Multifaith Matters

Demonizing Dehumanization and Monstrosity

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 10:50:21 -0700

Some previous grant research revealed the importance of accounting for dehumanization in interreligious conflict, and this was confirmed by the work of the late neuroscientist Emile Bruneau who encouraged those working in peacemaking to account for elements like this. My work in monster theory also played a part in my understanding, and therefore I was pleased to find David Livingstone Smith account for this in his book Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization (Harvard University Press, 2021).

In this podcast, Smith and I dive down into a specific element of dehumanization which he has called "demonizing dehumanization."

David Livingstone Smith: https://www.davidlivingstonesmith.com/

Making Monsters: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674545564

My prior podcast with Smith on dehumanization and Making Monsters: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-aszpp-10f8c92

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Eugenia Rainey on Santeria

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 17:58:41 -0700

Eugenia Rainey is our guest to discuss the African diaspora religion of Santeria. Rainey is associate professor William & Mary Rainey where she is a cultural anthropologist who studies religion as a negotiated process. She focuses on this process at the intersection of Lucumí (also referred to as La Regla de Ochá or Santería) and medicine in south Florida. Through examining devotees’ experiences and perceptions of the medical encounter, and being well grounded in religious practice, she seeks to better understand how the healthcare infrastructure impacts constructions of race and lived religion, as well as how African Diaspora religions in the US support the healthcare needs of devotees and the healthcare infrastructure.

Eugenia Rainey at William & Mary: https://www.wm.edu/as/americanstudies/faculty/rainey_e.php

Dr. Rainey's profile on Santeria at the World Religions and Spirituality Project: https://wrldrels.org/2025/05/27/santeria/

Books on Santeria mentioned in this podcast:

Santería: Correcting the Myths and Uncovering the Realities of a Growing Religion By Mary Ann Clark Santeria: An African Religion in America - By Joseph M. Murphy

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Batja Mesqita and Emotions of Cultures

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 14:17:56 -0600

In this episode I have a conversation with Batja Mesquita who discusses her book Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions. We unpack the ideas in her book and make application to religious and political conflict. From her book description:

A pioneer of cultural psychology argues that emotions are not innate, but made as we live our lives together.

“How are you feeling today?” We may think of emotions as universal responses, felt inside, but in Between Us, acclaimed psychologist Batja Mesquita asks us to reconsider them through the lens of what they do in our relationships, both one-on-one and within larger social networks. From an outside-in perspective, readers will understand why pride in a Dutch context does not translate well to the same emotion in North Carolina, or why one’s anger at a boss does not mean the same as your anger at a partner in a close relationship. By looking outward at relationships at work, school, and home, we can better judge how our emotions will be understood, how they might change a situation, and how they change us.

Brilliantly synthesizing original psychological studies and stories from peoples across time and geography, Between Us skillfully argues that acknowledging differences in emotions allows us to find common ground, humanizing and humbling us all for the better.

Batja Mesquita is a Dutch social psychologist, a cultural psychologist and an affective scientist. She is a professor of psychology at the University of Leuven, Belgium, where she studies the role of culture in emotions, and of emotions in culture and society. She is director of the Center for Social and Cultural Psychology in Leuven.

Official Website of Batja Mesquita: https://www.batjamesquita.com/

Between Us at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Us-Cultures-Create-Emotions/dp/1324002441

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#emotions #culture #BatjaMesquita #affect

The Ongoing Spiritual Journey of a None

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 11:46:04 -0600

The Nones, that large demographic of those who have given up on institutional religion, have been the focus of a lot of scholarship and discussion. In this episode we have a conversation with Stephen Bradford Long, a friend and previous guest, who has shared his journey into The Satanic Temple. In this new conversation he discusses his ongoing journey, moving beyond TST to other areas of spirituality.

Stephen's links:

https://stephenbradfordlong.com/

https://substack.com/@stephenbradfordlong

Previous episodes on The Nones:

https://youtu.be/pFF8W_yvw1k?si=BN-D8FQWBaNGV_Ut

https://youtu.be/gbynKIV6KOA?si=y5KfJPmx8ub0fg0J

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#Nones #StephenBradfordLong

Alan Streett and his book Exploring the Paranormal: Miracles, Magic and the Mysterious

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 12:04:15 -0600

R. Alan Streett returns as our guest in this episode discussing his book Exploring the Paranormal: Miracles, Magic, and the Mysterious (Eerdmans, 2024). Streett is senior research professor emeritus of biblical theology at Criswell College in Dallas, TX. The book's website description:

A personal exploration of questions surrounding psychic healing, séances, astral projection, and more.

After an injury threatened his chances of signing a professional baseball contract, R. Alan Streett sought help from Olga Worrall, a world-famous psychic healer. This encounter set in motion his lifelong search for the origin and nature of psychic phenomena. Were they natural or supernatural? From God, or from the devil? Were they mentalists’ tricks, or feats of the subconscious mind? Streett invites us to join him in real time as he explores the fascinating world of the paranormal, offering insights into healing, magic, trance channeling, yogic meditation, alternative medicine, astral projection, and the brain’s ability to produce spiritual and mystical experiences. Ultimately Streett enables readers to draw some time-tested and cutting-edge conclusions. Exploring the Paranormal is a helpful guide for all who wish to understand the varied forms of spirituality that are so popular today.

R. Alan Streett: https://www.criswell.edu/directory/r-alan-streett/ Exploring the Paranormal: https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Paranormal-Miracles-Magic-Mysterious/dp/0802884539/

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#paranormal #AlanStreett

Andrew DeCort on Blessed Are the Others

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 16:00:34 -0600

In this episode Andrew DeCort discusses his new book Blessed Are the Others: Jesus' Way in a Violent World (BitterSweet Collective). Andrew has been called a dissident theologian by his friends. His work is deeply inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, his writing by James Baldwin, his spirituality by Etty Hillesum. He received his PhD in religious and political ethics from the University of Chicago, and his work through the Neighbor-Love Movement has invited over 20 million people into nonviolent spirituality. He's the author of Flourishing on the Edge of Faith (also through BitterSweet Collective) and writes the newsletter Stop & Think.

