Where Do We Go When We Die?
- play show:
Date: 30 July 2009
Beyond Heaven and Hell
Bishop John Shelby Spong grew up with an angry, judgmental God. For him, God--and the Christian church--exerted authority through fear, threatening non-believers with the fiery pits of Hell. Now 78, Bishop Spong imagines the afterlife without a Heaven or Hell, and says the task of religion is not to guide us to eternity but to help us “live now, and love wastefully.”
Bishop John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey, author of Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell
Web Extra: Hear the full interview
Pictured: Dante and Beatrice contemplate Heaven; from Gustave Doré's illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy
A History of Inventing Eternity
Begins at 22 min 30 sec
Our image of the afterlife is in constant flux; a reflection of the hopes, anxieties and power structures of the world we live in now. In his monumental book from 2004, Alan Segal says we should examine the people who benefited from these shifting views. Among the benefactors: Socrates and Plato, who he says invented the idea of the soul’s immortality to reward learned men, and the ancient Israelites, who imagined Hell as a place to put your enemies.
Alan F. Segal, author of Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion
Web Extra: Gary Laderman on Heaven, Hell and sacred death rituals
Pictured: Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife
Commentary: Why I Wear the Hijab
Begins at 40 min
When Alaa El-Saad was in 6th grade, she decided it was a good time to start wearing a hijab, a traditional Islamic head covering. She wanted to show her respect to Allah, and if it made her stand out a little... well, she liked that, too. In her essay for “This I Believe,” she explains why she is “proud to be a Muslim, proud to be wearing the hijab, proud to be different.”
Produced for This I Believe by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, with John Gregory and Viki Merrick
My Muslim Hairdresser
Begins at 43 min 27 sec
Meet Alice Snyder, a devout Muslim hairdresser who wears a hijab that completely covers her hair. At first she wondered if she should cover up her "moneymaker" in a busy salon, but she eventually decided it was worth the double takes.
An update: After this piece was produced in 2005, Alice was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She passed away four months later. She leaves behind 2 children, Wesley and Delicia.
Produced by Shana Sheeny of Anchorage, Alaska
Sneakers, Shots and Skirts
Begins at 47 min 39 sec
They call themselves the BCA Skirts. BCA – for Beth Chana Academy, a private Orthodox Jewish school in Orange, Connecticut. And skirts for their “unorthodox” uniforms on the basketball court. Orthodox Jewish law requires young women to dress modestly, with skirts that fall below the knee and shirts that cover below the elbow. As one player explains, her outfit is a chance "to show the world out there that I have more to me than what meets the eye."
Watch a slideshow of the BCA Skirts
Produced by Diane Orson for WNPR in Connecticut
This Week's Interfaith Calendar
August 5- Raksha Bandhan (Hindu)
Hindu siblings show each other a little extra love during this ancient festival, which celebrates the special bond between brothers and sisters. The word raksha means "protection" and bandhan means to “tie,” so on this day, sisters tie a holy thread called a rakhi around their brothers' wrists. Traditionally, as they tie the band, the sister says a prayer asking for love and protection.
