The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy. Contact 616-526-6233, smid@calvin.edu.
  • Clyde Wilcox is a government professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He specializes in electoral behavior and public opinion and can comment on the Catholic vote, abortion, gay rights, church-state issues and other issues involving religion and politics. His books include, as co-author, The Values Campaign? The Christian Right and the 2004 Elections. Contact 202-687-5273, wilcoxc@georgetown.edu.
  • John Witte Jr. is professor of law and ethics and directs the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, Atlanta. His books include, as editor, the two-volume The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics & Human Nature. Contact 404-727-6980, jwitte@law.emory.edu.


Academic Centers

Many university centers focus on politics, religion or related topics. Here is a sampling. Many more academic centers are listed in each of ReligionLink’s source guides in our archives.


Abortion

For more sources see ReligionLink’s guide to the abortion debate.

AGAINST ABORTION


FOR ABORTION RIGHTS


African-Americans

For more sources see ReligionLink’s guide to African-Americans and religion.


  • David A. Bositis is senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., that focuses on public policy issues of concern to African-Americans. He runs the center’s National Opinion Poll, which samples African-Americans as well as the general population. He is a source for statistics on African-Americans, churches and politics. Contact through the center’s media office, 202-789-6366, media@jointcenter.org.
  • Allison Calhoun-Brown is an associate professor of political science and director of graduate studies at Georgia State University. She has written numerous scholarly articles on topics concerning African-Americans and Christianity, evangelicalism, churches and politics. Contact 404-651-4842 (office), 404-651-3152 (department), polacb@panther.gsu.edu.
  • Michael I.N. Dash is professor of ministry and context at the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta. He co-directed the ITC/Faith Factor Project 2000 study, which focused on African-American congregations and is part of Hartford Seminary’s Faith Communities Today project. Read a 2001 Religion News Service story posted by Beliefnet. Contact 404-527-7700, mdash@itc.edu.
  • Michael O. Emerson is director of the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life and is a sociology professor at Rice University in Houston. He has written several books on race and religion, including People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States and Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. Contact 713-348-4448, moe@rice.edu.
  • Fredrick C. Harris is a political science professor at the University of Rochester, where he directs the Center for the Study of African-American Politics and the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies. Among books he has written are Something Within: Religion in African-American Political Activism and (with R. Drew Smith) Black Churches and Local Politics: Clergy Influence, Organizational Partnerships, and Civic Empowerment. Contact 585-275-4735 or 585-273-5346, fredrick.harris@rochester.edu.
  • Melissa Harris Lacewell is associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University and author of Barbershops, Bibles and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought. Contact 609-258-9171, lacewell@princeton.edu.
  • Lawrence H. Mamiya co-wrote The Black Church in the African American Experience, a 1990 book about their 10-year survey of some 1,900 ministers and 2,100 churches. Mamiya is professor of religion at Vassar College outside of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He’s a widely recognized expert on African-American religion in general and on the Nation of Islam. Contact 845-437-5522, mamiya@vassar.edu.
  • R. Drew Smith directs the Public Influences of African-American Churches project, which surveyed some 1,900 ministers nationally. He is scholar-in-residence at the Leadership Center at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He is a Baptist minister and political scientist. He has studied and written about black megachurches and has edited four volumes on American religion and public life, including New Day Begun: African American Churches and Civic Culture in Post-Civil Rights America. Contact 404-614-8565, rsmith@morehouse.edu.
  • Ronald Walters directs the African American Leadership Institute and is Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership and professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. He worked on the Public Influences of African American Churches project and has observed that the level of political engagement in African-American churches is extremely high. His books include Freedom Is Not Enough: Black Voters, Black Candidates and American Presidential Politics. Contact 301-405-1787, rwalters@academy.umd.edu.


Asian-Americans

  • Carolyn Chen is assistant professor of sociology and Asian-American studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Contact cechen@northwestern.edu.
  • Jane Iwamura is an assistant professor of religion and of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She specializes in Asian-American religions, race and popular culture. She co-edited Revealing the Sacred in Asian & Pacific America. Contact 213-821-2851, iwamura@usc.edu.
  • Russell Jeung is an assistant professor of Asian-American studies at San Francisco State University in San Francisco. He wrote the 2007 book Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches. Contact 415-338-7586, rjeung@sfsu.edu.
  • David Kyuman Kim is assistant professor of religious studies at Connecticut College in New London, where he directs the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity. He has researched the Asian-American religious experience. Contact 860-439-5075, dkkim@conncoll.edu.
  • Pyong Gap Min is professor of sociology at Queens College in Flushing, N.Y. His research interests include race and ethnic relations, ethnic identity, immigrant religions and Asian-Americans. During the 2006-07 academic year, he is a visiting scholar at Russell Sage Foundation. His books include, as editor, Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues.
  • Fumitaka Matsuoka is Robert Gordon Sproul Professor of Theology of Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif., where he is executive director of the Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion. He is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren. He co-edited Realizing the America of Our Hearts: Theological Voices of Asian Americans and wrote Out of Silence: Emerging Themes in Asian American Churches. Contact 510-849-8209, fmatsuoka@psr.edu.
  • Fenggang Yang is associate professor of sociology at Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind. He co-edited Asian American Religions: The Making and Remaking of Borders and Boundaries. Contact 765-494-2641, fyang@purdue.edu.
  • David K. Yoo is an associate professor of history at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. He edited New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans. Contact 909-607-2828, david.yoo@claremontmckenna.edu.


Bioethics

For sources, see ReligionLink’s guide to bioethics experts.

Catholics

For more sources see ReligionLink’s issue on Catholics and politics.