Andrew DeCort: https://andrew-decort.com/

Blessed Are The Others: https://www.bittersweetcollective.com/blessed-are-the-others

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#AndrewDeCort #BlessedAreTheOthers #Beatittudes #nonviolence

Reid Locklin and Fred Stella on Hindu Mission, Christian Mission

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 15:28:17 -0600

Reid B. Locklin is Associate Professor of Christianity and the Intellectual Tradition at the University of Toronto, a joint appointment with St Michael’s College and the Department for the Study of Religion. His research focuses on a range of issues in Comparative Theology and Hindu-Christian Studies, particularly the engagement between Christian thought and the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta. He also writes on the scholarship of teaching and learning in theology and religion. In this podcast we will be discussing his book Hindu Mission, Christian Mission: Soundings in Comparative Theology (State University of New York, 2024).

Fred Stella is an accomplished lecturer on many aspects of Hinduism, and has presented at conferences across the United States, and internationally. He has completed extensive lecture tours in India and Guyana. Mr. Stella is a product of 16 years (including college) of Roman Catholic education. He is uniquely qualified to explain the Dharma to those in Abrahamic traditions in a most understandable way. Fred is ordained as a Pracharak (Outreach Minister) by his local temple. Also, he serves as a member of the National Leadership Council of the Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. Currently he lives in Grand Rapids, MI, USA.

Reid Locklin:

https://www.religion.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/reid-locklin

Hindu Mission, Christian Mission: Soundings in Comparative Theology

https://www.amazon.com/Hindu-Mission-Christian-Soundings-Comparative/dp/1438497407

Fred Stella:

https://www.hinduspeakers.org/fred-stella/

See at our prior conversation with Fred Stella at

https://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/fred-stella-on-hinduism-in-america/

https://youtu.be/EM3dutJT5VQ?si=x8eroVZExaqzPl_x

A conversation with Anuttama Dasa of ISKCON at
https://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/anuttama-dasa-and-the-international-societ-of-krishna-consciousness/

https://youtu.be/yywoMyb97ks?si=7I1Jk2Azyo9ZRmlW

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#Hinduism #mission #theology #ReidLocklin #FredStella

Kelly James Clark on the Raging Fire of Love in the Abrahamic Religions

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 15:09:04 -0600

In this podcast Kelly James Clark discusses his book Raging Fire of Love, a book on Muslim, Christian and Jewish love, and shares what he learned about how love of neighbor and even enemy. He discusses compassion in the Abrahamic traditions and what he learned from Christians (his spiritual home), second, Jews, and third, Muslims.
Kelly James Clark, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame), is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul. Kelly has held previous positions at Grand Valley State University, Calvin University and Gordon College and visiting appointments at Oxford University, the University of St. Andrews, Peking University, and the University of Notre Dame. He is the author, editor, or co-author of more than Thirty books including Raging Fire of Love: what I’ve learned from Jesus, the Jews, and the Prophet (the subject of this podcast), Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish Reflections on Compassion and Peace, Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels, God and the Brain, Abraham's Children: Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Religious Conflict, Religion and the Sciences of Origins, Return to Reason, The Story of Ethics, When Faith Is Not Enough, and 101 Key Philosophical Terms of Their Importance for Theology. Philosophers Who Believe won third place in Christianity Today's books of the year (which may not sound like much, but the Pope's book was eighth). He writes broadly and speaks widely on compassion, tolerance and peace.
Kelly James Clark: https://kellyjamesclark.wixsite.com/kellyjamesclark
Raging Fire of Love: https://www.amazon.com/Raging-Fire-Love-Learned-Prophet/dp/B0D2YF47K5/ You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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George Chryssides and Fieldwork in New Religious Movements

Thu, 02 May 2024 19:56:53 -0600

Christians tend to develop their understanding of other religions, especially new religious movements or "cults," by way of comparison of sacred texts with concerns for orthodoxy and heresy. But other approaches to study add new facets of understanding such as fieldwork can also be helpful. In this podcast George Chryssides discusses his new book Fieldwork in New Religious Movements. In this conversation we discuss not only the academic use of fieldwork, but what "lay fieldwork" might look like as well. From the publisher's website:

"New religious movements are often described as bizarre and sinister. Direct acquaintance, however, often gives a different impression from media portrayals and even from some academic writing. After decades of undertaking fieldwork, the author George Chryssides discusses his experiences, as well as studies by other scholars, and the issues that fieldwork involves. How do one's personal beliefs and lifestyle impinge on field research? How involved should a participant–observer become? How should we assess what we are told by insiders and ex-members? What ethical problems does field research create? How should we engage in online fieldwork, arising from the increasing use of the Internet, accelerated by the Covid pandemic? These are among the issues which this Element explores, and which will be of interest both to field researchers and to those who read about the fieldwork of others."

George D. Chryssides is Honorary Research Fellow at York St John University, UK, and was formerly Head of Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. His website can be found at http://www.religion21.com/.

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Erin Stiles on Mormon encounters with the spirit world

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 11:37:17 -0600

Erin Stiles is the author of The Devil Sat on My Bed: Encounters with the Spirit World in Mormon Utah. As the back cover describes:

"In the mountains of beautiful, bucolic northern Utah, many Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are visited by spirits. Local folklore is filled with stories of uncanny encounters of all kinds, and Latter-day Saint scripture and prophetic teachings emphasize the reality and the importance of the spirit world. Spirit encounters are common in this community. People report visits from the benevolent spirits of kin offering aid and also from evil spirits who tempt and harass. Combining folklore research with ethnography, the book examines many types of spirit encounters and shows that such experiences must be understood as particularly Latter-day Saint phenomena.

