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A Purpose-Driven President?

Rev. Rick Warren was the amiable emcee at last Saturday’s Civil Forum on the Presidency, featuring presumptive presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain. He is the pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch, in a year when the evangelical vote is reportedly shifting. Since the 1980s, this voting bloc has focused on issues like abortion and gay marriage, but this year, the agenda has broadened to include issues like poverty and the environment. The Saddleback forum reflects that range of issues – and it foreshadows what is likely to be a faith-heavy campaign this election season.

Jacques Berlinerblau, author of Thumpin’ It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today’s Presidential Politics, and the blog, The God Vote

Kim Lawton, managing editor of PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly

Saddleback footage and commentary available at Religion and Ethics Newsweekly's blog, One Nation: Religion and Politics 2008

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They Even Edit the Bible

To the Chinese government, religion is a potential national security threat, not a divine gift.  Joseph Grieboski explains how this thinking leads to the persecution of Catholic and Protestant churches, repression of groups like Uighur Muslims and the Falun Gong, and even attempts to edit the Bible.

Joseph Grieboski, Executive Director, Institute on Religion and Public Policy

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Confronting Religious Bias On Campus

What do evangelical Christians, atheists, Muslims, and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright have in common?  The tendency to be misunderstood and stereotyped by outsiders.  It's a big-scale problem, and the National Coalition Building Institute, or NCBI, is offering a powerful solution that changes hearts and instutions: start with your own prejudice, and then confront others'.

The non-profit creates what it calls “prejudice reduction workshops”— seminars where people reveal the painful biases and attitudes that hurt them most. About half of their some-700 programs each year take place on college campuses, where NCBI works to alter the entire campus climate, from individual students to high level administators.

This week, Interfaith Voices sits in on an NCBI workshop at George Mason University, where a group of students and administrators get candid about the ways discrimination has touched their lives – and learn tools to speak up. 

Cherie Brown, Executive Director of the National Coalition Building Institute

Dr. Renee Scales, Director of Multicultural Research, George Mason University

 
Produced by Laura Kwerel and Katie Jones

Commentary: A Road to Faith, Lined With Questions

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As a young child, writer Tom Lange felt secure in his salvation. But by the time he hit middle school, his deep belief had turned into an aching doubt.

Tom Lange, reporter for The Truth in Elkhart, Ind.

This commentary originally appeared in the Washington Post, Dec. 24, 2007

Blacks in the Mormon Church, 30 Years Later

Begins at 22:50 

Until 1978, African Americans were barred from entering the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church.  Mormons and non-Mormons alike have been puzzled by the policy, which is nowhere to be found in the early teachings of church founder Joseph Smith (pictured.)

Dr. Newell Bringhurst, co-editor of Black and Mormon

Marvin Perkins, a black member of the Mormon Church, co-producer of the DVD series Blacks in the Scriptures 

Lebanon's Disappearing Jews

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Synagogues across Lebanon have closed their doors, evidence of the disappearance of a once-thriving Jewish community from the country.  Indeed, between 1948 and the present, the Jewish population has dwindled from 17,000 to a mere 300.  Ronnie Chatah tells us why they left – and why they didn't move to Israel.

Ronnie Chatah, graduate student in Middle East Studies at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Commentary: A Godly Hour

Begins at 49:18 

Karen Anderson wakes up at "some ungodly hour" to catch a flight – only to realize that the view from her window is decidedly holy.

Karen Anderson, writer from Traverse City, Mich.

This week's Interfaith Calendar

June 19th – New Church Day (Swedenborgian Christian)

On this day in 1770, Emmanuel Swedenborg published “The True Christian Religion,” a document explaining the tenants of Swedenborgian Christianity.  Today, Swedenborgian Christians, also called New Christians, celebrate the day as the birthday of their church.   Swedenborgians believe that all people who lead good lives, no matter what their religion, have a place in heaven.   

June 20th – Litha (Wiccan/Pagan)

Litha, or the summer solstice, is, the longest day of the year.  For pagans, it is a day to honor the sun – which is recognized for its power to give life and warmth.  It's a festive day to eat food at the peak of the harvest, and enjoy the long days while we can. 

June 22 – All Saints Day (Orthodox Christian)

This is a day for honoring all saints, known and unknown.  In the Christian tradition, saints are persons known for lives of holiness and devotion to God, or who were martyred for their faith.  Catholics celebrate All Saints Day on November 1st. 

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How to Follow the Bible As Literally as Possible

Millions of Americans say they take the rules of the Bible literally.  So one man tried--all 700 something of them. Turns out, there's quite a mixed bag of divine do's and don'ts: everything from growing out a full beard and turning the other cheek to stoning adulterers (he did--with a pebble). We caught up with AJ Jacobs, a Jewish agnostic best known for having read all 32 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica, to find out what it really takes to become God's overachiever.

Guest: A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

Christianity's Image Problem?

Begins at 22:50 

The Barna Group, an evangelical opinion polling firm, recently asked American teens and twenty-somethings for their perceptions of Christians.  The results?  Young people see Christians as "insensitive," "hypocritical," and "judgmental," among other unflattering traits.  David Kinnaman tells us why the world's largest religion has gotten such a bad rap. 

David Kinnaman, co-author of unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity and president of the Barna Group 

A Guide For the Perplexed

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The Sound of Rumi

Begins at 44:07 

The poetry of the mystic Rumi has long been set to music, using traditional instruments like the rubab, an ancient stringed instrument from Afghanistan, and the tabla, an Indian hand drum.   Three Afghani musicians stopped by our studios to share their interpretation of “The Song of the Reed Flute,” one of Rumi’s most beloved poems.

Solaiman Daneshjo (vocals and harmonium)

Zee Farzana (on the tabla)

Mohammed Sadeq (on the rubab)

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The Religious Right's Wayward Son

Frank Schaeffer spent his early career in the evangelical royalty--as a "700 Club" regular and the son of a famous Christian theologian. Now, in his new memoir, Schaeffer reflects on his bittersweet life inside the movement-- and why he eventually decided he was working with “crazy people.”

Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy for God: How I Was Born as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All - or Almost All - of it Back

Can God Make You Straight?

Starts at 22:50 

...And should you even try?  This is the question at the center of the so-called ex-gay movement.  While the mainstream scientific community strongly says "no," a growing fringe of religious and secular groups claims that people can change.

This week, Interfaith Voices probes the controversial crusade with sociologist Dr. Michelle Wolkomir, who spent a year studying an ex-gay ministry in the American South.   We also hear from two men who attempted to change their orientations because of their Christian beliefs—with very different results. 

Allen Calhoun, who spent one year at Regeneration, a ministry affiliated with Exodus International—an umbrella organization of Christian ex-gay programs

Peterson Toscano, who spent 17 years trying to change his sexual orientation and is now an openly gay Christian performance artist

Dr. Michelle Wolkomir, author of Be Not Deceived: The Sacred and Sexual Struggles of Gay and Ex-Gay Christian Men