  • Sister Mary E. Bendyna is executive director and senior research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is an expert on the Catholic Church and religion and politics. Contact 202-687-0839, bendynam@georgetown.edu.
  • William V. D’Antonio is an adjunct professor of sociology at Catholic University of America in Washington. He is a leading analyst of the changing roles of Catholic laity in society and politics. His books include, as co-author, Laity: American and Catholic, Transforming the Church. Contact 202-319-5911, dantonio@cua.edu.
  • Thomas J. Carty is assistant professor of history and political science at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass., and author of A Catholic in the White House? Religion, Politics and John F. Kennedy’s Presidential Campaign. Contact 413-748-3646.
  • John J. DiIulio Jr. is a professor in the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Catholic and longtime Democrat who directed the Bush administration’s faith-based program in 2001. He writes and comments extensively on Catholics in political life. Contact powerjr@sas.upenn.edu.
  • David Leege is an emeritus professor of political science at Notre Dame University and spends much of the year in Arizona. Leege is a leading expert on Catholic voting patterns. Contact 520-399-9874, David.C.Leege.1@nd.edu.
  • Timothy P. Muldoon is director of The Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College, which has hosted a number of seminars on Catholics in public life. Contact 617-552-8258, muldoont@bc.edu.
  • David J. O’Brien is a professor of Catholic studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. He has written and commented widely about Catholics and politics. Contact 508-793-2775, dobrien@holycross.edu.
  • Stephen F. Schneck is chairman of the department of politics and director of the Life Cycle Institute at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., which studies current public policies regarding Catholic social attitudes. Contact 202-319-5999 or 240-481-9534 (cell), schneck@cua.edu.


Church Politicking

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issues on:

  • Church politicking
  • Guide to church-state experts and organizations
  • 2004 voter guides from religious organizations
  • U.S. Rep. Walter Jones Jr., R-N.C., sponsored the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act,” which would have amended the IRS code to state that churches and other houses of worship will not lose their tax-exempt status because of the “content, preparation or presentation of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings.” The bill stayed in committee in 2006 and was not voted on by the House. Contact his media office, 202-225-3415.
  • Bill Aiken is director of public affairs for Soka Gakkai International-USA, an American Buddhist association based in Santa Monica, Calif., that opposes the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact 301-346-0167, waiken@sgi-usa.org.
  • The American Center for Law and Justice supports the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact 757-226-2489.
  • Leith Anderson is head of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals. It supports the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact 719-268-8214, president@nae.net.
  • James C. Dobson is founder, former president and chairman of the board for the conservative group Focus on the Family. His group supports the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact Nima Reza, 719-548-4570, culturalissues@family.org.
  • Robert W. Edgar is general secretary of the National Council of Churches. The group opposes the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act,” saying it “endangers both the integrity of the electoral process and the historic American concept of a prophetic religious community that explores issues from a moral and spiritual perspective but carefully refrains from playing partisan politics.” Contact director of media relations Daniel Webster, 212-870-2252, dwebster@nccusa.org.
  • The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, favors federal hate crimes legislation and ending racial and religious profiling, and opposes President Bush’s faith-based initiative. Contact through William Blake, 202-639-6370, wblake@interfaithalliance.org.
  • Richard Land is president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. He supports the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact Jill Martin, 615-782-8401, jmartin@erlc.com.
  • Rabbi Daniel Lapin is president of Toward Tradition – the American Alliance of Jews and Christians. The organization builds bridges through shared biblical heritage and offers Torah-based solutions to modern problems. The organization supports the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact 206-236-3046 or 800-591-7579, mail@towardtradition.org.
  • The Rev. Barry Lynn is executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which opposes church political activity – and the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” Contact Joe Conn, 202-466-3234, conn@au.org.


Clergywomen

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s 2004 issue on clergywomen and politics.


  • Sue Crawford is an associate professor of political science at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. She co-edited Christian Clergy in American Politics and co-authored Women With a Mission: Gender, Religion and the Politics of Women Clergy. She says studies in which she has participated found that only around 5 percent of women clergy reported ever running for office. Women are more typically involved in advocacy, campaigning, political education/awareness and civic and service work than men. She says that most women clergy sampled were moderate to liberal and that female mainline clergy tend to be more liberal than male mainline clergy. Contact 402-280-2569, Crawford@creighton.edu.
  • Melissa Deckman is an associate professor of political science at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. Her specialties include religion and politics and women and politics. Her books include, as author, School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics and, as co-author, Women With a Mission: Gender, Religion and the Politics of Women Clergy. Contact 800-422-1782 ext. 7494, mdeckman2@washcoll.edu.
  • Adair T. Lummis is a sociologist of religion and a faculty associate in research for the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Connecticut. Her specialties include women in church leadership. Her books include, as co-author, Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling. She says some data from a 2002 Episcopal study on which she worked indicate that Episcopal clergywomen are significantly more active in a range of political/social advocacy than Episcopal clergymen. Contact 860-509-9547, alummis@hartsem.edu.
  • Religion scholar Barbara Brown Zikmund, who was Hartford Seminary president from 1990 to 2000, is a visiting professor at the Life Cycle Institute at the Catholic University of America. Ordained in the United Church of Christ, her books and research focus upon the role of women in American religious life. She co-authored Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling. Contact 202-537-0242, beebeezee@verizon.net and zikmund@cua.edu.


Ethics

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issue on religion and political corruption and the Iraq War category below



Evangelical Christians

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issue on evangelicals and politics.