"Spirit encounters take place within a larger cultural and religious framework that emphasizes the important relationships between living and non-living beings. For Mormons in northern Utah, spirit lore and experiences are interpreted and understood with reference to Latter-day Saint cosmology and particularly Mormon conceptions of the nature of the person, the spirit, and the family, and the nature of righteousness, evil, and spiritual power. The book also explores how people in Utah differentiate between "Mormon culture," the institutional church, and how they understand the "true" meaning of the religion, which has relevance far beyond understanding of people's relationship to the spirit realm and spirit power, and speaks to key issues of concern―and polarization―among Latter-day Saints today."

Erin E. Stiles is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her primary interests are in the anthropology of religion and law, and she has worked in East Africa and in the western United States. She has conducted extensive ethnographic research on the everyday workings of Islamic courts in Zanzibar, Tanzania, with a particular focus on marital disputes. Her more recent work focuses on Latter-day Saint experiences of the spirit realm in northern Utah, where she grew up.

The Devil Sat on My Bed: https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Sat-My-Bed-Encounters/dp/0197763758/

Erin Stiles: https://www.unr.edu/anthropology/people/erin-stiles

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#Mormonism #Spirits #anthropology

David J. Halperin on UFOs and Myth

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 16:15:27 -0700

Much of the discussion of UFOs is focused around the two poles of extraterrestrial spaceships or skeptical debunking. In this podcast David J. Halperin provides another perspective, that of myth, to help shed light on UFOs as meaning-making things. We do this by unpacking his book Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO (Stanford University Press, 2020).

David Halperin taught Judaic studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, until his retirement in 2000. He has published five nonfiction books on Jewish mysticism and messianism, as well as the coming-of-age novel Journal of a UFO Investigator (2011). He blogs about UFOs, religion, and related subjects at www.davidhalperin.net.

Intimate Alien: https://www.amazon.com/Intimate-Alien-Hidden-Spiritual-Phenomena/dp/1503607089/

Be sure to check the other episodes in our Paranormal Playlist.

#UFOs #myth #DavidHalperin

Rabbi Ariel Mellul of the International Raëlian Movement

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 14:14:39 -0700

Rabbi Leon Ariel Mellul of the International Raëlian Movement is the guest who discusses the group's origins in a meeting with extraterrestrials called the Elohim, their work in the creation of humanity, the place of their founder Raël in a long line of prophets from the world's religions, their millenarian philosophy of the return of the Elohim, and responses to various aspects of their religion that has received critical reporting in the media over the years.

Rabbi Mellul was born in a traditional Jewish family until November 1987 when he discovered the book Intelligent Design by Raël. He came to understand that the Elohim were an extraterrestrial civilization who had been mistaken for gods by our primitive ancestors. Since then has has been a part of the Raëlian Movement with a special connection to the Israeli Raëlian Movement.

Links to the Raëlian Movement:
www.rael.org
www.Alliance4ET.org
www.1min4peace.org
www.isralestinian-gandhis.org

Scholarly discussions of the Raëlian Movement:

Aliens Adored: Raël's UFO Religion by Susan J. Palmer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813534763/

UFO Religions by Christopher Partridge: https://www.amazon.com/UFO-Religions-Christopher-Partridge/dp/0415263247/

Handbook of UFO Religions edited by Benjamin Zeller: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Religions-Handbooks-Contemporary-Religion/dp/9004434372/

#RaelianMovement #UFOReligions #UFOs

Elias D’eis, the Holy Land Trust, and the War in Gaza

Sat, 18 Nov 2023 18:59:05 -0700

Elias D'eis, Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust, shares about his life as a Palestinian Christian in the West Bank, life under the Israeli military occupation, the role of a Christian in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the work of The Holy Land Trust.

Elias D'eis was born into a Christian family with a long history of nonviolent resistance in Beit Sahour. His life was shaped during the First Intifada, watching his father and his community find the path towards justice through peaceful resistance. It was through his Christian upbringing, holding onto Jesus's sacred words of "loving thy neighbor," that led Elias into a life journey of engaging his community in transformation.

Joining Holy Land Trust in 2007 as a travel coordinator, Elias has grown the Travel & Encounter program. His department now facilitates tours and educational packages to some 1,500 peacemakers and sojourners a year. In June 2019, Elias got promoted to the Executive Director of Holy Land Trust after he spent the last decade investing his life into the mission and vision because it is something that he truly believes in: "Building communities of trust and respect."

Holy Land Trust: https://www.holylandtrust.org/

J. Gordon Melton on the Church of Scientology

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 20:00:17 -0600

J. Gordon Melton, the noted scholar of new religions, joins us in this episode to discuss the Church of Scientology.

Dr. J. Gordon Melton, became Distinguished Professor of American Religious History of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies in Religion in March of 2011. He also serves as the director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Woodway, Texas. Since joining ISR, he has been developing a set of joint projects between ISR and the Woodway-based Institute, the initial project being a comprehensive census of the American Buddhist and Hindu communities completed in 2010 (with and updated census having been launched in 2019). In addition, he has for the last two decades been monitoring the changing state of the church in China.

In 1968 he founded the Institute for the Study of American Religion and has remained it’s director for the last 49 years. The institute is devoted to organizing, motivating, and producing research-based studies and educational material on North American Religion. It has been responsible for the publication of more than 400 reference and scholarly texts since its founding, including multiple editions of Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions (9th edition, 2016).

Dr. Melton is a pioneering scholar in the field of New Religions Studies and helped to create the sub-discipline. He sits on the international board of the Center for Studies in New Religions (CESNUR) based in Turin, Italy, the primary academic association focusing studies of new and minority religions.

