Harvey Cox, On Christianity's Return to Wonder
- play show:
Date: 3 December 2009
The Age of the Spirit
Move over dogma—these days, religion is all about awe, wonder and emotion. Religion trend spotter Harvey Cox looks inside the idea of ‘spiritual but not religious’, and finds that modern believers are abandoning creeds and doctrine for practices that emphasize a direct experience with the divine.
Pictured: The Helix Nebula, sometimes called the "Eye of God"
Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University and author of The Future of Faith
Thomas Dyer, Finding Some 'Om' in Iraq
Begins at 22 min 53 sec
The US military, like the entire county, is more religiously diverse than ever. The armed forces now include at least 101 faith traditions, from Baptists and Jews to Baha'is, Mormons and Wiccans. The military can’t provide a chaplain for every faith, but that’s beginning to change. Thomas Dyer, the first Buddhist chaplain in history of the US Army, joins us to reflect on his unusual journey from Baptist to Buddhist. He is scheduled for deployment to Iraq in 2010.
Thomas Dyer, Buddhist chaplain for the Tennessee National Guard
America's Most Trusted Stranger
Begins at 34 min 25 sec
People all over the world have been sending their most intimate secrets to a mailbox in Maryland. It belongs to Frank Warren, a small business owner who began collecting the secrets of strangers in 2004. Since then he has received nearly half a million postcards, bearing confessions on everything from thoughts of suicide to far-flung hopes and dreams. Warren’s newest book wades into the realm of the spiritual, touching on life, death and religion.
Frank Warren, author of Post Secret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God, and the blog Post Secret
MC Hammer: Too Legit?
Begins at 43 min 51 sec
MC Hammer is a minister. At least, that's how he's been billing himself since 1997. As you’ll hear in our interview, where he was ordained, and what he does as a minster, is unclear. “I’ve never been one too much in promoting organizations and affiliations,” he says. “The denominations mean absolutely nothing to me.” The 90s rap icon joins Laura Kwerel for a revealing conversation on prayer, Hammer pants, and his $13.7 million bankruptcy in 1996.
MC Hammer, star of Hammertime on A&E TV