  • Richard Cizik is vice president for government affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals. Contact 202-789-1011, rcizik@nae.net.
  • Kimberly Conger is an assistant professor of political science at Iowa State University in Ames. She has studied the influence of religious conservatives in state Republican parties, and she presented a paper titled “Evangelicals: Outside the Beltway” at a 2003 seminar at the Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. She contributed to chapters in The Values Campaign? The Christian Right and the 2004 Elections. Contact 515-294-3403, conger@iastate.edu.
  • James L. Guth is a political science professor at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. He has written widely on the emergence of Christian conservatives and can discuss the relationship between Catholics and evangelicals in key Southern states. Contact 864-294-2210, jim.guth@furman.edu.
  • Barry G. Hankins is a history professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He is an expert on Christian conservatives and their interaction with American culture. Contact 254-710-4667, Barry_Hankins@baylor.edu.
  • Peter Kuzmic is the Eva B. and Paul E. Toms Distinguished Professor of World Missions and European Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass. He can comment on a range of issues related to evangelicalism. He is one of 40 evangelical leaders who signed a 2002 letter urging President Bush to balance his Middle East policy in favor of Palestinians as well as Israelis. Contact him through Anne Doll, 978-468-7111 ext. 4141, adoll@gcts.edu.
  • Mark Noll is Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, and specializes in the intersection of religion and politics. He is co-founder of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College and author of American Evangelical Christianity: An Introduction. Contact 574-631-7574, Mark.Noll.8@nd.edu.Ron Sider is president of Evangelicals for Social Action, based in Wynnewood, Pa., which promotes Christian engagement, analysis and understanding of major social, cultural and public policy issues. Contact 610-645-9354, ronsider@esa-online.org.


Hindus

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s guide to Hinduism.


  • The Hindu American Foundation is a nondenominational human rights organization that works with governments, media, think tanks, academia and the public on issues of concern to Hindus around the world. It is based in Tampa, Fla., and the president is Dr. Mihir Meghani. Contact 301-770-7835 or 877-281-2838.

• Vasudha Narayanan is a professor of religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she directs the nation’s first Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions. Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.


Hispanics

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s guide to Hispanics and religion.


  • John A. García teaches political science at the University of Arizona. He wrote Latino Politics in America: Community, Culture and Interests. Contact 520-621-7095, jag@email.arizona.edu.
  • Gastón Espinosais assistant professor of religious studies at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. He is an expert on religion and politics. He has written on the history of religion and the presidency, race, religion, pluralism and the American presidency, religion and the presidency of Bill Clinton, and on Latinos and the American presidential races in 2000, 2004, and 2008. He is the co-editor of the Columbia University Press Series on Religion and Politics. His books include the forthcoming Religion and the American Presidency: George Washington to George W. Bush with Primary Sources and Religion, Race, Pluralism and the American Presidency. He co-authored Mexican American Religions: Spirituality, Activism, and Culture and Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States. Contact gaston.espinosa@cmc.edu.
  • Lara Medina is associate professor of Chicano and Chicana studies at California State University, Northridge. She wrote Las Hermanas: Chicana/Latina Religious-Political Activism in the U.S. Catholic Church. Contact 818-677-6142, lara.medina@csun.edu.
  • Jorge Ramos, anchorman for Noticiero Univision and author of several books, wrote The Latino Wave: How Hispanics Are Transforming Politics in America. Contact Michelle Dominguez, 212-207-7321, michelle.dominguez@harpercollins.com.


Iraq War

For more sources see ReligionLink’s issue on the Iraq war.


  • James Childress is Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Religious Studies and director of the Institute for Practical Ethics & Public Life at the University of Virginia. He is an expert on just-war theory. Contact 804-924-6724, jfc7c @Virginia.edu.
  • Jean Bethke Elshtain is Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the divinity school at the University of Chicago and author of Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World. Contact 773-702-7252, jbelshta@midway.uchicago.edu.
  • Vincent Ferraro is the Ruth C. Lawson Professor of International Politics at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. He posts a page on just-war theory. Contact 413-538-2669, vferraro@mtholyoke.edu.
  • James Turner Johnson, a professor of religion at Rutgers University in New Jersey, is considered one of the deans of contemporary just-war theory. He has written many articles and books on the topic. Contact 732-932-9637, jtj@rci.rutgers.edu.
  • John Kelsay, co-editor of the Journal of Religious Ethics, is Distinguished Research Professor and Richard L. Rubenstein Professor of Religion at Florida State University. Kelsay has written about Islam, human rights and just war. He is on leave for the 2006-07 academic year. Contact 850-644-0209, jkelsay@garnet.acns.fsu.edu.
  • David Kinsella is associate professor of political science at Portland State University in Oregon. He is co-editor of the 2007 book The Morality of War: A Reader. Contact 503-725-3035, kinsella@pdx.edu.
  • Robin Lovin, Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, specializes in religion and politics. He can discuss just-war theory and Iraq. Read a column he wrote for Faithful Democrats, an online Christian group. Contact 214-768-4134, rlovin@mail.smu.edu.
  • Gerard F. Powers is director of policy studies at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He coordinates the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and from 1998 to 2004 directed the Office of International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Powers co-edited Peacemaking: Moral and Policy Challenges for a New World. He has criticized current military action in Iraq using just-war reasoning. Contact 574-631-3765, gpowers1@nd.edu.
  • Glen H. Stassen is Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., and specializes in war, peace and ethics. He wrote Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War. Contact 626-304-3733, gstassen@fuller.edu.
  • Michael Walzer is a prominent expert on just-war theory. He is a professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and the author of Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations. Contact 609-734-8253, walzer@ias.edu.


