The Values Divide
What did you think about the decision to anoint a gay bishop?
Who the bishop of New Hampshire is is not something that's relevant to me, and I think that's the way most people see it.
Is there anything that the church should be doing to bring these people back?
I think to emphasize that we are traditionally a broad church and this has been our glory. I think a lot of people would say, well, the Episcopal Church is wishy-washy, that it doesn't really stand for anything. I think we stand for a lot. I think we stand for the idea that God cannot be encapsulated in our perceptions or in our views of political issues or social issues. It's saying that God is bigger than all these issues and bigger than any of our factions, and the church is big enough to include everything.
What do you hope happens next with the message of your book?
My hope is that someone will run for president, as a Republican, hopefully, but that somebody will run for president and make a big issue of how in trouble we are if we become a wedge-issue, polarizing party and if we become identified with a particular religious perspective. Right now, it's just an idea. It's important for the idea to be embodied in somebody who's willing to carry it forward.
Do you see any Republicans with that potential?
I don't have a favorite candidate yet, but one person who intrigues me is [Nebraska Sen.] Chuck Hagel. I don't know enough about him to know whether he would carry this banner, but I like his tone.
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