J. Gordon Melton at Baylor: https://www.baylorisr.org/about-baylorisr/distinguished-professors/j-gordon-melton/

Melton's book on Scientology: https://www.amazon.com/Church-Scientology-Studies-Contemporary-Religions/dp/1560851392

#GordonMelton #Scientology

Matthew Bowman and The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

Sun, 17 Sep 2023 14:47:39 -0600

Matthew Bowman discusses the first American UFO abduction account detailed in his new book The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America (Yale University Press, 2023). From the book's dust cover: "Bowman tells the fascinating story of the Hills as an account of the shifting winds in American politics and culture in the second half of the twentieth century. He exposes the promise and fallout of the idealistic reforms of the 1960s and how the myth of political consensus has given way to the cynicism and conspiratorialism of American life today."

Matthew Bowman is associate professor of religion and history and Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University. His books include The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith.

Matthew Bowman: https://www.cgu.edu/people/matthew-bowman/

The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300251388/the-abduction-of-betty-and-barney-hill/

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The Satanic Temple’s Unveiling Day: Pluralism and Archaic Superstition

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 00:25:32 -0600

On July 25 The Satanic Temple (TST) celebrated one of their holidays, Unveiling Day. Their website describes this as a time to commemorate the unveiling of their Baphomet with Children statue in 2015. This holiday includes a "celebration of religious plurality and shedding archaic superstition." In this collaborative podcast episode with Sacred Tension, TST minister Stephen Bradford Long, and progressive Christian Randal Rauser, discuss perspectives on these aspects of the holiday.

Stephen Bradford Long is a nontheistic minister with TST, and host of the Sacred Tension podcast. He also recently started writing for Substack. Randal Rauser is a Christian who has written several books on a neighborly engagement with atheism, including Conversations with My Inner Atheist, An Atheist and a Christian Walk Into a Bar, and Is the Atheist My Neighbor?.

Stephen Bradford Long: https://stephenbradfordlong.com/

Randal Rauser: https://randalrauser.com/

Holidays of The Satanic Temple: https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/holidays

Stephen's Substack article mentioned in the program: https://sacredtension.substack.com/p/i-left-christianity-because-i-stopped

Sacred Tension's episode of this conversation: https://sacredtension.substack.com/p/pluralism-and-archaic-superstition

For more on The Satanic Temple see Joseph Laycock's book Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2020): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/speak-of-the-devil-9780190948498

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#Satanism #TheSatanicTemple #atheism #Christianity

The Covid Pandemic and the World’s Religions

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 14:56:15 -0600

George Chryssides discusses the book The Covid Pandemic and the World's Religions (Bloomsbury, 2023), which he co-edited with Dan Cohn-Sherbok. In the book, believers from a variety of faith communities were asked to assess how the Covid pandemic has affected their faith. Two exponents of each major religion and a number of minority faiths comment on these issues, combined with a concluding essay by the editors assessing the overall impact of the pandemic on religion worldwide. Faiths explored include Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Sikh, Baha'i, Jain, African Traditional Religion, Zoroastrian, Unitarian, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science.

Chryssides is Honorary Research Fellow at York St. John's University, UK and was formerly Head of Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, UK.

George Chryssides: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/author/george-d-chryssides/

The Covid Pandemic and the World's Religions: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/covid-pandemic-and-the-worlds-religions-9781350349643/

If ordering online from Bloomsbury, a 20% discount is available by quoting the relevant code below:

UK, Europe and rest of world: GLR TT9UK

United States: GLR TT9US

Canada: GLR TT9CA

Australia and New Zealand: GLR TT9AU

#covid

Celucien Joseph on Christianity and Vodou in Dialogue in Haiti

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 13:29:58 -0600

In this podcast Celucien Joseph discusses Christianity and Haitian Vodou in dialgoue, including stereotypes of the tradition, Afrophobia and Vodouphobia, Protestant and Catholic responses to Haitian Vodou, suggestions for productive theological exchanges and dialogue, and the need for greater familiarity with the Caribbean theological tradition and its theologians and biblical scholars.

Dr. Joseph (affectionately called "Doctor Lou") is an award-winning author and a well-regarded Haitian-American author, scholar, and researcher. By training, he is an intellectual historian, literary scholar, and a theologian. Currently, he serves as Professor and Chair of the English Department at San Jacinto College.

Celucien Joseph: https://drcelucienjoseph.com/bio/

"Refining cultural, national, and religious identity: The Christian-Vodouist dialogue?": https://www.academia.edu/28160823/_Redefining_Cultural_National_and_Religious_Identity_The_Christian_Vodouist_dialogue

Revolutionary Change and Democratic Religion: Christianity, Vodou, and Secularism: https://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Change-Democratic-Religion-Christianity-ebook/dp/B087TKVT1J

Vodou in the Haitian Experience: A Black Atlantic Perspective: https://www.amazon.com/Vodou-Haitian-Experience-Atlantic-Perspective-ebook/dp/B01EO0PEP2

Vodou in Haitian Memory: The Idea and Representation of Vodou in Haitian Imagination; https://www.amazon.com/Vodou-Haitian-Memory-Representation-Imagination-ebook/dp/B01EVZ3RA4

"Revising Caribbean Theological Tradition: 20 Haitian Theologians and Biblical Scholars You Should Know": https://theglobalchurchproject.com/haitian-theologians/

The Christian Fascination with”Ex-Occultist” Narratives

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:36:26 -0600

Christians are fascinated by conversion stories of ex-occultists, particularly Witches and Satanists. From Mike Warnke and Bill Schnoebelen in the past, to contemporary figures like John Ramirez, these stories help confirm the faith identities and worldview of Christians in a battle of good vs. evil. Douglas Cowan and Joseph Laycock unpack various aspects of this phenomenon, and how they fit into contemporary satanic panic. Doug Cowan is a professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo. For many years he was a co-general editor of the premier journal of new religions study, Nova Religio, and chair of the New Religious Movements Group of the American Academy of Religion. Joseph Laycock is an assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University. He has written several books on new religious movements and American religious history. He is also a co-editor for the journal Nova Religio.

