Overview

Many people take it for granted: Evangelicals are Republican, Democrats aren't religious, and moderate Christians may as well not exist. But it wasn't always this way. Those who grew up evangelical in the 1980s were just as likely to sit next to a Democrat as a Republican at church. What happened in the decades that followed? Data scientist Ryan Burge demystifies the recent polarization of American pews, helping listeners understand why the religious landscape has changed so much in the last fifty years and how this divide impacts every aspect of society. Burge argues that Americans prioritized their political parties over their denominations amid the culture wars. As many churches embraced conservative politics, moderate and liberal Christians left the church in droves. Yet Burge shows us that returning to church may be just what America needs. Many Americans want to be people of faith and believe deeply in the principles of religion. Churches provide support systems for needy families. And statistically, churchgoers tend to be more tolerant and have better mental health than Americans who don't attend church. Blending personal narrative and carefully presented data, Burge urges listeners to rebuild faith communities that can reach across the aisle.

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Ryan P. Burge is professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University. He previously taught at Eastern Illinois University. His previous books include The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going and, with Jim Davis and Michael Graham, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? Burge has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Politico and has appeared on 60 Minutes. He was the pastor of an American Baptist church for more than seventeen years and lives in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Jim Denison is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and a Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) Voice Arts Award nominee. He has experience as an actor on a variety of television shows and movies, appearing on Netflix, HBO, the National Geographic Channel, Investigation Discovery, and other networks, as well as appearances and voice-overs in regional and national television and radio ads. A Florida native, he has worked and traveled in many locations within the United States and abroad. For five years he hosted religious programs broadcast from several Caribbean radio stations. He changed careers to voice-over and audiobook narration after forty years of working with Christian churches in Florida, Texas, Trinidad and Tobago, Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland, and Kentucky. Jim and his wife of over thirty-five years, Renee, currently reside in southern Indiana near Louisville, Kentucky. They have two grown daughters. He holds two master's degrees and a doctorate.

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