Public invited to hear Jim Wallis & Sen. Bill Frist at Christian Scholars Conference

Janel Shoun | 

With Democrat Barack Obama under attack for his religious affiliations and a Republican John McCain on the defensive about his lack of religious leanings, the 2008 presidential campaign is certainly not politics as usual… especially for Christians.

Jim Wallis
As the November vote draws nearer, Lipscomb University is offering a chance for local voters to hear two political leaders who have lived out their faith on the opposite ends of the political spectrum as well as wielded influence on the 2008 presidential campaign.

Former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 26, in the Collins Alumni Auditorium on the Lipscomb campus. Jim Wallis, progressive evangelical leader, author of God’s Politics and The Great Awakening and founder of Sojourners, the largest network of progressive Christians in the United States, will speak at 7 p.m. Friday, June 27 in the Collins Alumni Auditorium.

Both men will discuss their personal experience with faith issues within the political arena and their perspective on the role of religion in this year’s political climate and presidential election cycle.

Those interested in attending either or both of these speeches, which are offered free as part of the 28th Annual Christian Scholars Conference, held June 26-28, are asked to make a reservation by calling Dierdra Piatt at 615.966.6201.

Frist, a Republican, was the majority leader in the U.S. Senate from 2003-2007. As a leading heart transplant surgeon for 20 years, Frist built on his medical experience in the Senate to trumpet causes such as affordable and available health care, reversing the course of global HIV/AIDS and ethical stem cell research. Although he retired from the Senate in 2007, his influence on the American political climate remains strong and steady.

Sen. Bill Frist
Wallis, a noted social activist, has led Sojourners, a national social justice ministry focused on issues of poverty and peace, for more than 35 years. He serves as editor-in-chief of Sojourner’s magazine and made his mark on the political scene with his New York Times best-seller book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, published in 2005.

Most recently he has worked with the Democratic presidential candidates to host debates and forums on the role of faith in politics and governance. He was among the first signers of the Evangelical Manifesto, a much-publicized statement signed in May by many theologians nationwide declaring that the term “evangelical” has become a political term that does not accurately describe America’s religious voters.

Wallis contends that Christians nationwide are beginning to think about issues far beyond those most often addressed by Conservative political leaders. A new generation of evangelical Christians cares much more about the 30,000 children who will die today from utterly preventable disease, than they do about anti-gay marriage amendments in Ohio. And the new generation is carefully weighing their votes, Wallis says.

Nearly 300 Christian scholars, hailing from institutions such as Yale Divinity School, University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Emory University and 65 other colleges and universities nationwide, will gather at Lipscomb University to discuss issues of faith and politics at the Christian Scholars Conference.