In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes discuss politics, reconciliation, and the role of the American Solidarity Party. Their special guest is Daniel Philpott, Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He specializes in religion and global politics with a focus on reconciliation, the political behavior of religious actors, and Christian political theology. His books include Revolutions in Sovereignty (Princeton, 2001), Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation (Oxford, 2012), and Religious Freedom in Islam: The Fate of a Universal Human Right in the Muslim World (Oxford, 2019).

1. Let’s start with next week. Out with Trump, in with Biden. What does this change mean for the long term work of building a culture of life?

2. How do you understand politics and the political life?

3. We suffer from the wounds of the past, and racism is a prime example. Can politics help heal these wounds?

4. Some say that all politics is local. Others say that all politics is personal. What’s right and what’s wrong about these claims?

5. Freedom of religion is the first freedom. No doubt, however, there are limits on religious freedom. But why, and on what basis?

6. Does national sovereignty pose both promise and peril?

7. You support the American Solidarity Party. How did this come about?

8. Could you tell us about the concept of solidarity as you understand it?

9. As an educator, what advice do you have for developing a “solidarity curriculum”?

10. Crisis can give birth to creativity. What green shoots, nationally and internationally, do you see?