“We have a sign of hope - no war in Iran!” alleged Professor David Schultz. Furthermore, RFK and Vatican II both expressed a “gospel of change and hope”. And we are hearing this theme in the current 2008 presidential campaign.

David Schultz engaged an inquisitive audience in Hospitality Hall with political observations and an active dialogue. His thesis was, “We are experiencing a generational shift in our political perspectives – an example is we are moving from,”the language of me and of what I did” to “the language of hope and empowering each other.”

Some additional presentation nuggets were:

1. 70% of presidential political campaign money goes to the media for advertising services. Therefore, it is in the media’s interest to be deliberately provocative and to create controversy.
2. Religious classifications in the US are:
   • Progressives (25-27% of US adults)
   • Moderates (<45% of US adults)
   • Conservative/evangelicals - (<25% of US adults)
   The reason the progressives have less influence then conservatives is they have no nationally recognized spokesperson(s). The conservative/evangelicals have several recognized spokespersons.
3. The Catholic Church is retreating from the theme of social justice – Christ’s main message. The institution is defining itself more by exclusion (e.g. women, GLBT). Coincidentally, the democratic candidates are featuring the goal of social justice (fair taxation and more support for disadvantaged people).
4. We are witnessing a coming together of all religious classes around the environment - the need to preserve it. Another sign of hope.

Professor David Schultz teaches ethics and public policy at Hamline University (School of Business) and legal ethics at the University of Minnesota (Law School). FFI go to davidschultz.efoliomn2.com.

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Jerry Hartlaub commutes from New Brighton with his wife, Trish, to be refreshed and challenged at the "SJA spiritual oasis". He's a Sunday mass slide jockey and "worker bee" at many SJA events. For fun he has written a bunch of poetry, printed his first book, and invented lots of stuff in a 30-year bioengineering career. These days he teaches cardiac physiology (but he's mostly retired), serves on non-profit boards, does Junior Achievement gigs and plays softball. But most rewarding is providing child-care for two of the world's smartest, cutest grandchildren.