Faith in the Public Square

City & State magazine , which describes itself as “the premier media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy,” offers a regular feature called The Power List. In its inaugural Faith Power 100 , which is tilted heavily toward the New York City region, there are three individuals might be familiar to people in the Capital District who are involved in the connection between religion and politics. Their ranking and description are as follows:  48. Rev. Peter Cook Executive Director, New York State Council of Churches The Rev. Peter Cook, who represents 7,000 congregations across the state, has pushed Gov. Kathy Hochul to transfer incarcerated people out of Rikers and rallied with home care workers to boost their wages in the state budget. Cook rose to national prominence by using his platform to drive a wedge between gun ownership and Christianity after a gunman killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket in May. Cook argued for stricte...