W&M Featured Events
[PAST EVENT] 'The End of White Christian America' and the Role of Religion in the 2016 Presidential Election
The 2016 election season?especially the appeal and success of Donald Trump?has challenged if not undermined much of conventional wisdom concerning presidential races. With regard to religion, many observers have wondered if this election season signals the end of the Religious Right?s political clout, the demise of what political scientists have termed ?the God gap? between Republicans and Democrats, and even the waning of the culture wars over abortion and gay rights. However, even as demographic and cultural changes have resulted in what author Robert P. Jones had labeled ?the end of white Christian America,? this lecture will analyze how religion remains a powerful, contested force in American politics.
Dr. Brantley W. Gasaway
is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Bucknell University
& author of Progressive Evangelicals and the Pursuit of Social Justice (2014)
Sponsored by the William & Mary Department of Religious Studies