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

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.

Daniel Blomberg, Litigation Counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund

Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance