Imagining Life After Death  

For desert-dwelling Muslims, Heaven was a lush, green garden, filled with springs, rivers and flowing wine. For ancient Jews it was the site of their holy temple, rebuilt brand new after its destruction by the Romans.  And for African-American slaves, Heaven was the place where "the first would be last, and the last would be first.”  In her new book, Newsweek writer Lisa Miller explains why our image of eternity is shaped by our life on Earth now - a reflection of our hopes, anxieties and longings for justice.  Our entire episode first aired in April 2010.

Lisa Miller, author of Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife

Checking In or Reining In?

Late in 2008, the Vatican quietly announced a two-part "visitation" of American nuns.
  On paper, the probes are supposed to examine the sisters' quality of life and adherence to church doctrine. But the real purpose of the extensive questionnaires is fuzzy, depending on whom you ask.

Some nuns see the probes as friendly and unremarkable-- a routine check-in by the Vatican to address declining membership.  And others worry it's an attempt to rein in their advocacy for liberal changes in the church, like womens' ordination and gay rights.  This week: two views on the Vatican's ongoing survey. Our story first aired in August 2009.

Pictured: The Council of Trent, one of the most important assemblies in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.  First convened by Pope Paul III in 1544, it made sweeping reforms and clarified Catholic dogma for future generations.

Ann Carey, author of Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women's Religious Communities

Sr. Joan Chittister, author of The Way We Were: A Story of Conversion and Renewal

Debating Park51

It’s not exactly a mosque, and it’s not on Ground Zero, but that hasn’t stopped 61 percent of Americans from opposing the planned Islamic community center known as Park51.  The project has triggered a national debate over Islam, religious liberty, and the memory of 9/11.  This week, we explore two views on the contentious building.

Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Mark Pelavin, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

There's so much more to this interview...hear an extended version here

100 Mosques, 75 Cities...and 1 Big Question

What does it mean to be an American when your religion – Islam -  is equated with ‘terrorism’ and ‘foreigner'?   And what does ‘American’ mean, anyway? To find out, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed and a team of young researchers spent a year criss-crossing the homeland, knocking on doors, praying in mosques and eating in people’s homes.  They paint a complex picture of group that doesn’t always get along, from literalist Muslims who reject Western culture, to immigrant Muslims doing their best to live the American dream.  

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic Studies at American University and author of Journey Into America: The Challenge of Islam

Jonathan Hayden, research rssistant and team member

Frankie Martin,  research assistant and team member

Web Extra: Hear the complete interview

A Higher Calling

Meet the new Jim McGreevey: proud gay American, volunteer, seminary student.   About a year after he stunned the country with the announcement that he had been unfaithful, the ex-New Jersey governor enrolled at one of the country’s most prestigious Episcopalian seminaries.  He has now begun a spiritual process, known as discernment, that may lead to his priesthood.  McGreevey joins us to reflect on the long journey to finding his true self.  Our story first aired in March 2010.

Jim McGreevey, former Governor of New Jersey and author of The Confession

On Gender, Judaism and 'The Act of Becoming'

Joy Ladin is an English professor at Yeshiva University, the nation's oldest Jewish university.  She is also transgender.  These identities met nearly four years ago when, as a male, she informed her school that she would be transitioning from Jay to Joy.  School officials responded by putting her on leave, though they later took her back.  Hers is a story of a poet, a Jew, and above all - a woman, in her own words, "caught in the act of becoming."  Our story first aired in Sept. 2009.

Joy Ladin, author of Psalms, and an upcoming memoir, Inside Out: Confessions of a Woman Caught in the Act of Becoming

When Faith is Mistaken for Terrorism

From packing liquids correctly to making it to the gate on time, the average air traveler has plenty to worry about.  Many people of faith, however, have an even more pressing concern when they fly.  Expressions of religion in the airport - like the Muslim hijab, the Sikh turban and the Jewish tefillin - are sometimes mistaken for terrorist threats.  We're joined by a Sikh, a Muslim, and a Jew who say that profiling religious objects and clothing instead of behavior flouts basic civil liberties. Our story first aired in February.

Manjit Singh, Chairperson of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Nihad Awad, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

Rabbi Ken Cohen, American University Hillel Director and Campus Rabbi

Preaching as a Liberation Art Form

When we listen to the call and response of a jazz trio, we are hearing echoes of black preaching. When we tap our feet to a hip hop song, we are also hearing black preaching.  And when we get caught up in the words of a powerful storyteller, that too is black preaching.   As an art form, African-American sermons have inspired great works of music, dance and literature. As a religious expression, they have offered hope and liberation to generations of African-Americans dealing with the legacy of slavery. This week we listen to some of the most riveting examples of African-American sermons with the publisher of the journal The African-American Pulpit. 

Martha Simmons, co-editor of Preaching with Sacred Fire: An Anthology of African American Sermons, 1750 to the Present

'Studying Abroad' at Liberty University

When Kevin Roose was a sophomore at Brown University, he decided to try a "domestic study abroad" program-- at Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.  Based in Lynchburg, Virgina, Liberty is an institution Falwell himself described as a “Bible Boot Camp."

Roose went undercover and did his best to blend in; he joined the school choir, he wrote for the student newspaper, he spent his spring break proselytizing to hung-over college kids.  We talk to both Roose and Brian Colas, one of the friends he made at Liberty, about his experiment in college-as-anthropology.  Our story first aired in September 2009.

Kevin Roose, author of
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University

Brian Colas, former student body president at Liberty University

Reclaiming the Founding Fathers

Somewhere around the 1980s, Americans started to imagine the Founding Fathers as older, wiser versions of themselves. For some conservatives, the founders became good church-goers, intent on creating a Christian nation.  And for some liberals, they became secular deists, with little need for God or organized religion.  Historian Frank Lambert says the truth is more complicated, and that we’ve conflated the “planters”— the Puritans and other groups who colonized America—with the “founders”—those key men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and created the Constitution.

Frank Lambert, author of The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America

Vietnam, 35 Years Later

Wars may end, but they continue on in the minds of those who fought them.  And in the lands where they were fought.  And in the bodies of their victims.  In May, Maureen traveled to Vietnam with an interfaith delegation to study the lingering effects of Dioxin, the poisonous main ingredient of Agent Orange.  This week she shares the stories she brought back.

We also talk to Bob Edgar, the leader of the delegation, about a new plan of action that calls for a cleanup of the toxin over the next ten years.

Pictured: Maureen with the family of Ly, an eight-year-old almost certainly deformed by Dioxin.

Bob Edgar, President of Common Cause

Reflections Of An Anti-Theist

Christopher Hitchens traces his atheism back to a nature walk in boarding school. That's when, at age ten, his scripture teacher told the class that it is God who makes the trees so green, because green is the color "most restful to our eyes." No one objected, and he says knew from that moment that religion was "rubbish."  His new memoir lets us in on his long road to anti-theism, touching on his hidden Jewish heritage, famous friendships, and why he doesn't mind being disliked.

Christopher Hitchens, author of Hitch-22: A Memoir and God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Debating 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is likely coming to an end—and so is religious liberty, according to some conservative chaplains.  In late April, 41 retired military chaplains signed a document warning against a repeal of the ban, which they fear would muzzle their preaching on homosexuality, and create “career-ending accusations of insubordination.”  Religious gay rights advocates say it’s time for the military to become more honest.  Two sides weigh in on the real consequences for chaplains of all faiths in the military.

Pictured: A U.S. Army chaplain conducts a service for soldiers in Ramadi, Iraq.

Daniel Blomberg, Litigation Counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund

Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance

Web Extra: Click here for the full interview

We're Not the Same...And That's OK

Stephen Prothero says the leaders of the interfaith movement have a problem: call it the Kumbaya Effect. Instead of grappling with our religious differences, he says they gloss them over, creating a ‘pretend pluralism’ that does more harm then good.

Stephen Prothero, author of God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World -- and Why Their Differences Matter

The 'Dear Abby' of Muslim Extremism?

They’ve been compared to televangelists and called the “Dear Abbys” of Muslim extremists.  So-called internet imams have been linked to a number of terrorist attempts on American soil, though most have never detonated a bomb or fired a gun.  One of the most visible is Anwar al-Awlaki, an American born, self-proclaimed cleric known for his impeccable English and popular YouTube clips.  Terrorism expert Jarret Brachman explains how they’ve used their grasp of the Web to lure some Muslims toward extremism.  Our story first aired in January 2010.

Pictured: Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, October 2008.

Jarret Brachman, author of Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice and terrorism consultant to the U.S. government

Lessons From the Oil Spill

What would Confucius say about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, huge salaries on Wall Street, and the tainted milk in China? Two scholars of religion and business ethics—one Confucian, one Judeo-Christian— weigh in on whether moral rules were broken in recent corporate embarrassments.

Pictured: A duck covered in oil after the 2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill

Thomas O'Brien, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Depaul University

Daryl Koehn, Executive Director of the Center for Business Ethics at the University of St. Thomas

'That Cloud of Suspicion Never Lifts'

"Protecting the innocent" in the Catholic sex abuse scandal is taking on a new, unfortunate meaning.    According to a recent report, at least 300 American priests claim they have been falsely accused.  Deprived of swift justice in the Catholic legal system, they are stranded in what reporter Daniel Burke calls a “legal limbo" – with no salary, no ministry, and perhaps worst of all, a bad reputation.  Burke explores this little-understood flip side of the Catholic abuse crisis.

Daniel Burke, reporter for Religion News Service and author of "Accused Catholic Priests Left in Limbo"

Update 5/19: A response to this show, from the Diocese of Trenton 

Update 5/21: A response to the Trenton statement, from Religion News Service

Arizona Ethics: Two Views

Arizona’s new immigration bill, the strictest in the nation, requires police to stop anyone they "reasonably suspect" is in the United States illegally in the course of their normal duties.  Most religious leaders have denounced the bill, saying it flouts the Biblical message of compassion and justice, and could lead to racial profiling.  But polls show that the people in the pews, like the rest of the public, have real concerns about “welcoming the stranger.” Indeed, most Arizona citizens support the bill.  This week we hear two very different views on the ethics of illegal immigration.

Pictured: The border wall between Arizona and Mexico.

Ira Mehlmann, Media Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

Father Glenn Jenks, Episcopal Priest and member of the Arizona Interfaith Network

A 'Son of Hamas' Risks His Life to Tell His (Controversial) Story

Mosab Hassan Yousef is in danger.  As the eldest son of one of the founding leaders of Hamas, Yousef has written a new book detailing his stint as a spy for Israeli intelligence, and his surprising conversion from Islam to Christianity.  Now, he characterizes the god of Islam as a "killer" and claims that neither Israel nor Hamas are honest with their people.  While Yousef admits the death threats he faces now have left him with some regrets about writing the book, he says his story needs to be told. 

Web Extra: The full interview

Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices

What Happens in Heaven?  

For desert-dwelling Muslims, Heaven was a lush, green garden, filled with springs, rivers and flowing wine. For ancient Jews it was the site of their holy temple, rebuilt brand-new after its destruction by the Romans.  And for African-American slaves, Heaven was the place where "the first would be last, and the last would be first.”  In her new book, Newsweek writer Lisa Miller explains why our image of eternity is shaped by our life on Earth now - a reflection of our hopes, anxieties and longings for justice. 

Lisa Miller, author of Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife

The Black Church: What is It Now, and Was It Ever What You Thought It Was? 

At the end of February, a Princeton scholar published what you might call an obituary for the black church.  Eddie Glaude, Jr.’s article, “The Black Church is Dead,” argues that the church as a prophetic, moral voice has changed so much that it has all but disappeared. And he says that now, in a time when African-American unemployment is at its highest in 25 years, the church must renew its commitment to social change. So this week we examine the reality of the black church in America - where it’s been, how it’s evolved, and what it needs to do to stay relevant in the age of Obama.

Pictured: Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at an interfaith civil rights rally in San Francisco, 1964

Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

Kenyatta Gilbert, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at the Howard University School of Divinity

The Vatican in Crisis

The sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has now exploded in Europe and Latin America.  Some media stories have even implicated Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in the cover-up.  The Vatican, however, is hunkering down, likening itself to victims of anti-Semitism and lashing out at critics. Jesuit priest Tom Reese explains what's at stake for the Catholic Church.

Thomas Reese, S.J., Senior Fellow of Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University

Ted Kennedy's 'True Compass'

When the House passed Obama’s health care plan recently, many said Ted Kennedy was watching.  The late senator spent much of his career working for affordable, universal health care—a mission he said was rooted in his Catholic faith.  But he kept his religious views quiet, hidden. Jonathan Karp, editor of his memoir, reveals the senator you don’t know—a man who loved the Gospel of Matthew, prayed the rosary, and spent only one day in bed at the end of his life.

Our interview was recorded in October 2009.

Jonathan Karp, editor of True Compass, publisher and editor-in-chief of Twelve Books

G-Dog and His Homeboys

To his employees he’s known as “Father G,” “G-Dog” or simply “G.”  To everyone else he’s Father Gregory Boyle, a white-bearded, Jesuit priest who runs the country’s largest intervention program for gang members.  They come from more than 800 gangs from all over the country, ready to put their former lives behind them, find a job, get a tattoo removed, or just talk to someone who cares. Father Boyle’s new book is a collection of stories and essays from 20 years of working with at-risk risk youth, whom he calls his “homies.”

Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries and author of Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

Debating the Stupak Amendment

Perhaps no religious group has been more vocal - or divided - on the health care debate than the Catholic Church.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the official voice of the church in the United States, has lobbied against the Senate version of the Democrats’ health plan, which they say would allow federal dollars to fund abortions. But many Catholic advocacy groups dispute that premise, and say the Bishops don’t speak for them. This week, it’s a (civil) debate between two Catholics on different sides of the spectrum. 

David Nolan, Communications Director of Catholics for Choice

Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats for Life