Name: Cal Thomas
Why you should know him: Thomas is America’s most widely syndicated op-ed columnist, appearing in more than 540 national newspapers. He also hosts a daily radio program syndicated to more than 300 stations nationwide.
Position: Thomas is a contributing analyst and commentator for the Fox News Channel and is a regular panelist on the weekly program "Fox News Watch," a critique of the media. He also syndicates a daily radio commentary heard on more than 300 radio stations nationwide.
Previous: He has worked for NBC, CNBC, PBS television, and the Fox News Network, where he currently provides weekly political commentary.
Education:
B.A., American University
Books: Thomas has authored ten books, including: The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas (2000); Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America? (2000); Book Burning (1983 ); The Death of Ethics in America (); Uncommon Sense (1990); and Things That Matter Most (1994).
Awards: Cable Ace Award nomination for Best Interview Program; George Foster Peabody team reporting award, and awards from both the Associated Press and United Press International.
Online writings: Newspaper column
Assessment: Thomas began his career in journalism at age 16 when he became a news reader for a radio station. Two years later he became a copyboy for NBC News and set upon a career in journalism that has lasted for almost forty years. In 1981 he took a five-year sabbatical from journalism to be the Moral Majority’s vice president for communications behind Jerry Falwell. His experience with the organization soured him on the use of political means to enact social change. Like his mentor Francis Schaeffer, Thomas recognizes that Christians have a role in politics but that the ultimate hope for cultural renewal is the creation of Christians who are dedicated to living out their faith rather than imposing their views by brute political force.
(This post is #23 in the "Know Your Evangelicals" series. Coming next: Greg Boyd)
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Great series - thanks, Joe. Cal is one of the best role models for Christians in public life. He consistently espouses the right beliefs and virtues without waving the "Christian" banner. He is one of the few who shares the faith but does not promote it as a sphere of corporate membership.
posted on 10.27.2004 1:06 AM2
Some Christians who don't think Christians should have ANY involvement in politics or government try to incorrectly claim Thomas as their own. The other extreme are Christians (Reconstructionists like Pat Robertson) that blast Thomas for saying that cultural renewal can't come through government law.
I think both are wrong and both misunderstand the subtlety of Cal Thomas’s position. If Cal Thomas really thought Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics he would stop writing about politics in his column.
The infighting among Christians over politics reminds me of Paul’s discussion of the Church body and its many specific parts in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26.
posted on 10.27.2004 12:43 PM3
Like Gary Bauer, Cal Thomas is as scary as he looks. I never miss his column, and I note with chagrin his many appearances on Fox News programs. He is like a Rush Limbaugh with a brain or an Ann Coulter with tact. That is why he is so scary.
Please go away, Cal.
posted on 10.27.2004 4:31 PM4
he is much more of a politician than an evengelical. fox can hardly be called a news station.
posted on 10.28.2004 8:30 AM5
Because Love cannot be forced, the beauty, joy, and peace of Christianity cannot come from government.
Government is force.
The right place to use gov't force is to punish those people society has said, through its laws, should be punished.
Unfortunately, in this secular age, too many folk substitute big, active State in the place that God should be. The places in their own hearts, and in the desire to make their version of right and wrong exactly match legal and illegal.
Fox, by reasonably objective measures, is THE best news station. Reviled by Leftists because it doesn't support the radical PC bias of what is news.
posted on 10.28.2004 9:42 AM6
'Fox, by reasonably objective measures, is THE best news station. '
it doesn't matter which politician they are promoting, when a station has the vast majority of it's opinions coming from one side, it isn't news. it doesn't matter how much they flash 'fair and balanced,' it isn't. air america isn't news either, but it doesn't pretend to be.
posted on 10.28.2004 11:36 AM7
Rob Ryan wrote: "Please go away, Cal."
So, please let me make sure I've got this right... you'd prefer to listen to people with no tact or brains? You'd rather have our political discourse be brownshirts and Marxists screaming, yelling and throwing rocks at each other? Did I miss a sarcasm tag?
[Robbo shakes his head, lamenting how much more contemporary USA is looking like 1930's Europe every day...]
IMO, I'd rather have folks like Thomas and Christopher Hitchens giving us their opinions ANY day than the likes of Limbaugh (or his liberal, unkempt alter ego, Michael Moore).
OT: Well, if Fox isn't news, neither are any of the big 3 networks (most notably, CBS!) In one way, it's impossible to be completely objective. However, much of the mainstream media (CBS most notably) has stepped WAAAY beyond that, and just plays the spin that supports their agenda. I don't watch any TV news much. What I do get from the broadcast media is generally radio, and mostly NPR. NPR does let it's bias creep in on occasion, but they do allow fair airplay for the other side, most of the time. I'm always sickened when I've heard NPR cover an issue, giving each side their chance to state their case, and then end up at my parents house when they watch one of the big 3's evening news programs. It's like having read Shakespeare and appreciating it's beauty, and then have the Gestapo thrust it's "official" version of Shakespeare in front of you and try to tell you it's the "real" Shakespeare. IMO, what NBC, CBS and ABC broadcast is more nauseating than the month old leftovers you find hiding in a forgotten tupperware container in the back of the fridge!
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Let me explain, Robbo, since you're jumping to some pretty wild conclusions. My problem with Cal is that he disguises the evil of his worldview with a thin veneer of reason and civility.
Is that better?
posted on 10.30.2004 8:45 AM9
"My problem with Cal is that he disguises the evil of his worldview with a thin veneer of reason and civility." -- RobRyan
Rob: So what is it you're REALLY trying to say?
Two observations about Cal when he visited Cedarville University back in 1997.
1. He is VERY tall and VERY thin. He literally stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the foyer area when I spied him.
2. He has his eye on the proper ball because he was there to announce the formation of a scholarship for students who wanted to pursue media careers. He knows the value and power of the media and he also knows the power that comes from a worldview shaping and guiding actions. His intent was to encourage Christians to pursue media careers as a way of influencing the larger culture. He is a fine man.