John Dear and the 'Gandhian Experiment'
- play show:
Date: 3 December 2008
Peacemaking and Law-breaking
For a Catholic priest, Rev. John Dear has a curious claim to fame: he’s been arrested more than 75 times. The Jesuit uses civil disobedience to take on huge government institutions in an effort to make peace. He recounts his activism, jail time and the day he attacked an F-15 bomber in a new book called A Persistent Peace: One Man’s Struggle for a Nonviolent World.
Rev. John Dear, peace activist and nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize
India's New Untouchables?
Begins at 22:42
Officials say the Mumbai terrorist attacks may be linked to radical Muslims from Pakistan. But Asra Nomani says India can’t ignore the plight of Muslims within its own borders. In her op-ed to the Los Angeles Times this week, she calls Indian Muslims the new “untouchables” – below even the lowest rung of India's caste system.
Asra Nomani, Professor of Journalism at Georgetown University
Commentary: Jews in Mumbai
Begins at 32:25
After the Mumbai bombings claimed the lives of an
Orthodox Rabbi and his wife, many wondered: What were two
Brooklyn Jews doing in India, anyway? Naomi Seidman, herself a former Orthodox
Jew, thinks she might know. Her commentary first appeared in Religion Dispatches.
Naomi Seidman, Professor of Jewish Culture at the Graduate Theological Union
Matisyahu, From Dreadlocks to Sidelocks
Begins at 38:46
Under the yarmulke, curly beard and long side burns, Matisyahu is a lot like Bob Marley… the Orthodox Jewish version. Laura Kwerel caught up with the 29-year-old musician in our Washington, D.C. studio, where he played us a few tunes from his new album, Shattered.
Matisyahu, Jewish reggae star
Web extra: Full performance of King Without a Crown and I Will Be Light
This Week's Interfaith Calendar
Dec. 6-9 - Hajj (Islam)
One of the five pillars of Islam, the Hajj is a pilgrimage to the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. All Muslims who are able to make the journey are required to do so at least once in a lifetime.
Dec. 8 - Bodhi Day (Buddhism)
Siddartha Guatama, an Indian prince revered as the founder of Buddhism, is believed by his followers to have experienced his "Great Enlightement" while meditating beneath a Bodhi (or fig) tree nearly 2,500 years ago. Today, he's known as the Buddha.
Dec. 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic Christian)
Whose conception, exactly, do Catholics celebrate on this day? Many Christians (Catholics included!) mistakenly think it honors the conception of Jesus. The real answer: the day honors his mother, Mary, who Catholics believe was conceived without original sin.
Dec. 9 - Eid al Adha (Islam & Druze)
The "Festival of the Sacrifice," as it is known to Muslims around the world, commemorates the struggles of Abraham. The patriarch of monotheism almost sacrificed his son's life for God (although God called it off in the end), a story that is also well known in the Jewish and Christian traditions.
