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The Sixth Annual Willard M. Kiplinger Lecture on Ethics in
American Society
Religion, Politics and the Liberal Tradition
DR. E.J.
DIONNE, JR.
 E.J. Dionne, Jr., well known op-ed columnist for the
Washington Post, is recognized for his incisive commentaries on American
politics. As a writer and speaker, he has a continuing interest in the role
that religion plays in politics and government, a subject he will explore
further in this year’s lecture. Dionne says “It is troubling, and in some ways
astonishing, that religion and, in particular Christianity and Judaism, are seen
as inexorably in opposition to liberal or progressive ends. How can this be,
given the emphasis in these faiths of justice and righteousness toward the
poor? It is odd for some of us that liberalism has been synonymous with
hostility to religion. I am someone who became a liberal in part from my own
reflections, imperfect to be sure, on the political meaning of Christianity.”
Dionne was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, and was brought up in the Roman
Catholic faith. He graduated summa cum laude with a BA from Harvard University
and received his doctorate from Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar. For 14
years he was a New York Times reporter. He joined the Post and
began his twice weekly op-ed column which now appears in more that 90 papers in
the U.S. and abroad. In 1996 Dionne joined the Brookings Institute as a senior
fellow in the Governance Studies Program. Since 2003 he has taught at
Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. He is also a regular political
analyst on National Public Radio.
He is the author of the bestsellers, Why Americans Hate Politics: The
Death of the Democratic Process (1991); They Only Look Dead: Why
Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era (1996); and Stand Up
and Fight Back: Republican Toughs, Democratic Wimps and the Politics of Revenge
(2004).
E. J. Dionne Jr. Lecture
Q and A transcript.
Commentary by Dr. Ronald
Wells
Background on the
Kiplinger Lecture Series
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