When Faith is Mistaken for Terrorism

From packing liquids correctly to making it to the gate on time, the average air traveller has plenty to worry about.  Many people of faith, however, have an even more pressing concern when they fly.  As security tightens and tensions mount, expressions of religion in the airport and on airplanes are often mistaken for terrorist threats.  We're joined by a Sikh, a Muslim, and a Jew who say that profiling religion instead of behavior in the airport is ineffective...and dangerous.

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

Peter Steinfels Leaves the New York Times

One of the nation's top religion journalists, Peter Steinfels, is leaving his post as a regular columnist for the the New York Times.  His column, "Beliefs," appeared for the first time in 1990.  Steinfels reflects on his career and weighs in on the future of religion reporting.

Peter Steinfels, former columnist at the New York Times

Inside the Unification Church

The theology of the Unification Church begins in the Garden of Eden. That’s where, according to founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Satan seduced Eve, causing her to have a sexual relationship with Adam before they reached spiritual maturity. As a result, humanity’s lineage is incorrectly linked to Satan, not God. The only way to restore it, Moon teaches, is through a church-sanctioned blessing ceremony. Moon, who considers himself a messiah, began performing the ceremonies himself in 1961, blessing as many as 30,000 couples at once in sports stadiums and concert halls.

Unification scholar David Bromley explains the beliefs of the church, which is loosely based on Christianity.

Pictured: Rev. Moon presiding over a mass blessing, 1982

David Bromley, professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University

Our complete interview with James Carroll on the historical link between antisemitism and Islamophobia, including the idea that antisemitism is "an inch below the surface" of anger surrounding the financial crisis.

James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History

A Crisis of Faith and Meaning

For the deeply religious citizens of Haiti, last week’s earthquake was a rupture both physical and spiritual.  This week, we explore how the three largest religious groups in Haiti—Catholics, Pentecostals, and practitioners of Vodou (better known as Voodoo)—are using their faith to interpret what happened.

Pictured: The Haitian Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince. It was a two-story building before the earthquake.  

Elizabeth McAlister, scholar of Afro-Caribbean religion at Wesleyan University

And Now, The Good News

It’s hard to know when, exactly, it started…but somewhere between the anti-Muslim protests in England and the mosque minarette ban in Switzerland, 2009 became a really bad year for Islam in the news. So this week we reflect on the happier, more hopeful news stories that slipped through the cracks.  Call it the silver lining of 2009.

Pictured: A Tehran sunset.

Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of Altmuslim.com

The Bin Ladin of the Internet?

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 attacks, though most have never detonated a bomb or fired a gun at anyone.  One of the most visible is Anwar al-Awlaki (pictured), 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.

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

Whiskers, Bones, Toes, and Teeth

In Rag and Bone, author Peter Manseau explores the macabre world of religious relics—the bodily odds and ends of saints, gurus and prophets, scattered all around the world.  From Muhammed’s beard whisker to the Buddha’s tooth, it's a look at why we save and celebrate pieces of the dead. Our interview originally aired in July 2009.

Peter Manseau, author of Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead, founding editor of killingthebuddha.com

Religion Redux

Two of our favorite news analysts count down the religion stories that mattered in 2009-- the flaps, the surprises and the triumphs.  From Pope Benedict's blunders, to Obama's speech to the Muslim world,  to the approval of same-sex blessings in the Episcopal church, it was a year to remember.

Kevin Eckstrom, editor of Religion News Service

Kim Lawton, managing editor of Religion and Ethics Newsweekly

Huckabee on the Holidays

Mike Huckabee reflects on the Christmas stories and gifts that made him who he is today, from the $99 electric guitar that helped him overcome stage fright, to his family's struggle with medical bills in the Christmas of ’75.   He also defends his 1997 decision to reduce the prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the man now arrested in connection with the murder of four police officers. 

Mike Huckabee, author of A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit