Synopses & Reviews
Not since the Civil War has the United States been so polarized, politically and ideologically. At the heart of this fracture is a fascinating, paradoxical marriage between our country's politics and religions.
In The Holy Vote, Ray Suarez explores the advent of this polarization and how it is profoundly changing the way we live our lives. With hands-on reporting, Suarez explores the attitudes and beliefs of the people behind the voting numbers and how the political divide is manifesting itself across the country. The reader will come to a greater understanding of what Americans believe, and how this belief structure fuels the debates that dominate the issues on our evening news broadcasts.
Synopsis
Throughout the past several election cycles, the differences between so-called "Red America" -- conservative, church-affiliated, suburban and rural -- and "Blue America"-- urban, secular, and socially liberal -- have hardened. Increasingly, these parallel mainstreams find themselves head to head, ready to fight at the slightest offense.
With The Holy Vote, acclaimed journalist Ray Suarez explores the ways in which this polarization is profoundly changing the way in which we live our lives. Suarez visits Mormon temples, Muslim mosques, Catholic churches, and other places of worship to explore the attitudes and beliefs of the people behind the voting numbers, and how this spiritual and political divide is manifesting itself across the country. The reader will come to a greater understanding of what Americans believe, and why it is just as important as understanding how we think.
Ray Suarez has been a senior correspondent for the "PBS NewsHour" (formerly "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer") since 1999. He came to the "NewsHour" from NPR's "Talk of the Nation." Previously, he spent seven years covering local national and international news for a NBC-owned station in Chicago.
About the Author
Ray Suarez is a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He came to the NewsHour from NPR's Talk of the Nation, and prior to that he spent seven years covering local, national, and international news for an NBC affiliate in Chicago.