Judaism

For more sources see ReligionLink’s recent issues about Judaism: Israel and Spirituality


  • Michael Alexander is Murray Friedman Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History and directs the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University in Philadelphia. Contact 212-204-9552, michael.alexander@temple.edu.
  • The American Jewish Committee is a communal organization that promotes human rights and understanding. It has regional offices in many states. E. Robert Goodkind is president, and David Harris is executive director. Contact via the public relations department, 212-751-4000, pr@ajc.org.
  • The American Jewish Congress is a civic organization that fights for human rights. It maintains seven regional offices in the United States. Richard S. Gordon is president and Jack Rosen is chairman. Contact Rochelle Mancini, chief information officer, 212-360-1547, communications@ajcongress.org.
  • Phyllis Chesler is co-founder of the International Committee for Women of the Wall, an advocacy group for Jewish women’s religious and human rights. She lives in New York City. Contact pchesler@phyllis-chesler.com.
  • Abraham Foxman is national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism. Contact adlmedia@adl.org.
  • Steven T. Rosenthal is author of Irreconcilable Differences? The Waning of the American Jewish Love Affair With Israel and an associate professor of history at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Conn. He has written that the erosion of a consensus on Israel has driven a wedge in American Jewry. Contact 860-768-4645, srosenprof@aol.com.
  • Jonathan D. Sarna is Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., and author of American Judaism: A History. Contact 781-736-2977, sarna@brandeis.edu.


Mormons

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issue about politics and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

  • Francis J. Beckwith teaches courses on politics and religion and on philosophy at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he is also associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and associate editor of the Journal of Church and State. He co-edited The New Mormon Challenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing Movement, a book of essays by evangelical scholars about Mormon growth. Contact 254-710-1510, francis_beckwith@baylor.edu.
  • Kathleen Flake is an associate professor lawyer of American religious history at Vanderbilt Divinity School at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. She is the author of The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle. Contact 615-343-3978, kathleen.flake@vanderbilt.edu.
  • Terryl L. Givens is a professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Va. He is the author of several books on Latter-day Saints, including The Latter-day Saint Experience in America. Contact 804-289-8303 or 804-647-2930 (cell), tgivens@richmond.edu.
  • Michael Otterson is a director of public affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. He can discuss the church and its stand on politics and government matters, including backgrounders. Contact 801-240-7439 (office), 801-240-1000 (after hours or to reach cell phone), OttersonMR@ldschurch.org.


Muslims

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s guide to Islam.


  • The American Muslim Alliance, based in Newark, Calif., works to get qualified Muslims elected to public office on local, state and national levels, among other goals. Agha Saeed is national chairman. Contact 510-252-9858, civilrightsforall@sbcglobal.net.
  • The American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections is composed of the 12 largest Muslim groups in the U.S. They work together on voter registration and education and encouraging Muslim candidates. Contact 510-252-9858.
  • Imam Johari Abdul-Malik is outreach director for Dar Al-Hijrah in Falls Church, Va., one of the largest Islamic centers in the country. He is a former chaplain at Howard University and is also president of the coordinating council of Muslim organizations representing 46 Islamic centers, schools and organizations from Baltimore to Richmond, Va. His interest in Islam and politics is informed by his professional background in genetics and bioethics. He is active with the Muslim American Society, based in Washington, D.C. Contact 202-345-5233, imamjohari@yahoo.com.
  • Boston area author Tahir Ali wrote about American Muslim voters in The Muslim Vote: Counts and Recount. He is active with the American Muslim Taskforce’s political organizing efforts. Contact 774-696-0537, ama_tahir@yahoo.com.
  • Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, is expert in Islam and its history and practice in North America. He has been watching the growth of Muslim political participation in the United States. Contact 859-257-9638, iabagb2@uky.edu.
  • Zahid Bukhari directs the American Muslim Studies Program at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and is the former director of the Project MAPS: Muslims in the American Public Square project. Contact 202-687-2947, zhb@georgetown.edu.
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it is the largest advocacy group for Muslims in the United States. It speaks out on issues related to civil liberties and justice. Contact communications director Ibrahim Hooper in Washington, D.C., 202-488-8787, ihooper@cair.com.
  • The Islamic Society of North America promotes unity and leadership among Muslims. It’s based in Plainfield, Ind. Contact president Ingrid Mattson, who is a professor at Hartford Seminary, 317-204-0935, isnapresident@isna.net.
  • Sarah Eltantawi is a consultant to organizations that promote understanding among diverse communities and is a frequent commentator on American Muslim affairs, including politics. Contact 202-491-3793, saraheltantawi@yahoo.com.
  • Karen Leonard is an anthropology professor at the University of California, Irvine. She wrote Muslims in the United States: The State of Research. Leonard says that since 9/11, American Muslims have been diverging and decentralizing politically as well as socially, with many reaching out and becoming directly engaged in politics. Contact 939-824-5136, kbleonar@uci.edu.
  • The Muslim American Society is involved in voter education, registration, teaching and empowering Muslims in politics. Contact Imam Mahdi Bray, 202-496-1288 or 202-421-3623 (cell), mas4freedom@aol.com.
  • The Muslim Public Affairs Council describes itself as a progressive voice for American Muslims and published a guide to the 2004 elections. Contact executive director Salam Al-Marayati in Los Angeles, 213-383-3443, salam@mpac.org.
  • The Progressive Muslim Union is a grassroots organization committed to representing the diversity of Islamic viewpoints and a progressive agenda. Ahmed Nassef, who is editor in chief of the online Islamic magazine Muslim Wakeup!, is chairman. Contact info@pmuna.org.
  • Agha Saeed is a political scientist, chairman of the American Muslim Alliance and founder of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections. He informally tracks American Muslim voting patterns and says that during the 2004 election, Muslim support previously enjoyed by Bush significantly eroded. Contact 510-299-9313, aghaksaeed@yahoo.com.
  • Omid Safi is an associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is one of the leading public intellectuals for modern Islam and is chairman for the Study of Islam Section at the American Academy of Religion. He is the editor of Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism. Contact 919-962-4890, omid@email.unc.edu.
  • James Zogby is a senior analyst with the polling firm Zogby International and co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, D.C. Contact communications director Rebecca Abou-Chedid, 202-429-9210, aai@aaiusa.org.