Douglas Dowan: https://uwaterloo.ca/renison/about/people/douglas-e-cowan

Joseph Laycock: https://faculty.txst.edu/profile/1922193

Related resources:

Selling Satan: The Evangelical Media and the Mike Warnke Scandal by Mike Hertenstein and Jon Trott

https://www.amazon.com/Selling-Satan-Evangelical-Warnke-Scandal/dp/0940895072

Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Satanic Abuse in History by David Frankfurter
https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Incarnate-Demonic-Conspiracy-Satanic/dp/0691136297/

Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media by Bill Ellis
https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Devil-Satanism-Religions-Media/dp/0813121701/

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#occult #apostatetestimony #Satanist #witch

Kaleb Graves on Psychedelic Theology

Sat, 10 Jun 2023 12:30:24 -0600

Psychedelics have long been connected to religion, including the Jewish and Christian traditions. In addition, there are now psychedelic chaplains, psychedelic churches, and people seeking out psychedelics not only for spiritual reasons but also to treat conditions like PTSD and anxiety. Yet like with many other aspects of culture, the church is ill prepared to address psychedelics. Kaleb Graves is our guest as we explore questions related to psychedelic theology. Graves is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship minister and educator living in North Carolina. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in psychology. He is focusing his efforts on Psychedelic Theology.

Kaleb’s website: https://www.psychedelictheology.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/psychedelic_theology?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA

“Is your church ready for the spiritual revolution of LDS, DMT and magic mushrooms? By Kaleb Graves at Baptist News Global: https://baptistnews.com/article/is-your-church-ready-for-the-spiritual-revolution-of-lsd-dmt-and-magic-mushrooms/

Items referenced in this podcast:

“Caves all the way down: Do psychedelics give access to a universal, mystical experience of reality, or is that just a culture-bound illusion?” By Jules Evans. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/is-psychedelics-research-closer-to-theology-than-to-science

“Marijuana Found at Ancient Temple in Israel.” Biblical Archaeological Society. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/marijuana-found-at-ancient-temple-in-israel/

Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/philosophy-and-psychedelics-9781350231610/

“Christianity and Psychedelic Medicine: A Pastoral Approach.” By Bryan McCarthy. Christian Bioethics 29, no. 1 (March 2023): 31-57. https://academic.oup.com/cb/article-abstract/29/1/31/6705514

DMT and the Soul of Prophecy: A New Science of Spiritual Revelation in the Hebrew Bible by Rich Strassman, M.D. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594773424

DMT The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819278

Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences by William Richards https://www.amazon.com/dp/0231174063

#psychedelics #theology

George Chryssides on Contested Concepts in the Study of Religion

Sun, 14 May 2023 14:34:32 -0600

Greater attention is needed to various concepts in the study of religion that may be assumed to be settled, but in reality need to be contested. George Chryssides discusses this in this episode, including concepts like “religion,” “world religion,” “cult,” and “new religious movement.” Chryssides is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at York St. John University, UK. His books include The Bloomsbury Handbook to Studying Christians, Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses second edition, Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change, The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements, and he is co-editor with Amy R. Whitehead of Contested Concepts in the Study of Religion.

Contested Concepts in the Study of Religion: A Critical Exploration (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023) https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/contested-concepts-in-the-study-of-religion-9781350243804/

George D. Chryssides: https://yorksj.academia.edu/GeorgeChryssides

Amy R. Whitehead: https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/expertise/profile.cfm?stref=950550

Book launch Contested Concepts contributor discussion hosted by INFORM: https://youtu.be/U3QcYvuFknY

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#religion #religiousstudies #GeorgeChryssides

Heron Michelle, Street Preachers, and Pagan Religious Freedoms

Sat, 15 Apr 2023 17:30:43 -0600

How might a member of a minority religion feel about aggressive Christian preaching at their sacred venues? Can such evangelistic efforts function in ways that restrict the religious freedoms of others? Heron Michelle, a Pagan, shares her perspective resulting from interactions with a street preacher outsider her business.

Heron (Greenville, NC) is a witch, priestess, artist, and mom. She is the founding high priestess of the Sojo Circle Coven, and she created a training program in modern witchcraft, which she’s taught year-round since 2010. Heron is the owner of the Sojourner Whole Earth Provisions metaphysical shop, and she’s a Reiki master, tarot reader, and clairvoyant. She writes the blog Witch on Fire at Patheos Pagan, and she regularly lectures at local universities, festivals, and conferences.

Heron Michelle’s website

Witch on Fire blog

Video of Heron talking to EC Street Preacher

“Pagan ‘metaphysical shops navigate threats from Christian critics” at RN

“Christian groups step up harassment of pagan festivals” at RNS

For more on a respectful and informed Pagan-Christian dialogue see the book Beyond the Burning Times: A Pagan and Christian in Dialogue by Philip Johnson and Gus diZerega (Lion, 2008).

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#Paganism #religiousfreedom #evangelism

Catherine Wessinger on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Branch Davidian Tragedy

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 16:57:09 -0600

April 19, 2023 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the fire which ended the standoff between federal agents and members of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. Much has been learned about this tragedy over the last few decades, and it continues to be relevant to events in politics and religion. Catherine Wessinger is our guest sharing her expertise in this area.

Catherine Wessinger is the Rev. H. James Yamauchi, S.J. Professor of the History of Religions at Loyola University New Orleans. She is the author of How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate (2000); editor of Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases (2000); editor of The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism (2011); editor of three Branch Davidian survivor autobiographies for Bonnie Haldeman (David Koresh’s mother), Sheila Martin, and Clive Doyle. She has served as a co-general editor of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions since 2000.

