Eric honestly, it is impossible because i am principally a writer. Some people know me as the author of the 600 page biography of the german theologian dietrich bonhoeffer. Other people know me as a humorist. I was recently published in the new yorker making fun of Donald Trumps bible verses. I am a little all over the place. I now have a radio show in addition to being a writer and writing and speaking a lot. I have a daily radio show from the Empire State Building where i get the talk of dust told everybody. Kind of like your job but higher up in altitude. I enjoy communicating whether in my books or on tv or on the radio. That is the long version. Would you prefer the short version . Brian we can start by going back in history. How far do you want to go . At the Prayer Breakfast in washington. Lets run a little clip of you speaking. Eric people would say who are you what to write about next . Who will you next right . Yaleyellow bank as a major i want to say whom. You may want to use the word whom a you can use it as an out. Whom will you next right . Theres only one person besides wilberforce whom i would write. I remember bonhoeffer. And i did write that book. I know it was red even by president george w. Bush holds intellectually incurious. He re the book. Ad no pressure. He read the book. No pressure. I just want to say, no pressure. [laughter] [applause] write a long in advance did you plan that . Answers,with all of my bold simultaneously. I planned it and i did not. I really thought maybe i would do that. Think of me as somebody who does comedy. I can be and often am but often im deadly serious. I thought i would be standing next to the president speaking to 3500 of the most important people in the world here in d. C. , who knows how i will fill in the moment. I had the idea i might to do that. I thought maybe i would give him the book later. I would use the word chutzpah. To pulll in the moment off the goofiness, i will do it. I had no idea whether i would feel confident enough to joke with the president. Turns out i did pretty i had no idea. I was prepared because i had the books. Even that was lastminute. Brian what impact has there been on bonhoeffer now that the president is seen holding it up . Book andly, the there is no doubt. I have been a writer since i graduated yale and i was the editor of the humor magazine. I had no idea generally, no idea , i would ever write a biography. If you asked me 10 years ago, do you everything you would write a boxy . My answer wouldve been an emphatic no. I believe god has led me into my career to do things i never would have wanted to do or expected to do. And registrant if, that was what i was created to do. The bonhoeffer book was the first of a hit. It was the New York Times bestseller and was translated into 19 languages. It will shortly be translated back into english. Can we editor that out . Ofas not used to that kind success. It was staggering. To go in front of the nation and joke with the president kicked that even higher. Since then, ive had numeral ,eople come up to me and say some with tears in their eyes, this book has changed their life. Heis the life of bonhoeffer, lived his life. I only wrote about it. It is humbling to me to think that god allowed me the privilege of writing this book about this truly great human being about whom many people do not know anything. That relief opened up the door for me on a number of levels. Everywhere i go, people refer to the bonhoeffer book and the one people have usually red. Almost equally, people refer to the Prayer Breakfast which kind of went viral and was one of the viral things. Im sure if that happened to you. You do not know what did it. More people saw that than i ever wouldve dreamt in my life. In collegebeen used courses to talk about public speaking. Stuff and bizarre think i want to get through the speech and go home. It opened the door to many things. Said i wrote a book on miracles a year ago. I am really eclectic and i think intentionally so. I do not think id know how not to the ecliptic. Brian when did god first matter to you . Eric i guess i was raised my mom is german from germany and escape east germany when she was 17. My dad left greece in 1954. They met in an english class here in new york city. I grew up in new york city in astoria, queens. I was raised in the Greek Orthodox church. I never rejected god. , a cultural greeks experience. There is a reference for god and the things a you really do not understand. By the time i got to college, secular yale and you question things. To questionegan things. By the time i graduated, i was so confused as to be utterly agnostic. I think maybe that is an oxymoron. , wondering what is the meaning of life. Most people got really good jobs and you do not have to think about the big questions. Wanted to be a writer, i drifted. Had plenty of time to think about the horrible questions like is life meaningless or whatever. Birthday,25th probably the worst year of my life. I had just moved back in with my parents. , findre going to say yourself a job and get out. We put you through yale with our menial jobs. Parents really you know they gave me so much love. That year i was so miserable. How do graduate from yale with an english degree and flounder around like an idiot . I have a dramatic conversion experience. It was one of the things you read in a book. Very dramatic. I did write about in my miracles book. You think it will happen to somebody else. It was the summer of 1988. Since then for good or ill, i have been someone who has no doubt of the statement that god is real and he loves us and has a plan for us. Even though there is evil and suffering in the world, that is not his first points. He is here to be with us and the midst of it. It has informed virtually everything in my adult life. I hope always will do. Brian when did you first connect god and politics . Almost it merely. I voted for the caucus and jesse jackson. And i thought to myself, well, i misr i miss read the the democratic party. Ead for people more politically liberal, most of them in their heart is in the right place. No doubt about it. Conservative have to see that, right . Feel do feel them that when i looked at a logically, those policies do not seem to me to be working. In