Native Americans

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issues on Native Americans from 2006 and 2004.


‘Religious Left’

For more sources see ReligionLink’s issues on:

  • The “religious left”
  • The Democrats and religion
  • Robert W. Edgar is general secretary of the National Council of Churches. Contact director of media relations Daniel Webster, 212-870-2252, dwebster@nccusa.org.
  • Russell Arben Fox is an assistant professor of political science at Friends University, Wichita, Kan. On his In Medias Res blog, he has written that the Democratic Party has abandoned religious progressives like him. Contact 316-295-5827, foxr@friends.edu.
  • Al From is the founder and chief executive officer of the Democratic Leadership Council. Of the 2004 election, he said that voters who never went to church voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Contact the press office, 202-546-0007, press@dlc.org.
  • The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy is president of the Interfaith Alliance. Contact through William Blake, 202-639-6370, wblake@interfaithalliance.org.
  • Alexia Kelley is executive director of the Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, founded in 2005. Based in Washington, D.C., it is “dedicated to defending and promoting the fullness of the Catholic social tradition in the American public square” and networks Catholic organizations, community leaders, scholars and individual throughout the county. Contact 202-822-5105.
  • Geoffrey Layman is an associate professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland in College Park. He wrote The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. He says there may be nothing the Democrats can do to win the evangelical and conservative Christian vote, but they can focus more strongly on the mainline Protestant, Catholic and black Protestant voters. Contact 301-405-9709, glayman@gvpt.umd.edu.
  • Michael Lerner is a rabbi, author and longtime political activist who publishes Tikkun magazine. He is co-chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives and author of The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right. Contact 510-528-6250, rabbilerner@tikkun.org.
  • David Saperstein is a Reform rabbi and director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He addressed the issue of how Democrats can better reach people of faith at a 2005 retreat of the Democratic Caucus. He says that whatever Democrats do, it must be “genuine,” and they must be careful not to “religiousize” their politics, but rather moralize the current political discourse. Contact Alexis Rice, director of communications, 202-387-2800, arice@rac.org.
  • James Skillen is president of the Center for Public Justice, a Christian-based policy research center. He says the Democrats do not need to inject more religion into their platform, but do need to show they take religious people seriously. Contact 410-571-6300 ext. 11, jim@cpjustice.org.
  • Amy Sullivan is a contributing editor for Washington Monthly, where she has written of the Democrats’ need to reclaim religion from the Republican Party. Her book The God Gap: Do the Democrats Have a Prayer of Winning the White House? is due out in 2008. Contact 202-393-5155, amysullivandc@gmail.com.
  • Jim Wallis is founder of the poverty-fighting coalition Call to Renewal and editor in chief of Sojourners. His books include God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. Contact press secretary Jack Pannell, 202-745-4614, jpannell@sojo.net.


Polls And Research

Polls are the raw fuel of political campaigns, and they are invaluable baselines for stories about religion and politics. Caveat emptor, however: Polls are frequently wrong or misinterpreted. Public Agenda posts “20 Questions Journalists Should Ask About Poll Results.” Here are some of the major providers of polls, surveys and data; many sites are searchable by topic:

NATIONAL POLLS

RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION SURVEYS

ACADEMIC AND NONPROFIT RESEARCH CENTERS

STATE POLLS

STANDARD-SETTING ASSOCIATIONS FOR POLLING

• American Association for Public Opinion Research


Articles

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

  • Samuel J. Abrams is a research fellow at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University and co-author with Morris P. Fiorina and Jeremy C. Pope of Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. Abrams argues that voters have not grown more conservative but that religious organizations have become better at organization and capturing attention and influence. The Republicans have tapped into this growth, while the Democrats, lacking a clear plan, have not, he says. Contact sabrams@fas.harvard.edu.
  • George J. Annas is professor and chairman of the department of health law, bioethics and human rights at the Boston University School of Public Health and an expert on abortion policy, embryo research, stem cells and end-of-life research. Contact 617-638-4626, annasgj@bu.edu.
  • Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School and an expert on abortion policy and on the First Amendment, which includes the religion clause. Contact 203-432-1620, jack.balkin@yale.edu.
  • Walton Brown Foster is a political science professor at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, where she teaches a course on religion and politics. Contact 860-832-2961, brownw@ccsu.edu.
  • Bryan Hehir is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is an expert on religion and American society. Contact 617-384-7776, bryan_hehir@ksg.harvard.edu.
  • The Rev. David Hollenbach is Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass. He specializes in Christian ethics and can speak about how Catholics translate their beliefs into political action. Books he has written include The Global Face of Public Faith: Politics, Human Rights and Christian Ethics. Contact 617-552-8855, hollenb@bc.edu.
  • Dale Kuehne is an associate professor in the department of politics at St. Anselm College, a Benedictine school in Manchester, N.H., whose interests include Christianity and politics. He is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church of America and is writing a book tentatively called Standing on the Threshold of an Inconceivable Age: Christianity, Politics and Sexuality in the 21st Century. Contact 603-222-4108, dkuehne@anselm.edu.
  • Phillip B. Levine is William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Economics at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. He wrote Sex and Consequences: Abortion, Public Policy and the Economics of Fertility. Contact 781-283-2162, plevine@wellesley.edu.
  • Laurence H. Tribe is a constitutional lawyer and Harvard University law professor with expertise in abortion and in issues of church and state. He wrote Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes. Contact 617-495-4621, tribe@law.harvard.edu.
  • Alan Wolfe is professor of political science and director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. Contact 617-552-1862, wolfe@bc.edu.

