Cal Thomas

Last updated

Cal Thomas
Cal Thomas by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Thomas in February 2012
Born
John Calvin Thomas

(1942-12-02) December 2, 1942 (age 81) [1]
Alma mater American University
Occupation(s)Political commentator, author, columnist

John Calvin Thomas [2] (born December 2, 1942) is an American syndicated columnist, author and radio commentator.

Contents

Early life and education

Thomas was born in 1942 in Washington, D.C. He attended the American University for his undergraduate education.

Career

During the 1960s and early 1970s he worked as a reporter at NBC News. During a hiatus in his undergraduate education, he joined the U.S. Army, and served at the Armed Forces Radio in New York. [3] His program on CNBC was nominated for a CableACE Award in 1995. [4] His column, which began in 1984, is syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. [5] Thomas joined Fox News as a political contributor in 1997. He was a panelist on Fox News Watch , a Fox News Channel program critiquing media coverage, and until September 2005 hosted After Hours with Cal Thomas on the same network. He also gives a daily radio commentary, syndicated by Salem Radio Network.

From 2005 until the end of 2015, Thomas had been a columnist for USA Today , where he wrote articles with friend and political opposite, Bob Beckel, in the style of "point–counterpoint". [6]

Thomas has written extensively about political issues and he supports, among other things, many American positions related to Israel.

He has written 10 books, including Blinded By Might, that discussed, among other things, the role of the Moral Majority in American politics of the 1980s. Thomas was vice president of the Moral Majority from 1980 to 1985. Thomas is an evangelical Christian, [7] [8] and a member of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. [9]

Political views

Iranian nuclear negotiations

In a 2014 Washington Times article, Thomas claims, "Iranian nuclear negotiators joined with Holocaust deniers, 9/11 truthers and anti-Semites from across the globe." [10]

Barack Obama

In 2014, Thomas criticized the U.S. President Barack Obama for "treating Israel as an enemy". [10]

Islam

In his article "Mumbai Explained", syndicated in December 2008, Thomas wrote that "no new [mosques] should be built" in Western countries following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. He further claimed that Muslim immigration posed a danger to the UK and United States. [11]

Following the June 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub by ISIS sympathizer Omar Mateen, Thomas called for a moratorium on construction of mosques in the United States until "radical Islamist ideology" could be "defeated". [12]

Israel

In a 2023 column, Thomas affirmed his support for Israel and the Zionist movement. [13]

LGBT rights

After Bill Clinton became the first sitting United States president to address a gay rights organization, the Human Rights Campaign, [14] Thomas published a column [15] in November 1997 opposing homosexuality, in which he said:

God designed norms for behavior that are in our best interests. When we act outside those norms—such as for premarital sex, adultery, or homosexual sex—we cause physical, emotional, and spiritual damage to ourselves and to our wider culture. The unpleasant consequences of divorce and sexually transmitted diseases are not the result of intolerant bigots seeking to denigrate others. They are the result of violating God's standards, which were made for our benefit.

Cal Thomas, "Immutable Morals"

Thomas published a similar column [16] on October 16, 2009, after Barack Obama became the second sitting United States president to address the Human Rights Campaign. [14] Thomas said:

We will get more of what we tolerate. Sexual behavior is an important cultural and moral issue. Mr. Obama won the election with just 52 percent of the popular vote and a margin of 7 percent over Sen. John McCain. This should not be seen as a mandate for him and his administration to make over America in a secular and liberal image. Neither should it be seen as an invitation to give blanket approval to homosexuality, considered by some to be against the best interests of the people who practice it as well as the nations that accept it.

Cal Thomas, "Don't Ask, Tell or Legitimize"

Personal life

Thomas was married to Charlotte Ray Thomas for 51 years until her death in 2017. [17] Thomas married CJ Berwick, a classmate from Walter Johnson High School, in 2018. [18] The couple reside in Key Largo, Florida as of 2020. [19]

Bibliography

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Booknotes interview with Thomas on The Things That Matter Most, July 10, 1994, C-SPAN

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Falwell</span> American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist (1933–2007)

Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1967, founded Liberty University in 1971, and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religious affiliations of presidents of the United States</span>

Religious affiliations can affect the electability of the presidents of the United States and shape their stances on policy matters and their visions of society and also how they want to lead it. While no president has ever openly identified as an atheist, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and William Howard Taft were speculated to be atheists by their opponents during political campaigns; in addition, a survey during the presidency of Donald Trump showed that 63% of Americans did not believe he was religious, despite his professed Christian affiliation. Trump supporters have also circulated conspiracy theories that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Conversely, other presidents, such as Jimmy Carter, have used their faith as a defining aspect of their campaigns and tenure in office.

