10 Minutes with … Sally Quinn

c. 2007 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Started by two leading journalists with little background in religion, On Faith, the multi-contributor blog at Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive, has rocketed to prominence since it launched last November, registering some of the highest traffic levels on the already popular washingtonpost.com Web site. Each week On Faith moderators Sally […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Started by two leading journalists with little background in religion, On Faith, the multi-contributor blog at Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive, has rocketed to prominence since it launched last November, registering some of the highest traffic levels on the already popular washingtonpost.com Web site.

Each week On Faith moderators Sally Quinn, a longtime feature writer, and Jon Meacham, the managing editor of Newsweek, and pose searching questions to a star-studded panel of experts that includes Nobel Prize-winner Desmond Tutu, megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes and former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.


Sally Quinn talked about the niche On Faith hopes to fill, its planned expansion, and her own “freelance polytheism.”

Q: What sparked your recent interest in religion?

A: I was planning to write a book about religion in Washington. When Bush got into office and all this talk about evangelicals started, I realized religion had a huge impact on politics. And then with 9/11 and the war in Iraq, the Sunnis versus the Shiites, the Muslims in Europe, it became clear we couldn’t simply ignore it.

In the old days, when you went to a dinner party in Washington, nobody would talk about religion. I’ve been shocked in last year to learn some of my friends actually go to church and synagogue. Not only that, a lot of my friends who are agnostic or atheists never admitted it. People are much more willing to talk about their beliefs now, and I think that’s healthy.

Q. Where did you get the idea for the On Faith blog?

A: I felt we weren’t doing enough religion coverage in The Post. Last summer I got the idea to do the Web site. I suggested it to Don Graham (chairman of the board of The Washington Post Company) and he said, “Why don’t you do it?” I said, “I don’t know anything about the Internet, and I don’t know anything about religion.” Nobody’s perfect.

Q: What do you see as the purpose of On Faith?

A: My whole goal is to have an interfaith dialogue. People not only don’t understand each other’s religions _ they don’t understand their own religions. The more you understand about another person’s faith, the more sympathetic you’ll be to them, it seems to me.

Q: Why do you think On Faith is so popular?

A: We’ve got this amazing panel, with so many of the world’s leading theologians and scholars and thinkers. People know when they go to On Faith they are going to learn something and be entertained and have something to think about.

Q: Given that most of your bloggers are on the left, are minds really being changed?


A: It’s harder to get people who are more conservative. A lot of people we’ve reached out to just don’t want to do it. But we do have evangelicals and right wingers. People like Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes and Richard Land are not what you’d call liberals.

I’ve had a number of panelists say to me, “I never would have thought of talking to this person, yet when I read what they write, I see a new way of thinking about things.” I wouldn’t say minds have been changed; I would say minds have been opened.

Q: How did you manage to assemble such an all-star panel?

A: I started out with (author and scholar) Karen Armstrong, who’s a friend and a mentor to me, and Martin Marty (from University of Chicago), who’s a friend, and Elaine Pagels (from Princeton University). The three of them are so well regarded that when I called up people and said, “Here’s who I have,” everybody else said yes. The only turndowns we’ve had are from people who are reluctant to say what they really think, or think On Faith is not a safe place to say it.

Q: How can On Faith improve the coverage of religion in the media at large?

A: We’re starting special projects. We have one coming up with imams from all over the world, and I think that’s going to be a huge news maker. We’re partnering with Georgetown University to have all the presidential candidates talk about their faith. We’re just growing and trying to come up with new ideas.

Q: What’s your day-to-day involvement with On Faith?

A: I’m at my computer starting at 8 o’clock in the morning, and I’m in and out, but I’m here at 11 o’clock at night. It’s totally full time.


Q: Do you worry about getting burned out?

A: I’ve never been so excited about anything I’ve done in my entire life. I just took a three-week trip around the world to study the origins of the great faiths _ I just can’t get enough of it.

Q: How has this work affected your own beliefs?

A: I was an atheist until a year ago and a half ago. Jon Meacham talked me out of that, saying, “Don’t define yourself negatively.”

I hesitate to use the word “spiritual,” because it’s become such a tacky pop word, but I’m more interested in spirituality than dogma. I don’t believe in a personal God, but I believe in the Spirit. What’s magic or sacred for me is my family and friends _ I know it sounds so trite _ and the work I’m doing now. If you do something you think is helping people, it can be incredibly satisfying.

Q: Karen Armstrong has described herself as a “freelance monotheist” and talks about her work as a religious pursuit in and of itself. Do you share her feeling?

A: I would say I’m more of a freelance polytheist (laughs). As Karen talks about, we are all searching the divine. Before starting On Faith, I did my work, I tooled along, but I wasn’t really impassioned about anything. I didn’t feel the gratitude that I do now.

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A photo of Sally Quinn is available via https://religionnews.com.

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