fact, they seem to be harming people. The issue of life, the issue of the unborn, a number of things that fairly quickly within a year of this conversion made me change my political thinking. But, i am not a political activist. , culture isberforce upstream of politics. What happened is people who are serious christians coming village that evangelicals, they , evangelicals, they figured out that they need to get serious about politics. To say it does not belong me, it is ridiculous. As long as people are suffering and there is an justices, we need to be active. The problem is serious christians put all of their eggs in a political basket which is fully. The culture itself, especially the one which we live is more powerful or equally important to politics. Book, i writerce about wilberforce who is a politician and understood cultures equally important. You can pass all of the laws you want. You have a bully pulpit especially if you are the president but you need to understand it is the culture, truly for good or ill, that shapes us before we get to the voting booth and while we are voting, it is something we have to take seriously. Important for everybody to take politics seriously and at least to vote. But never to make what we christians would call an idol of politics. There are people who have done that and have worshiped worshiping that idol rather than the god who caused them to care for the poor and injustices. It is a fine line. Something i talk about fairly often. Been ahasnt there politician you can name a whole you think ms. Used god misu sed god in campaigning . That ll nobody nobody that pops into my head at the moment. I think politician brian what you said youre watching the Political Campaign that is baloney . The wholeng about relationship with religion. The republican side or democratic side. Eric i say both. Humorous thattly joe biden and method pelosi would talk about being catholic where they reject the most central teachings about the unborn, about sexuality. I could say the thing about cuomo. One says it your not supposed to love those with whom you disagree. Catholicif you are a or any type of christian, you know you are demanded to love those whom you disagree. It does not mean you take lightly the issues. You do not say i have no enemies. You take those issues seriously. When i see pelosi or biden pretend as though they can somehow be faithful catholics when they are overly rejecting central tenets of the Christian Faith, i do not know whether to laugh or cry. It seems to be ridiculous. It seems you have to say, look, i will respect people the other side of the issue but i have no choice on that issue. It is like saying stealing is maybe wrong for you but who am i to say. It is your job to say. Thief and love the try to help him see the error of his ways, it is one any. You have to take a stand. For pelosi and biden, i had the joy of meeting them and the honor of meeting them at the Prayer Breakfast, that seems to be a disconnect. And politically very cynical. Pragmatism to the point of cynicism. Why wouldnt the pope spent as much time at the deal with the joe biden when he was here . Spentthe previous pope time in the cell with a man who tried to kill him. You show love and try to be pastoral. And to some extent, catholics, serious catholics, the pope does not exactly speak for the catholic church. If you take that out of context, it sounds silly. The pope is a human being, he is a pastoral figure. He is not speaking existential all the time. He has opinions. Orry pope whether pope john they all have ideas and things. We have to be careful about pretending as though what the the jointin front of houses of congress is the same as the magisterium so to speak. But, i think thats partially the job of the pope like the job of any figurehead to love everybody. And so what he is doing, he is doing the right thing. And probably may be privately trying to influence people like biden and say we need you. I am glad you understand this issue and that issue. A this issue, you put me in tough spot. You have been publicly catholic and then publicly proabortion. , you know, i suspect that as part of a conversation. Brian back to the bottom half or story. I want to run video. Back to the bonhoeffer story. You produced in relation to the book coming out. See what it looks like. Left as a cure pastoral position in new york city and returned on the last shift to germany. He astounded with his passionate rhetoric. Now, hitler viewed him as a threat. He was banned from berlin, forbidden to speak or write or publish. War the mask of a patriotic pastor that became a double agent. And then tell and the abwehr intelligence travel to norway and switzerland used his contacts to sabotage not see them war strategy nazi war strategy is the mogul jewish. The gestapo uncover the smuggling activity at taylor discovered his assassination plot. Weeks before the inevitable third reich, bonhoeffer another spiritualist were executed by hitlers direct command. To followas honored the guards a pulled his fellow prisoners aside and said this is the end for me, the beginning of life. Brian when did you first know about somebody ninth bonhoeffer . Somebody named bonhoeffer . Of 1988. Summer the video is on my website i do not want to go into the details. A significant summer for me. Dream andk, i had a changed as though the kind of thing you read about in the book. The men were sharing his face for me, my dear friend, he headed me of bonhoeffer copy of cost of discipleship. He asked if id ever heard of bonhoeffer . I was 25 years old. He said he is a german pastor and theologian, series christian who got involved in speaking up for the jews in speaking out against hitler and was killed by the nazis for his faith and believe. I thought, you have to be kidding . My mother is from germany. I speak some german. I grew up with the german axis in my house. My mother, my grandfather was killed in the war. This is my life and my history and i never heard of this man. I started looking into it and i was truly flabbergasted. Identity can literally be flabbergasted area i cannot believe it. I said this story needs to be known. Maybe someday i will be involved in making a movie or something. I never thought i would write a biography. Dry what