Program Particulars
*Times denoted refer to web version of audio

(01:30–04:03) Music: "The Multiples of One" from Awakening, performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:08) Audio Clips from Convention Speeches
The four actualities heard during the show were excerpted from, in respective order:

• President George W. Bush's acceptance speech delivered during the 2004 Republican National Convention on September 2, 2004 (transcript / video)
• Senator John Kerry's acceptance speech presented at the 2004 Democratic National Convention on July 29, 2004 (transcript / video)
• Governor George Pataki's remarks made during the 2004 Republican National Convention on September 2, 2004 (transcript / video)
• State Senator Barack Obama's remarks made during the 2004 Democratic National Convention on July 27, 2004 (transcript / video)

(03:54–04:31) Music: "Glory Hallelujah Grand March" from Music of the Civil War, performed by The Americus Brass Band

(04:17) Waldman's Blog
Read Waldman's daily dispatches from the 2004 Republican and Democratic political conventions.

(05:42) Time Magazine Poll
Waldman cites a June 2004 poll conducted by Time in which they asked the question "Would you describe Senator John Kerry as a man of strong religious faith?" Seven percent of all likely voters agreed with the statement while a similar question asked about President Bush resulted in 54 percent agreement.

(06:34) Audio Clip of President Clinton
The following extended passage of the actuality heard in the show was excerpted from President Bill Clinton's address to the delegates of the 2004 Democratic National Convention on July 26:

Here is what I know about John Kerry. During the Vietnam War, many young men—including the current president, the vice president and me—could have gone to Vietnam but didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background and could have avoided it too. Instead he said, send me.

When they sent those swift-boats up the river in Vietnam, and told them their job was to draw hostile fire—to show the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight—John Kerry said, send me. When it was time to heal the wounds of war and normalize relations with Vietnam—and to demand an accounting of the POWs and MIAs we lost there—John Kerry said, send me.

When we needed someone to push the cause of inner-city kids struggling to avoid a life of crime, or to bring the benefits of high technology to ordinary Americans, or to clean the environment in a way that creates jobs, or to give small businesses a better chance to make it, John Kerry said send me.

Last thing I want to say is this. Next time a politician does something you think is about a half step off, or you say "Why didn't they do this that or another thing?," you remember that in the end, especially at election time, free people have the reins in their own hand. Remember what God said to Isaiah: "Whom shall I send? Who will go for me?" And he said, "Here am I lord, send me."

(12:46) Actuality from Kerry Speech
The following extended passage was excerpted from Senator Kerry's acceptance speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention:

And let me say it plainly: in that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith. America is not us and them. I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this to you tonight: I don't wear my religion on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side. And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country.

(13:41–14:27) Music: "Those Who Wait" from Only, performed by Tommy Emmanuel

(16:05) Audio Clip of Senator Edwards
Following is an extended section of Senator and Vice-Presidential nominee John Edwards' address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention:

We can also do something about 35 million Americans who live in poverty every day. And here's why we shouldn't just talk about it, but do something about the millions of Americans who live in poverty, because it is wrong. We have a moral responsibility to lift those families up.

I mean the very idea that in a country of our wealth and our prosperity, we have children going to bed hungry. We have children who don't have the clothes to keep them warm. We have millions of Americans who work full-time every day for minimum wage to support their family and still live in poverty—it's wrong.

These are men and women who are living up to their part of the bargain: working hard and taking care of their families. Those families are doing their part; it's time we did ours.

We will do that when John is in the White House. We will raise the minimum wage, finish the job on Welfare Reform, and bring good paying jobs to the places that need them. And we will say no forever to any American working full-time and living in poverty—not in our America, not in our America.

(23:37–24:02) Music: "Prelude" from Song of Hope, performed by Bruce Stark

(24:04–25:57) Music: "Jongo for Two Guitars" from Guitar Gala Night, composed by Paulo Bellinati

(26:33–27:15) Music: "Battle Cry of Freedom and Kingdom Coming Quick Step" from Music of the Civil War, performed by The Americus Brass Band

(27:18) Reading of Waldman's Blog
The following passage was excerpted from Waldman's September 1, 2004 blog entry, "Republicans: The Secular Party?":

Just when you think you've got it all figured out. The Democrats were supposed to be uncomfortable with religion and yet speaker after speaker in Boston got up and quoted the Bible and praised the Lord. Since Republicans actually love God-talk, it stood to reason that their convention would be a veritable revival meeting.

Instead, it's been more like an ACLU retreat, at least in terms of the use of religious rhetoric from the top speakers. None of the marquee acts on the first two nights so much as threw in a Bible passage. Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were downright Pentecostal compared to John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Laura Bush didn't even talk about her husband as a person of strong faith. Given that today's theme was "compassion," I thought they'd surely hit hard the President's "faith based initiative." None of the prime time speakers did so.

(28:10) Audio Clip of Giuliani
The following passage was excerpted from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention on August 30, 2004:

At the time, we believed we would be attacked many more times that day and in the days that followed. Without really thinking, based on just emotion, spontaneous I grabbed the arm of then Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and said to Bernie, "Thank God George Bush is our President."

And I say it again tonight, "Thank God George Bush is our President."