IN THE EAST

  • Louis Bolce and Gerald De Maio are associate professors of political science at Baruch College, City University of New York in New York City. They have written that the clearest indicator of voting patterns is religious affiliation, and that the Democratic Party has become a home for nonreligious people – approximately 15 percent of the party base. Contact Bolce at 646-312-4416, louis_bolce@baruch.cuny.edu; contact De Maio at 646-312-4414, gerald_demaio@baruch.cuny.edu.
  • Jonathan E. Brockopp is associate professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. He edited the book Islamic Ethics of Life: Abortion, War and Euthanasia. Contact 814-863-1338, brockopp@psu.edu.
  • Shaun Casey is a professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary, a United Methodist school in Washington, D.C. His specialties include religion’s role in presidential elections, and ethics concerning peace and war. He says that to successfully reach religious voters, Democrats must find a “theological idiom” that reflects the lived religion of the candidate and appeals to particular faith communities. Contact 202-885-8672, scasey@wesleyseminary.edu.
  • Bernard K. Freamon is a law professor at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. He specializes in Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic legal history and has an interest in ethics. Contact 973-642-8827, freamobe@shu.edu.
  • Faye Ginsburg is David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology at New York University. She wrote Contested Lives: The Abortion Debate in an American Community. Contact 212-998-8558, faye.ginsburg@nyu.edu.
  • Marci Hamilton is Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Yeshiva University in New York. She is a nationally recognized expert on the religion clauses of the First Amendment and wrote the book God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law. Contact 212-790-0215, Hamilton02@aol.com.
  • N.E.H. Hull is a Distinguished Law Professor at Rutgers University in Camden, N.J., and co-author of Roe v. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History. Contact 856-225-6370, nehhull@camden.rutgers.edu.
  • Amaney A. Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University, says she has found that government heavy-handedness has alienated many Muslims since 9/11 not only from government but from their own communities. She has done studies in New York and Detroit among Arabs and Muslims, particularly regarding their confidence in police. Contact 609-258-7340, ajamal@Princeton.EDU.
  • Harvey Kornberg is associate professor of political science at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. He has expertise in abortion politics. Contact 609-896-5365, kornberg@rider.edu.
  • Geoffrey Layman is an associate professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland in College Park. He wrote The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics (Columbia University Press, 2001). Contact 301-405-9709, glayman@gvpt.umd.edu.
  • Ira Lupu is a constitutional law scholar and professor at George Washington University Law School. He says that if religious groups want to engage in partisan politics, they must separate their political activities from their educational or religious work. Contact 202-994-7053, iclupu@law.gwu.edu.
  • The Rev. Patrick Lynch, who is a Jesuit priest, chairs the religious studies and theology department at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. He teaches a course on religion and politics. Contact 716-888-2831, lynchp@canisius.edu.
  • Jennifer Marshall is director of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., and former director of family studies at the Family Research Council. She has written widely about Republican support of moral issues such as abstinence education, defense of marriage and welfare. Contact media information, 202-675-1761.
  • Elizabeth McKeown is a theology professor at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and co-editor of Public Voices: Catholics in the American Context. Contact 202-687-4516, mck34@georgetown.edu.
  • The Rev. Thomas O’Hara is a political science professor and president at King’s College, a Catholic school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He can comment on issues of Catholics and politics, especially in old-line Catholic communities in keystone states such as Pennsylvania. Contact 570-208-5899, tjohara@kings.edu.
  • Hiroshi Obayashi teaches a course on religion and politics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Contact 732-932-9638, obayahk@rci.rutgers.edu.
  • Mary C. Segers is a professor of political science at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J. She is active in lay Catholic circles and is widely quoted on issues of feminism and abortion. Her books include, as coauthor, Faith-Based Initiatives and the Bush Administration: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Contact 973-353-5105, segers@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
  • Rita J. Simon is professor of justice, law and society for the school of public affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. Her numerous books include, as author, Abortion: Statutes, Policies and Public Attitudes the World Over. Contact 202-885-2965, rsimon@american.edu.
  • Jeffrey Stout, a religion professor at Princeton University, is the author of Democracy and Tradition (Princeton University Press, new edition 2005). Contact 609-258-4485, stout@princeton.edu.
  • Robert Wuthnow is director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University and a frequently cited commentator on the sociology of religion, his specialty. His numerous books include, as editor, the 2006 Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion. Contact 609-258-5545, wuthnow@princeton.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

  • Alan Abramowitz is Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory University in Atlanta and an expert on abortion politics. Contact 404-727-0108, polsaa@emory.edu.
  • Stephen Chapman is a biblical scholar at Duke Divinity School. He examines the use of the Bible and religious language in contemporary society and defends the separation of church and state. Contact 919-660-3408, schapman@div.duke.edu.
  • Mark Chaves, as of July 1, 2007, is professor of sociology, religion and divinity at Duke University. He is an expert on religion in American politics. He was also the principal investigator for the 1998 National Congregations Study of 1,236 congregations. Contact 919-660-5783.
  • David Dalin is a Conservative rabbi and a professor of history and political science at Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla. He co-authored The Presidents of the United States & the Jews. Contact 239-280-1694, david.dalin@avemaria.edu.
  • Ferrel Guillory is director of the Program on Public Life, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He says Mitt Romney’s religious affiliation is not likely to be as significant to voters as his stances on moral issues, including abortion and school prayer. Contact 919-962-5936, guillory@unc.edu.
  • Historian Nathan O. Hatch is president of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and his books include, as author, The Democratization of American Christianity. Contact 336-758-5212, hatch@wfu.edu.
  • James Davison Hunter is LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture and Social Theory at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. His books include, as co-author, Is There A Culture War? A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life. Contact 434-924-6524, jdh6c@virginia.edu.
  • Michael J. Perry is Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law at Emory University in Atlanta and specializes in the role of religion in politics. Contact 404-712-2086, mperry@law.emory.edu.
  • Melissa Rogers is a visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. She previously served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington, D.C. Her expertise includes religion and politics, and separation of church and state. Contact 202-904-4936, mrogers01@cox.net.
  • Steven M. Tipton is a professor of the sociology of religion at Emory University in Atlanta. He researches American religion and politics, and the sociology of morality. Contact 404-727-6333, stipton@emory.edu.
  • Robert Wineburg is a professor of social work at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro who has looked at IRS investigations of churches for political activities related to the 2004 presidential election. He is the author of the Faith-Based Inefficiency: The Follies of Bush’s Initiatives. He has been writing comprehensivelyabout faith-based politics and social services since the Reagan era. Contact 336-334-5228, bobwineburg@gmail.com.
  • J. David Woodard is a professor of political science at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C., and author of The New Southern Politics. Contact 864-656-3233, JUDITHW@clemson.edu.
  • David Yamane is an assistant professor of sociology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and an expert on Catholics in the postwar years. He wrote The Catholic Church in State Politics: Negotiating Prophetic Demands and Political Realities, a study of the function of Catholic bishop conferences in state legislative politics. Contact 336-758-3260, yamaned@wfu.edu.

