Polarization

The place of faith in public life has been hotly debated as promising and perilous since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day—and for good reason. Too often, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends. Faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square—as it must be, if our nation is to flourish. Read More

Thank you for viewing the May 25 book launch of Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square, now available wherever books are sold.  Read or listen to an exclusive excerpt from Faithful Presence, selected by Gov. Haslam for the Vanderbilt Project… Read More

On the new Super Soul interview series on discovery+, Oprah Winfrey sat down with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, co-chair of The Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy and Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Chair in American Presidency at Vanderbilt. View the clip… Read More

From Meridian International’s 2021 Diplomacy Forum: Values Based Leadership, featuring project co-chair Samar Ali interviewing former Secretary General to NATO, His Excellency Anders Fogh Rasumussen. U.S. diplomats are inherently champions of American values, such as democracy, rule of law, an independent judiciary, freedom of press, and fair and transparent… Read More

Republican leaders and political analysts have widely embraced and promoted that Donald Trump uniquely attracted working-class voters to the GOP. New research including survey data on voting behavior going back to the 1980s contradicts this assumption. In fact, Trump’s term in office stalled a long-term trend of White working-class voters moving to the Republican Party. Read More

America’s political fractures reach beyond polling places and into the church pews.  Christian church leaders and laypeople should heed their faith’s fundamental creeds to foster “big tent” congregations where church members can practice what they preach by listening and modeling civil dialogue. Read More

Presidents’ words create national identity. For better or worse, presidential rhetoric tells the American people who they are. Ultimately, a president’s voice must provide the American people with a concrete vision of how—and more importantly, why—to move forward together. Read More