Mercer University to Hold Discussion on Christian Faith in Politics

’s Center for Theology and Public Life will sponsor a series of discussions with two young Christian leaders in Washington on the Atlanta campus Oct. 4 as part of the Mercer Lyceum initiative.

The day’s events, titled “Christian Faith, Moral Values and Public Service: Two Views from Capitol Hill,” will feature Katie Paris, a Democrat and senior vice president of Media Matters for America, and Joshua Trent, a Republican and health care policy advisor for U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn.

“Our nation is bitterly polarized. Can we even talk to each other across partisan lines? Does Christian faith help or hurt us in the effort to restore civility to public debate?” said David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics and director of the Center for Theology and Public Life. “I think that Katie Paris and Josh Trent will help to show both the different directions that Christian faith and ethics can lead people in terms of public policy and also that differences over public policy do not need to be framed in bitter and divisive ways.”

The two will have four opportunities to share how their Christian faith has influenced their political views and actions while portraying how citizens of any political party can meet congenially to discuss important issues on which their opinions differ. All four of the events are free and open to the public. The events include: “Christian Faith, Vocation and Public Service,” at 10:45am in Cecil B. Day Hall; “Federal Health Care Reform: Competing Christian Perspectives,” at noon in the Trustees Dining Room; “The Health Care Reform Debate,” at 6pm in Room 007 of the Business and Education Building; and “Faithful Discipleship, Politics and Government,” 7:40pm in Room 007 of the Business and Education Academic Building Room.

“Every day in Washington, Christian women and men go off to their jobs in government service. Many of them attempt to bring the resources of their faith to bear on the work that they do,” Gushee said. “This day gives us a glimpse into how two prominent young Christian leaders in Washington try to integrate their faith, their ethics, and their service in government and politics.”

Before rejoining Media Matters for America, Paris spent five years at the Center for Faith in Public Life, a strategy center for the faith community that builds broad coalitions of faith leaders around issues of justice, compassion and the common good and amplifies mainstream religious voices in the media. During her time as program and communications director, Faith in Public Life advanced faith-based advocacy on issues from torture to health care to immigration reform, organized a nationally televised presidential forum featuring questions from faith leaders with then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Paris brings a decade of professional communications and research experience to her recent return to Media Matters, a 90-person round-the-clock media monitoring, research, and messaging center, which she helped launch in 2004. She has also served on presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns and continues to serves as senior adviser to Faith in Public Life.

Trent serves as a health care policy advisor for Coburn. In this role, Trent advises Coburn on Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, health IT and a variety of other health policy issues. Previously, Trent served as the deputy director of the refugee resettlement office at the Department of Health and Human Services, served in the George W. Bush White House Office of Presidential Personnel for three years and worked for the chief of staff at the Labor Department under Secretary Elaine Chao. While in Washington, Trent has participated in the fellows programs of the C.S. Lewis Institute and The Claremont Institute and has served on the boards of an arts nonprofit and a state society.