IN THE SOUTH

  • Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, is expert in Islam and its history and practice in North America. He tracks the growth of Muslim political participation in the United States. Contact 859-257-9638, iabagb2@uky.edu.
  • John M. Bruce is an associate professor of political science at the University of Mississippi. He can discuss religion’s intersection with electoral politics, voting and public opinion, and parties and coalitions. Contact 662-915-7218, jbruce@olemiss.edu.
  • Steven P. Brown is associate professor of political science at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., where he specializes in religion and politics. Contact 334-844-6154, brown32@auburn.edu.
  • Allison Calhoun-Brown is associate professor of political science at Georgia State University. She specializes in religion and politics and African-American politics. Contact 404-651-4836, polacb@panther.gsu.edu.
  • David P. Gushee is University Fellow and Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. He edited Christians and Politics Beyond the Culture Wars: An Agenda for Engagement. Contact 731-661-5024, dgushee@uu.edu.
  • Mark Hulsether is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He wrote Religion, Culture and Politics in Modern America, due out in 2007. Contact 865-974-2466, mhulseth@utk.edu.
  • Penny Long Marler is a professor of religion at Samford University, Birmingham, Ala. She has tracked contemporary trends in religious behavior and has written about the attitudes of young adult Catholics. Contact 205-726-2869, plmarler@samford.edu.
  • Wilfred M. McClay holds the SunTrust Bank Chair of Excellence in Humanities at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is a widely published author on issues related to religion in America. He co-edited Religion Returns to the Public Square: Faith and Policy in America. Contact 423-425-5202, Bill-McClay@utc.edu.
  • Mark Pryor is a Democratic U.S. senator from Arkansas. He partially credits his election to the advice of a political consultant who told him to never give a speech without quoting the Bible. He has said Democrats have trouble with people of faith. Contact 202-224-2353.
  • C. Melissa Snarr is an assistant professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Her interests include Christian political thought and modern Islamic political movements. Contact melissa.snarr@vanderbilt.edu.
  • Paul J. Weber is a political science professor at the University of Louisville, Ky., and is an expert on religion and politics. He says Catholics are swing voters who can determine the winner of the election. Contact 502-852-3305, paulweber@louisville.edu.

IN THE MIDWEST

  • Laurie Bagby teaches a course on religion and politics at Kansas State University. Contact 785-532-0441, lauriej@ksu.edu.
  • David E. Campbell is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame who has written widely on religion and politics and what motivates voters to go to the polls. His books include, as editor, the 2007 release A Matter of Faith: Religion and the 2004 Presidential Election. Contact 574-631-7809, Dave_Campbell@nd.edu.
  • James D. Davidson is a sociology professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Davidson can comment on the trends shaping political attitudes and beliefs of American Catholics. His books include, as author, Catholicism in Motion: The Church in American Society. Contact 765-494-4688, davidsonj@purdue.edu.
  • Kevin den Dulk teaches a course on religion and politics at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., and co-authored Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture and Strategic Choices. Contact 616-331-2991, dendulkk@gvsu.edu.
  • Paul Djupe teaches a course on religion and politics at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He co-authored the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics and co-edited the 2007 book Religious Interests in Community Conflict: Beyond the Culture Wars. Contact 740-587-6310, djupe@denison.edu.
  • Osama Siblani is president of the Arab American Political Action Committee in Dearborn, Mich., which was formed to consolidate and increase Arab-American voting power. Contact Osiblani@ameritech.net.
  • Timothy R. Johnson is assistant professor of political science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St. Paul. His books include, as co-author, Religious Institutions and Minor Parties in the United States. He wrote the entry on Roe v. Wade for the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. Contact 612-625-2907, trj@umn.edu.
  • Moin “Moon” Khan is a trustee for the York Township in DuPage County, Ill., and heads the DuPage Minority Caucus, a coalition of politically moderate, observant Muslims who hold conservative views on social issues. DuPage County is near Chicago. Khan says that most observant Muslims object to abortion and same-sex marriage and so gravitate to the GOP on local issues, although national Republican candidates are losing Muslim voters because of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Contact 630-889-0588, moonkhan2006@yahoo.
  • Douglas Laycock, who is Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor – and Alice McKean Young Regents Chair in Law Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin – has expertise in the legality of religious political activity. Contact 734-647-9713, laycockd@umich.edu.
  • Gerard Magill is a professor at the Center for Health Care Ethics at St. Louis University. He co-edited Abortion and Public Policy: An Interdisciplinary Investigation Within the Catholic Tradition. Contact 314-977-6666, magill@slu.edu.
  • George M. Marsden is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. His expertise includes the history of fundamentalism and American religious and intellectual history. His books include, as author, Religion and American Culture. Contact 574-631-7319, George.M.Marsden.1@nd.edu.
  • The Rev. John Putka is a Marianist priest and lecturer in political science at the University of Dayton in Ohio. His research includes matters of church and state. Putka specializes in analyzing Catholic voting patterns and believes abortion is a key issue influencing the Catholic vote. Contact 937-229-3626, John.Putka@notes.udayton.edu.
  • The Rev. Kaari M. Reierson of Chicago is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s associate director for studies, the department that formulates the denomination’s social policy. She also edits the Internet publication Journal of Lutheran Ethics, which offers religious perspectives on social issues. Contact 773-380-2894, Kaari.Reierson@elca.org.
  • The Rev. Robert Sirico is president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids, Mich. Contact 616-454-3080, rsirico@acton.org.
  • Brendan Sweetman is a professor of philosophy at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., and the author of Why Politics Needs Religion: The Place of Religious Arguments in the Public Square. Contact brendan.sweetman@rockhurst.edu.
  • Paul J. Weithman is chairman and professor of philosophy at Notre Dame University and the author of Religion and the Obligations of Citizenship. Contact 574-631-5182, weithman.1@nd.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