were you doing at the time . Eric floundering. I was a copy editor. If you get a yale degree in english, thats only way to make money. Was trying to write i sold humor to atlantic and i wanted to be in the footsteps of allen, belike woody one of those kinds of writers. Difficultdle of that year and getting no real writing done, i read bonhoeffers writings the cost of discipleship. I said this the type of christianity i could be involved in. A man comfortable with the tao yet utterly serious in his faith. Here is a man who is very political, but he does not make an idol of politix. He is really to do what is necessary. I said ive never seen anything like this. Him,h i got interested in i do not write about him for many years. Brian when you say political, he was 39 when he was hanged area who hung him . Eric nobody hung him, he was hanged. I got you. This is why he is so fascinating. So fascinating, his faith was so serious that he kept applying to the situation. Now . Pt saying what why do what one does in 1933 and 1935 and 1930s that, he kept changing because the situation cap changing. How do i react now . He knew in the beginning that the church in germany and i feel them the same is true everywhere especially the United States, the church must be the church. And the church usually gets it wrong. The people of god get a wrong and the prophets try to get the people to be the people of god. And now you say, how ridiculous. The prophets usually are not rewarded for their for being profound to trying to get people to be the people of god. Bonhoeffer to me as a modern profit they speak into the German Church and saying you have to wake up and stand against the nazis. What do they stand for is antitheft equal to what we stand for. We have to beef up. If we speak up in time, we can win. There was no doubt in his mind and no doubt in my mind retrospectively that the German Church was very strong. Ly, christianity culturally, christianity was very strong in germany. As the church had linked arms and spoken out against the nazis , that the ability to do something. All he good to all you could do was wait to wake up the church all he could do was to wake up the church and you were alive he failed. He felt that god led him to get involved in the political conspiracy against hitler. He really went underground and became on the surface, he looked like a pastor. He was not involved with the abwehr, which is German Military intelligence. Thats what the conspiracy to kill hitler and his top lieutenants was andy abwehr. Abwehr was in the. Thats what makes the story so crazy and dramatic. A guy very serious about his crazy about his Christian Faith. He believed god led him into conspiracy to assassinate the head of state. Not a story one hears every day. It was in fact, he was arrested involvement for his in something called operation he was saving jews. At that had nothing to do with the assassination attempt. He was imprisoned when it they discovered he had been involved also in a plot to kill hitler. Three weeks before the end of the war, he is hanged by the nazis and a concentration camp. That is the long answer. Any ideas how many copies of bonhoeffer you have sold . Eric yeah, about one million. It has been translated to 19 languages. Most of the copies are u. S. Editions. A million over five years. If you had i remember asking the publisher before the book came out, what would be a success on this book . 30,000, i do not know, 40,000. It is a 600 page book on a theologian. Is not expect what ted turner famously called evangelicals. Nothing positive. Au do not expect them to buy 600 page book on a german theologian. It turned out they were mis estimated. Dan rather love to the book. Lots of people on the left loved the book. Bonhoeffer defies political categorization. He is someone who is a christian first and you see that. For me, i would say probably the ultimate model for christians, people of faith today. He reshot everywhere. Brian you said you are not a political activist but here you are in 2013 speaking to the conservative Political Action conference in washington. Eric i wrote a biography about dietrich bonhoeffer. It is because [laughter] [applause] thank you. I find myself thinking about the issue of religious freedom in america. Many people of said they see disturbing parallels between what was happening in germany in the 1930s and america today. I am very sorry to agree. Eric boy, am i. Eric freedom in the units brian freedom in the United States to practice whatever religion, is it being impeded . Eric everywhere. Brian where . Eric the founder said we have not freedom of worship, they have freedom of worship in china. We have freedom of religion to free exercise thereof. The freedom to think what we like. The freedom to act on our thoughts. I have the freedom to leave church on sunday morning and for the rest of the week to act on my thoughts. There is no official constitutional point of view on the Great Questions of life. There cannot be. The government has to be agnostic on that. The government has to be the way it is with the free market. Hans off, the free market will decide similarly with the free market of ideas, we do not get involved. What has been happening is the government, the culture, and government has sort of said we will go with his version area what i would call maybe secular human liberal version about sexuality or whatever. I was a constitutionally, you cannot do that. You have to be careful. Saye are people whose faith i cannot go along with that. I cannot support killing the babies in the womb. I cannot do it. But ithat would want to cant. I do not feel right. It goes and does my conscious. The government saying to them, you have to do it if you want to be an american, you have to support the hhs mandate. You have to fund abortions. I am not a catholic. I do not hears much about that issue but the idea the government would say we do not care what your faith is, you better pony up the money or you will be in trouble. It is a small thing on one level but a principle. Once the government gets in that business and let me say, a business of redefining marriage, you bumped up against that edge. You have to figure out how do we remain america where we say we want to respect the rights of this gr