Nearly three decades ago, Interfaith Alliance was founded to celebrate true religious freedom and to challenge the bigotry and hatred arising from religious and political extremists. Today, that mission is more urgent than ever, as Christian nationalists and their allies try to blur the boundaries between church and state. On this week’s State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast., host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by experts on how religion sways American politics today. He’ll speak with Dr. Ryan Burge, assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, about his latest statistical analysis of the intersection of religion and politics. And Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson, winner of the 2023 New York Society for Professional Journalists ‘Deadline Club’ award for opinion writing, joins Paul to discuss the convergence of gun idolatry and white Christian identity, and the recent political religious efforts to influence judicial nominations.

Dr. Ryan Burge is assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and the co-founder of Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience. His Substack is Graphs About Religion. The expanded, second edition of his important book, The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They are Going has just been released.

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michelson is a CNN commentator and columnist for Rolling Stone. Previously, he was the Supreme Court columnist at The Daily Beast. Jay is the author of ten books, including the best-selling, God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality, and is an affiliated professor at Chicago Theological Seminary. Jay holds a PhD in Jewish thought from Hebrew University, a JD from Yale Law School, and a non-denominational rabbinic ordination.