She has written a number of book chapters and a journal article on the Branch Davidians-federal agents conflict outside Waco, Texas.

Among the most significant is the 2009 journal article, “Deaths in the Fire at the Branch Davidians’ Mount Carmel: Who Bears Responsibility?” in Nova Religio; and a chapter titled, “The FBI’s ‘Cult War’ against the Branch Davidians,” in the 2017 edited volume,The FBI and Religion.

Her YouTube channel—https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

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Ida Glaser and the Reading the Bible in the Context of Islam project

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 10:44:54 -0600

Ida Glaser leads the Reading the Bible in the Context of Islam project at the Center for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, UK, and is the Director of Center for Muslim and Christian Studies, Houston, TX. She also overseas the International Partnership and the Langham Bible Commentaries from Muslim Contexts project on behalf of the Solomon Academic Trust. Previously she taught in the areas of Qur'an and Bible and History of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue at the University of Edinburgh.

Center for Muslim-Christian Studies, UK: https://www.cmcsoxford.org.uk/about-us/our-team/publications-ida-glaser

Center for Muslim-Christian Studies, Houston: https://www.cmcshouston.org/

Thinking Biblically about Islam: Genesis, Transfiguration, Transformation (London: Langham, 2016) (With Hannah Kay): https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Biblically-about-Islam-Transfiguration/dp/1839731915/

Routledge Reading the Bible in Islamic Context Series: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Biblical-Interpretation-in-Islamic-Context-Series/book-series/RBIIC

The Bible and Other Faiths: what does the Lord require of us? (Leicester: IVP, 2005): https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Other-Faiths-Require-Christian/dp/1907713050/

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#IdaGlaser #Islam #Quran #Bible

Dr. Benno van den Toren on interfaith apologetics

Sun, 12 Mar 2023 16:29:12 -0600

Today's cosmopolitan, multicultural, and multifaith environments call for new approaches to apologetics. In order to free Christian apologetics from dominant Western habits of mind ill-suited to interreligious dialogue, we must listen and speak with both humility and confidence. In their book Humble Confidence: A Model for Interfaith Apologetics, Benno van den Toren and Kang-San Tan provide a global, intercultural introduction to Christian apologetics. Building on recent developments in apologetics and missiology, as well as their experience teaching internationally in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Van den Toren and Tan offer an approach that is conversational, patient, holistic, and embodied. Benno van den Toren unpacks this in our conversation.

Benno van den Toren (PhD, Theological University in Kampen) is professor of intercultural theology at the Protestant Theological University in Groningen, the Netherlands. He has taught in French-speaking Africa and at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University, and his books include Christian Apologetics as Cross-Cultural Dialogue and Reasons for My Hope: Responding to Non-Christian Friends.

Benno van den Toren: https://www.pthu.nl/en/about-us/people/b.vandentoren/

Humble Confidence: A Model for Interfaith Apologetics: https://www.amazon.com/Humble-Confidence-Model-Interfaith-Apologetics/dp/0830852948/

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#BennovandenTorren #KangsanTan #interfaith #apologetics

Jack Hunter and an Anthropology of the Paranormal

Sun, 05 Mar 2023 16:13:11 -0700

Dr. Jack Hunter provides an anthropological perspective on the paranormal. Hunter is an anthropologist exploring the borderlands of ecology, religion and the paranormal. He lives in the hills of Mid-Wales with his family. He is an Honorary Research Fellow with the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, University of Wales Trinity Saint David and a Research Fellow with the Parapsychology Foundation, New York. He is the founder and editor of Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal, the author of Spirits, Gods and Magic: An Introduction to the Anthropology of the Supernatural (2019) and Engaging the Anomalous (2018). He is the editor of Strange Dimensions: A Paranthropology Anthology (2015), Damned Facts: Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore and the Paranormal (2016), and is co-editor with Dr. David Luke of Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds (2014). To find out more about his work visit www.jack-hunter.webstarts.com.

Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Weird-Varieties-Strangeness-Experience/dp/1786772248/

Damned Facts: Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore, and the Paranormal: https://www.amazon.com/Damned-Facts-Religion-Folklore-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B01BRL7UUS/

Jack Hunter's Deep Weird Dialogues: https://www.youtube.com/@Discarnates

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#paranormal #JackHunter

James Keenan on Moral Theology, the New Testament and Multifaith Encounters

Sat, 25 Feb 2023 19:08:46 -0700

Moral theology provides a helpful but often neglected avenue for multifaith engagement beyond Christian emphasis upon evangelism and apologetics. James Keenan discusses the New Testament's teaching on virtue ethics, particularly humility and love, and how these can be practiced in multifaith contexts. Keenan is Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Canisius Professor, Director of The Jesuit Institute at Boston College. He is the author of several books, including one related to this conversation, Jesus and Virtue Ethics: Building Bridges Between New Testament Studies and Moral Theology, which he co-authored with Daniel Harrington.

James Keenan: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/mcas/departments/theology/people/faculty-directory/james-keenan-sj.html

Jesus and Virtue Ethics: https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Virtue-Ethics-Building-Testament/dp/0742549941/

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#moraltheology #virtueethics #NewTestamentStudies #JamesKeenan #multifaith

Stephen Bullivant on Nonverts and the Making of Ex-Christian America

Sat, 18 Feb 2023 16:59:32 -0700

One of world's leading experts on contemporary atheism and nonreligiosity, sociologist and theologian Stephen Bullivant draws on dozens of interviews, original analysis of high-quality survey data, and a wealth of cutting-edge studies, to present an entertaining and insightful exploration of America's ex-religious landscape. Bullivant holds professorial positions at St. Mary’s University, London, and the University of Notre Dame, Sydney. He has doctorates in theology and sociology. His studies of contemporary nonreligiosity have received wide international coverage, including from the BBC, New York Times, Economist, Financial Times and Der Speigel. In this episode we are discussing his book Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (OUP, 2022).