(28:51) Audio Clip of Bush
During President George W. Bush's acceptance speech delivered during the 2004 Republican National Convention on September 2, 2004, Waldman says that instead of using overt religious rhetoric the president crafted a more elegant, poetic message:

To everything we know there is a season a time for sadness, a time for struggle, a time for rebuilding. And now we have reached a time for hope. This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America and tonight, in this place, that dream is renewed. Now we go forward grateful for our freedom, faithful to our cause, and confident in the future of the greatest nation on earth.

God bless you, and may God continue to bless America.

(30:07) Citation from Waldman's Blog
Krista cites text from Waldman's September 2, 2004 weblog entry "Cheney on Evil":

Cheney had only one faith-related line but it was an important one. He said Bush exhibited "a moral seriousness that calls evil by its name." I've long believed that, politically speaking, Bush's faith has strong appeal even among many people who aren't religious—because it seems to drive him toward moral clarity.

(30:31) Study from the Pew Foundation
Waldman cites an August 2004 poll conducted by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. In their summary findings, researchers report that Americans are evenly divided between those who say there is too much (27 percent) religious rhetoric and those who say there is too little (31 percent). Forty-three percent of African-Americans surveyed said that they would prefer to hear more discussion of faith and prayer by political leaders, which is a decrease from last year's polls numbers of 62 percent.

Interestingly, 61 percent of people who would like to hear more religious rhetoric by politicians endorse President Bush in the 2004 election, as compared to 29 percent backing Kerry. The inverse was found to be true for people who thought that there is too much religious rhetoric being used in the campaign, with 63 percent of voters favoring Kerry over Bush (32 percent). Those who think the proper balance of religious discussion and prayer is being used in the campaign are closely divided: 50 percent favor Bush and 46 percent endorsing Kerry.

(32:47) Audio Clip of Cheney
The following extended passage was extended from Vice President Dick Cheney's speech on September 1, 2004 at the 2004 Republican National Convention:

The other candidate in this race is a man our nation has come to know, and one I've come to admire very much. I watch him at work every day. I have seen him face some of the hardest decisions that can come to the Oval Office and make those decisions with the wisdom and humility Americans expect in their president. George W. Bush is a man who speaks plainly and means what he says. He is a person of loyalty and kindness and he brings out these qualities in those around him. He is a man of great personal strength and more than that, a man with a heart for the weak, and the vulnerable, and the afflicted. We all remember that terrible morning when, in the space of just 102 minutes, more Americans were killed than we lost at Pearl Harbor. We remember the President who came to New York City and pledged that the terrorists would soon hear from all of us. George W. Bush saw this country through grief and tragedy he has acted with patience, and calm, and a moral seriousness that calls evil by its name. In the great divide of our time, he has put this nation where America always belongs: against the tyrants of this world, and on the side of every soul on earth who yearns to live in freedom.

(33:18) Amazing Grace at the Convention
Krista quotes a section from "Religion Kept Away from Limelight" by Shawn McCarthy (September 2, 2004) that was published in the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail:

The Republicans have been wary of giving too much convention prominence to Christian conservatives ever since Pat Buchanan talked about a "religious war" and a "culture war" that was being waged in America at the 1992 gathering in Houston. He was credited with driving moderates to Democrat Bill Clinton, who went on to defeat George Bush Sr. at the polls.

But beyond the limelight, they continue to make their presence felt. At times, the New York convention has taken on the air of a huge prayer meeting, notably during a haunting rendition of Amazing Grace during the opening night's Sept. 11 memorial. Hymns by church choirs and Christian rock performances continue to punctuate breaks between speakers, and the party platform, which delegates enthusiastically approved this week, contains hard-line positions on abortion and gay relationships.

(38:16–39:25) Music: "Those Who Wait" from Only, performed by Tommy Emmanuel

(42:33) Clinton at Riverside Church
In the following excerpt from Bill Clinton's sermon at Riverside Church in New York City, the former president calls upon the strong scriptural language of Paul in the New Testament and merges it with his political positions:

The most important political verses in the scripture are the next to last and the verse before that of First Corinthians. "But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." And we read it at weddings all the time. But it's wrong. That's not romantic love, that's agape, love for each other.

[Another important passage is 1 Corinthians: 13:12] where St. Paul contrasts light today with light in heaven with God. He says, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." We have no choice but to have a charitable attitude toward each other.

It is wrong to demonize and cartoonize one another and ignore evidence and to make false charges and to bear false witness. Sometimes I think our friends on the other side have become the people of the Nine Commandments. It is wrong to bear false witness because we all see through [the] glass darkly.

(44:02–44:42) Music: "Second Time Around" from Appalachia Waltz, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor

(45:46) Political Buttons at Convention
Waldman writes about the Democrats and Republican supporters he saw wearing buttons—one featuring President Bush "dotted with swastikas" and another reading "Terrorists for Kerry"—in his September 1, 2004 weblog entry, "You're More Uncivil! No You! No You!"

He also details the myriad paraphernalia sold during the convention, including buttons, in his September 2, 2004 entry, "How Can We Shoot Liberals?"

(48:56–51:03) Music: "Prelude" from Song of Hope, performed by Bruce Stark

(51:00–52:54) Music: "Jongo for Two Guitars" from Guitar Gala Night, composed by Paulo Bellinati