Randall Balmer is professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, where he has taught since earning a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1985. He is the author of ten books, including "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America," which was made into a three-part PBS documentary. His latest book is "Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America: An Evangelical's Lament" (Basic Books). Recently ordained a transitional deacon in the Episcopal Church, he and his wife live in Woodbury, Connecticut.