Stephen Bullivant: https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/staff-directory/stephen-bullivant

Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America: https://www.amazon.com/Nonverts-Ex-Christian-America-Stephen-Bullivant/dp/0197587445/

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#Nones #Nonverts #StephenBullivant #atheism

Andrew Perriman and narrative-historical approaches to the gospel, salvation, hell and multifaith

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 10:49:18 -0700

What fresh possibilities open up with a narrative-historical approach to the Bible? Andrew Perriman discusses this in light of the gospel, salvation, hell, and then connecting dots to multifaith encounters. Perriman lives in London, UK. He is the author of several books, including Re: Mission: A Vision of Hope for a Post-Eschatological Church; The Future of the People of God: Reading Romans Before and After Western Christendom; End of Story: Same-Sex Relationships and the Narratives of Evangelical Mission; and his latest volume In the Form of a God: The Pre-existence of the Exalted Christ in Paul. He also published a collection of blog posts on hell and heaven called Hell and Heaven in Narrative Perspective.

Andrew Perriman's blog P.OST: https://www.postost.net/2008/10/about-me

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#AndrewPerriman #narrativehistorical #gospel #soteriology #hell #multifaith

Mohammed Dajani on rhe Israeli Palestinian Conflict

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 09:38:43 -0700

Mohammed Dajani addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dajani is a Jerusalem-born scholar and peace activist who holds two doctorate degrees. He is Founder of the Wasatia Islamic moderate movement in Palestine which he created in 2007 to promote moderation and reconciliation, peace, tolerance, and justice. He is Founder and Director of Wasatia Graduate Academic Institute.

Wasatia: http://www.wasatiamovement.com/

Our prior podcasts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

Daniel Bar-Tal on the psychology of the conflict: https://youtu.be/wXf3itk4fSo

Munther Isaac and a Palestinian Christian perspective: https://youtu.be/RGxM2yegaHk

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#MohammedDajani #WasatiaMovement #IsraeliPalestinianConflict

June Everett on After School Satan Clubs and a Response to Good News Clubs

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 13:24:38 -0700

June Everett is Campaign Director for the After School Club, and an ordained minister of The Satanic Temple. In this conversation she shares her personal journey, discusses the After School Satan Clubs, and responds to our prior podcast with Lydia Kaiser of Child Evangelism Fellowship and their Good News Clubs.

After School Satan Club: https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/after-school-satan

Lydia Kaiser of Child Evangelism Fellowship on the Good News Club: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-jh7nd-13725eb

Lucien Greaves on the After School Satan Club: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-zj835-11b1fe6

Stephen Bradford Long on The Satanic Temple: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-cv29w-fa8d1c

For a good academic discussion of TST see Joseph Laycock's "Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion" (Oxford University Press, 2020). https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Devil-Satanic-Changing-Religion/dp/0190948493

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#AfterSchoolSatan #TheSatanicTemple #Satanism #ChildEvangelismFellowship

Lydia Kaiser on the Good News Clubs and the Response of After School Satan Clubs

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 11:24:57 -0700

Lydia Kaiser, Corporate Communications Specialist for Child Evangelism Fellowship talks about the Good News Clubs in schools, and also responds to the controversy raised by the response of The Satanic Temple to the Clubs and their efforts at putting After School Satan Clubs in schools where the Clubs are present.

Good News Club at Child Evangelism Fellowship: https://www.cefonline.com/ministries/goodnewsclub/

Podcast with Lucien Greaves on After School Satan Clubs: https://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/lucien-greaves-of-the-satanic-temple-on-after-school-satan-clubs/

For a further exploration of these topics:

Stephen Bradford Long on The Satanic Temple: https://youtu.be/bg7TalPZ_Rs

For a good academic discussion of TST see Joseph Laycock's Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2020) https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Devil-Satanic-Changing-Religion/dp/0190948493

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#GoodNewsClub #ChildEvangelismFellowship #AfterSchoolSatanClub

Darren Duerksen and Christ-Followers in Other Religions

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:32:01 -0700

In recent decades many people have begun following Christ while remaining a part of their non-Christian religious communities. These "insider" Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, and other followers of Christ have generated much interest and controversy, particularly in Western mission agencies and churches. Darren Duerksen is our guest who discusses this topic as part of his new book "Christ-Followers in Other Religions: The Global Witness of Insider Movements." Along the way he defines things like "insider movements" and "contextualization," and "alternative missiological imaginaries," addresses questions about the definitions of "religion" and "culture," and comments on the realities of hybrid religiosity and syncretism.

Darren Duerkesen is Associate Professor of Intercultual and Religious Studies at Fresno Pacific University.
https://www.fresno.edu/person/001g000000g1rxbiau/darren-duerksen

Christ-Followers in Other Religions: The Global Witness of Insider Movements
https://www.amazon.com/Christ-Followers-Other-Religions-Witness-Movements/dp/1914454642/

Beyond Contextualization: Rethinking Religious and Cultural Boundaries
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-contextualization-rethinking-religious-and-cultural-boundaries-tickets-409911134237

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#missiology #interculturalstudies #missiology

Andrew Chesnut and Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 12:08:21 -0700

Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, is the heart of the fastest growing new religious movement in the Americas and the West. Andrew Chesnut is our guest who shares his research on the topic. Chesnut is Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (Oxford University Press, 2012), the first academic study of this topic in in English.

R. Andrew Chesnut: https://vcu.academia.edu/AndrewChesnut

Additional resources on Santa Muerte: https://skeletonsaint.com/

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Family Federation for World Peace and Unification

Sat, 22 Oct 2022 15:32:11 -0600

Massimo Introvigne discusses the Korean cultural context of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, as well as various developments within the church, its mention in the news in connection with the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Japan, as well as questions related to deprogramming and brainwashing.