<i>The Washington Times</i> American broadsheet newspaper

The Washington Times is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D.C. and the greater Washington metropolitan area, including suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. It also publishes a subscription-based weekly tabloid edition aimed at a national audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dobson</span> Evangelical Christian psychologist, author, and radio broadcaster

James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s, he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader" by The New York Times while Slate portrayed him as a successor to evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Thomas</span> American journalist (1920–2013)

Helen Amelia Thomas was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of the White House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of ten U.S. presidents—from the beginning of the Kennedy administration to the second year of the Obama administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Hentoff</span> American music critic and author (1925–2017)

Nathan Irving Hentoff was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for The Village Voice from 1958 to 2009. Following his departure from The Village Voice, Hentoff became a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and continued writing his music column for The Wall Street Journal, which published his works until his death. He often wrote on First Amendment issues, vigorously defending the freedom of the press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Krauthammer</span> American journalist (1950–2018)

Charles Krauthammer was an American political columnist. A moderate liberal who turned independent conservative as a political pundit, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his columns in The Washington Post in 1987. His weekly column was syndicated to more than 400 publications worldwide. While in his first year studying medicine at Harvard Medical School, Krauthammer became permanently paralyzed from the waist down after a diving board accident that severed his spinal cord at cervical spinal nerve 5. After spending 14 months recovering in a hospital, he returned to medical school, graduating to become a psychiatrist involved in the creation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III in 1980. He joined the Carter administration in 1978 as a director of psychiatric research, eventually becoming the speechwriter to Vice President Walter Mondale in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Coren</span> British-Canadian writer and clergyman

Michael Coren is a British-Canadian writer and clergyman. A long-time television personality, Coren hosted The Michael Coren Show on the Crossroads Television System from 1999 to 2011 before moving to the Sun News Network to host The Arena with Michael Coren, from 2011 until the channel's demise in early 2015. He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on Toronto talk radio station CFRB. Coren is currently a columnist for the Toronto Star and iPolitics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Press</span> American talk radio host (born 1940)

William H. Press is an American talk radio host, podcaster, liberal pundit and author. He was chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1993 to 1996, and is a senior political contributor on CNN. He hosts The Bill Press Pod podcast, and his weekly column is syndicated by Tribune Content Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Wallis</span> American activist and Evangelical writer

James E. Wallis Jr. is an American theologian, writer, teacher and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine and as the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name. In 2021, Wallis joined Georgetown University as the inaugural Archbishop Desmond Tutu Chair in Faith and Justice. He also leads the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown. Wallis is known for his advocacy on issues of peace and social justice. Although Wallis actively eschews political labels, he describes himself as an evangelical and is often associated with the evangelical left and the wider Christian left. He worked as a spiritual advisor to President Barack Obama. He is also a leader in the Red-Letter Christian movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Baehr</span> American Christian film critic

Millard Robert E. Theodore Baehr is an American media critic and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, a division of Good News Communications, Inc. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of Movieguide, a website and biweekly journal that evaluates motion pictures and other entertainment products from a Christian perspective on suitability for family consumption. He also hosts nationally and internationally syndicated Movieguide radio and television programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Anderson (columnist)</span> American newspaper columnist (1922–2005)

Jack Northman Anderson was an American newspaper columnist, syndicated by United Features Syndicate, considered one of the founders of modern investigative journalism. Anderson won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigation on secret U.S. policy decision-making between the United States and Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In addition to his newspaper career, Anderson also had a national radio show on the Mutual Broadcasting System, acted as Washington bureau chief of Parade magazine, and was a commentator on ABC-TV's Good Morning America for nine years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Gerson</span> American political speechwriter and columnist (1964–2022)

Michael John Gerson was an American journalist and speechwriter. He was a neoconservative op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, a Policy Fellow with One Campaign, a visiting fellow with the Center for Public Justice, and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as President George W. Bush's chief speechwriter from 2001 until June 2006, as a senior policy advisor from 2000 through June 2006, and was a member of the White House Iraq Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Limbaugh</span> American lawyer and political commentator

David Scott Limbaugh is a conservative American political commentator and author who has also worked as a professor and as a lawyer. He is the younger brother of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Kirsten Anne Powers is an American author, liberal columnist, and political analyst. She currently writes for USA Today and is an on-air political analyst at CNN, where she appears regularly on Anderson Cooper 360° and The Lead with Jake Tapper. The Washington Post called her "bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, [and] gamely combative". The New Republic noted Powers "held her own in any debate" at Fox News and quoted columnist Erik Wemple, who called her "a ferocious advocate for her points of view".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Allyn Root</span> American political commentator (born 1961)

