Like any good major-league pitcher, Frank Pastore knows how to bring the heat. He played eight years in the bigs, recording his best season in 1980 (13-9, 3.57 ERA) with the Cincinnati Reds. Today, he’s the face of Salem’s Los Angeles station KKLA and host of the number-one local Christian talk show in the country.
An unashamed, take-no-prisoners conservative, Pastore throws out sound bites like fastballs:
• “I’m sorry, but abortion is murder, and murder on a moral plane is more severe than dealing with the poor.”
• “Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo … are pawns being played by the political Left.”
• “I’m not a compassionate conservative. Compassionate conservatism is a euphemism for, ‘We are never going to cut spending, but we will continue to hold taxes flat.'”
Listeners to Pastore’s show, tagged “the intersection of faith and reason,” are as likely to hear a discussion of Snoop Dogg’s latest arrest as a spirited debate between Pastore and National Council of Churches president the Rev. Michael Livingston.
But Pastore is clearly most energized by politics. After injuries derailed his big-league career, Pastore earned degrees in philosophy of religion from Talbot Theological Seminary and political philosophy and government from Claremont Graduate School. He isn’t shy about his opinions, and he expects the same forthrightness from his guests.
“They should be out front,” Pastore says of his left-leaning interview subjects. “[They should say], ‘We are socialists. We want taxes to be higher. We believe the United States should not use military force.'”
As much as he enjoys the back-and-forth of hosting an interview-driven program—the competitiveness of crafting arguments and taking names—Pastore is seeking to accomplish much more than simply entertaining his 109,000 weekly drive-time listeners. Put directly, he wants to change the world.
“I teach conservatives that their principles are fundamentally Christian, and I teach Christians that when they live out their faith, they’re fundamentally conservative,” Pastore says. “If the world is going to be saved from secular communism, European socialism, and the Islamo-fascist threat, it’s going to be America that leads the way.”
Pastore views evangelicals as the last true proponents of America’s highest ideals. And Salem, he says, has the power to most effectively motivate evangelicals to political engagement.
“We’ve got the biggest microphone on the table,” Pastore says, “so that’s our sense of mission. That’s what we’re about.”
Terrence Fahy, the general manager of Salem’s L.A. cluster of stations, is more restrained. The timeslot’s audience has grown under Pastore, he says, and he enjoys hearing the opposition guests Pastore has on-air.
“I appreciate hearing their perspective, even if I don’t always agree with it,” Fahy says. “But I probably agree with it more than Frank does.”
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Related Elsewhere:
Accompanying articles include Making Airwaves and Dollars and Sense.
“The Intersection of Faith and Reason,” Pastore’s radio show, won the National Religious Broadcasters Talk Show of the Year award.
Pastore’s conversion story is excerpted from Power of the Cross.
Salem Communication’s website has a list of the company’s radio stations, websites, syndicated talk shows, and publications.
Mother Jones and The Gadflyer , have profiles of Salem Communications. Columbia Journalism Review ‘s article covers the Christian media’s news presentation. The Atlantic Monthly‘s “Host” is about talk radio.
Christian Music Today’s series on Christian radio is available on line.
“Making Radio Waves,” Christianity Today‘s August 1994 cover story, focused on accountability in Christian talk radio.
Madison Trammel’s articles for Christianity Today include:
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What’s Next: Publishing & Broadcasting | New media, old story: What evangelical leaders say are the priorities and challenges for the next 50 years. (October 6, 2006)
Axis Denied | Willow Creek ends “church-within-church” for 20-somethings. (September 22, 2006)
Thinking Straight | Court decisions cheer opponents of same-sex marriage. (August 15, 2006)
Are You Ready for Some Fantasy? | With football training camps convening, fantasy football is almost upon us. Finally. (July 27, 2006)
Steps to Recovery | Victim of mistaken ID in Taylor van crash walking again. (July 26, 2006)
Health Care, Everyone? | Massachusetts makes medical insurance accessible to all—or else. (July 1, 2006)
Homeland Security’s Catch-22 for Exiles | ‘Ridiculous’ interpretation of law bars thousands. (April 5, 2006)
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