  • Robert M. Baird is a professor of philosophy at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He co-edited Same-Sex Marriage: The Moral and Legal Debate and The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice. Contact 254-710-7373, Robert_Baird@baylor.edu.
  • Ravi Batra is an economics professor at Southern Methodist University and author of 2007’s The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution Against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos. Batra says journalists should investigate such issues as how political corruption creates poverty and how politicians exploit religion to get elected and then adopt policies to benefit themselves and the wealthy. Contact 214-768-1821, rbatra@smu.edu.
  • Clarke E. Cochran is a professor of political science at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He is an expert on religion and politics in America. His numerous books include, as co-author, Catholics, Politics and Public Policy: Beyond Left and Right and the 2007 release Church, State and Public Justice: Five Views. Contact 806-742-2987, Clarke.Cochran@ttu.edu.
  • Charles Curran is Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He specializes in moral theology, social ethics and the role of the church as a moral and political actor in society. Contact 214-768-4073, ccurran@smu.edu.
  • The Rev. Andrew Greeley is a prolific author, adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and research associate with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. A Roman Catholic priest, his studies focus on a range of issues facing the Catholic Church. He can talk about whether Catholics are shifting from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. His books include, as co-author, The Truth about Conservative Christians: What They Think and What They Believe. Contact 520-621-3531, agreel@aol.com.
  • Allen Hertzke is professor of political science and directs the religious studies program at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. His books include, as author, Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights and Representing God in Washington: The Role of Religious Lobbies in the American Polity and, as co-author, Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture and Strategic Choices. Contact 405-325-6421, ahertzke@ou.edu.
  • David Leege is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame who lives much of the year in Arizona. Leege is a leading expert on Catholic voting patterns. Contact 520-399-9874, David.C.Leege.1@nd.edu.
  • William Martin is Harry and Hazel Chavanne Emeritus Professor of Religion and Public Policy at Rice University in Houston. Martin is Chavanne Senior Fellow for Religion and Public Policy at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice. His interests include the impact of religious fundamentalism on politics. He wrote With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. Contact 713-348-3481, wcm@rice.edu.
  • Deborah R. McFarlane is a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She co-wrote The Politics of Fertility Control: Family Planning & Abortion Policies in the American States. Contact 505-277-7130, dmcf@unm.edu.
  • The Rev. Robin Meyers is a United Church of Christ pastor, syndicated columnist and professor of rhetoric at Oklahoma City University. Books he has written include Why the Christian Right Is Wrong: A Minister’s Manifesto for Taking Back Your Faith, Your Flag, Your Future. Contact 405-842-8897.
  • J. Matthew Wilson is a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas whose interests include religion and politics. Contact 214-768-4054, jmwilson@mail.smu.edu.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

  • Laila Al-Marayati, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Glendale, Calif., is spokesperson and past president of the Muslim Women’s League in Los Angeles. The organization works to disseminate accurate information about Islam and women and to strengthen the role of Muslim women in society. Contact 626-358-0335, mwl@mwlusa.org.
  • Marc Dollinger is a professor of Jewish studies and social responsibility at San Francisco State University whose interests include separation of church and state, and Jews and public policy. He contributed an article on Jews and the Democratic Party to the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. Contact 415-338-3160, mdolling@sfsu.edu.
  • Drew Halfmann is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis, and an expert on abortion policies. Contact 510-684-3850 (cell), dhalfmann@ucdavis.edu.
  • Michael Horan is a theologian at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles who can relate Catholic beliefs to Catholic practice, particularly in the political realm. Contact 310-338-2755, mhoran@lmu.edu.
  • The Rev. Thomas P. Rausch is a professor of Catholic theology at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He can comment on various aspects of Catholic political life, including efforts to forge bonds with Christian conservatives. He wrote Being Catholic in a Culture of Choice and edited Catholics and Evangelicals: Do They Share a Common Future? Contact 310-338-7670, trausch@lmu.edu.
  • John E. Seery is a professor of politics at Pomona College in California, where one of his areas of specialty is abortion politics. Contact 909-607-2458, John_Seery@pomona.edu.
  • The Rev. Jeffery E. Sells is rector of St. David of Wales Church in Shelton, Wash., and the editor of God and Country: Politics in Utah. Contact 360-426-8472.
  • Chris Soper is Frank R. Seaver Professor of Political Science and executive director for the Center for Faith and Learning at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. Soper’s books include, as author, Religious Beliefs and Political Choices: Evangelical Christianity in the United States and Great Britain. Contact 310-506-4964, chris.soper@pepperdine.edu.
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