Wayne Allyn Root is an American conservative television and radio host, author, activist, conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist. He is the host of three television shows: "The ROOT Reaction" nightly at 10 PM ET on Real America's Voice TV...and at 7 PM ET on Lindell TV network (FrankSpeech.com)...and Saturdays at Noon ET "America's Top Ten Countdown with Wayne Allyn Root" on Real America's Voice TV. He is also the radio host of "Wayne Allyn Root: Raw & Unfiltered" on AM 670 in Las Vegas and nationally-syndicated on the USA Radio Network, and formerly on Newsmax TV. Root was an opinion columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His newspaper columns are currently nationally syndicated on Sundays by Creators Syndicate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ze'ev Chafets</span> American novelist

Zev Chafets is an American-Israeli author and columnist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Beckel</span> American political analyst (1948–2022)

Robert Gilliland Beckel was an American political analyst and pundit, and political operative. He was a registered Democrat and from 2011 until 2015 an analyst and commentator on Fox News. He was an original co-host of The Five until he was released in 2015 after being absent for several months recovering from back surgery. Briefly, Beckel became a commentator for CNN, but returned to Fox News as co-host of The Five on January 16, 2017. On May 19, 2017, Fox News announced Beckel had been fired again after he was accused of making a racist remark to a Fox News employee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ask Ann Landers</span> American daily advice column by Ann Landers (pseudonym), originated 1943 by Ruth Crowley

Ann Landers was a pen name created by Chicago Sun-Times advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer in 1955. For 56 years, the Ask Ann Landers syndicated advice column was a regular feature in many newspapers across North America. Owing to this popularity, "Ann Landers", though fictional, became something of a national institution and cultural icon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelicalism in the United States</span>

In the United States, evangelicalism is a movement among Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teachings on the authority as well as the historicity of the Bible. Comprising nearly a quarter of the U.S. population, evangelicals are a diverse group drawn from a variety of denominational backgrounds, including Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Pentecostal, Plymouth Brethren, Quaker, Reformed and nondenominational churches.

References

  1. Encyclopedia of Television News . Greenwood Publishing Group. 1999. p.  254. ISBN   9781573561082 . Retrieved January 11, 2015 via Internet Archive. cal thomas born dec 1942.
  2. "The Last Word". NBC News . Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  3. Thomas, Cal (September 26, 2017). "The Vietnam War Revisited". The Washington Times . Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  4. "Cal Thomas". Fox News. January 13, 2011.
  5. "Tribune Content Agency >> Cal Thomas columns". tribunecontentagency.com. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  6. "Common Ground: It's time to say goodbye". USA Today . December 29, 2015.
  7. "Evangelical Columnist Cal Thomas Blasts Church-Based Electioneering". Americans United for Separation of Church and State. December 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  8. Thomas, Cal (February 2, 2018). "A Message for My Evangelical Friends". (Lynchburg, VA) News & Advance. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  9. Jumper, Mark A. (2017). "Fourth Presbyterian Church (Bethesda, Maryland)", Demy, Timothy J.; Shockley, Paul R. (eds.). Evangelical America: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Religious Culture. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN   9781610697736 p. 165.
  10. 1 2 "CAL THOMAS: Iran nuclear talks like bargaining with the devil". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  11. "THOMAS: Mumbai explained". The Washington Times. December 3, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  12. Thomas, Cal. "Needed: A Declaration of War" . Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  13. Thomas, Cal (April 23, 2023). "What will happen in next 75 years for Israel?". The Tribune-Democrat. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Roberts, Roxanne (October 6, 2009), "Obama to Keynote Gay-Rights Dinner With Lady Gaga", The Washington Post, archived from the original on February 5, 2013
  15. Thomas, Cal (November 22, 1997), "Repealing Morality?", World Magazine, Asheville, North Carolina
  16. Thomas, Cal (October 16, 2009), "Don't Ask, Tell or Legitimize", The Washington Times
  17. Howell, Tom (February 12, 2017). "Charlotte Ray Thomas, wife of Times columnist, dies at 78". The Washington Times.
  18. Java, Theresa (July 18, 2018). "Love is patient". Keys News.
  19. "Cal Thomas: The Fall of Empires, the Future of US". Shapingopinion.com. O'Brien Communications, Shaping Opinion. October 5, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2021.