Introvigne is an Italian sociologist, the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), in Torino, Italy, and the author of some 70 books in the fields of new religious movements and pluralism.

“The Unification Church: Studies in Contemporary Religion” by Massimo Introvigne https://www.amazon.com/Unification-Church-Contemporary-Religion-Religions/dp/1560851457/

“’Brainwashing:’” Career of a Myth in the United States and Europe” by Massimo Introvigne https://www.cesnur.org/conferences/BrainWash.htm

“The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?” by Eileen Barker https://www.amazon.com/Making-Moonie-Choice-Brainwashing/dp/0631132465

CESNUR: https://www.cesnur.org/
Bitter Winter: https://bitterwinter.org/

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#MassimoIntrovigne #UnificationChurch #FamilyFederationWorldPeaceUnification #brainwashing #deprogramming

Monotheism and Multifaith Engagement

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 15:55:24 -0600

Christians recognize and emphasize monotheism in the Bible, but on closer look at appears to have developed over time. This is important not only for a more careful understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith, but also as we develop arguments and critiques of other religions on their view of God such as the Latter-day Saints. In this episode we discuss the development of monotheism with Kenneth Seeskin, a Jewish scholar.

Seeskin is the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor Emeritus of Jewish Civilization. After receiving his PhD from Yale in 1972, he joined the faculty of Northwestern and has remained there ever since. He served for nearly 20 years as Chair of the Philosophy Department and with the start of the 2010-11 academic year, served as Chair of Religious Studies. He has won several teaching awards since coming to Northwestern and served as the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence from 1995-1998.

Seeskin is best known for his interpretation and defense of the rationalist tradition in Jewish Philosophy, including such figures as Maimonides, Spinoza, and Cohen. His most recent books include the Cambridge Companion to Maimonides (CUP, 2005), Maimonides on the Origin of the World (CUP, 2005), Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy (CUP, 2001), and Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides (OUP, 2000). The latter was awarded the Koret Jewish Book Award in 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture, co-edited with Judith Baskin, is scheduled to appear in 2010.

His published articles dealing with religious themes are wide-ranging including studies on the Book of Job, the meaning of the Holocaust, negative theology, the concept of holiness, and recent studies on the role of reason in Jewish philosophy, the role of miracles in Jewish philosophy, and the Greek background to Jewish Philosophy. He is currently working on a book on messianism that will take up issues pertaining to evil, rationality, and the philosophy of history.

Kenneth Seeskin: https://religious-studies.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/emeritus-faculty/kenneth-seeskin.html

Related journal article by Dr. Seeskin: "When Did the Bible Become Monotheistic?" at TheTorah.com: https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-did-the-bible-become-monotheistic

For a discussion that connects the dots between a careful discussion of monotheism in relation to Mormonism see the chapter by Carl Mosser, "Classifying Mormon Theism:" https://www.academia.edu/219780/_Classifying_Mormon_Theism_

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#HebrewBible #monotheism #Mormonism #apologetics

Public Theology with Ted Peters

Sun, 25 Sep 2022 11:00:32 -0600

Public theology seeks to articulate a theology beyond church and academy for the broader public and the common good. Ted Peters helps us understand how this can be done in light of the credibility challenges the church faces in America and the West. Dr. Peters teaches systematic theology and ethics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He is the author of God-The World's Future: Systematic Theology for New Era, and God in Cosmic History: Where Science and History Meet Religion. He is co-author of Evolution from Creation to New Creation. Along with colleagues he has edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Life, as well as Astrobiology: Science, Ethics and Public Policy.

Ted Peters: https://www.gtu.edu/faculty/ted-f-peters

Journal article: "Public Theology: Its Pastoral, Apologetic, Scientific, Political, and Prophetic Tasks": https://brill.com/view/journals/ijpt/12/2/article-p153_2.xml

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Zoe Alderton and the fiction-based religion Snapewives

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 11:10:19 -0600

Popular culture and the internet help resource various fiction-based religions. In this episode Zoe Alderton discusses one such religion known as Snapewives or Snapeism, a new religion taking inspiration from the literary work of J.K. Rowling and the book and film franchise of Harry Potter and a character within it, Professor Severus Snape.

Zoe Alderton is a trans-disciplinary researcher specializing in academic communications and the promotion of scholarly excellence. She is the creator of Way of the Scholar. She has been employed by a wide range of universities and has helped them in their development of exciting curricula and innovative course design. These include the University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, Australian Catholic University, and the University of New England.

Zoe Alderton: https://wayofthescholar.com/about-dr-zoe

Alderton's journal article on Snapewives: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/5/1/219

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#inventedreligion #HarryPotter #Snapewives #ZoeAlderton

The Bahá’í Faith

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 15:58:27 -0600

The Bahá’í Faith teaches that throughout history, God has sent to humanity a series of divine Educators—known as Manifestations of God—whose teachings have provided the basis for the advancement of civilization. These Manifestations have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muḥammad. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God. Bahá’í’s believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Mahrooz Maddela and Barbara Lachmar help us understand the Bahá’í Faith. Maddela was born in Iran to a Bahá’í family and moved to the US when she was twelve. She is a member of the Bahá’í community in Salt Lake County, Utah. Lachmar is a former Roman Catholic who became a Bahá’í when she was twenty in Omaha Nebraska. She lives in Cache County, Utah.

The Bahái Faith official website: https://www.bahai.org/
Baháis of the United States: https://www.bahai.us/

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#BahaiFaith #Bahai #Baha’u’llah

Anuttama Dasa and the International Society of Krishna Consciousness

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 11:00:20 -0600

In the 1960s and 1970s the Hare Krishnas were known for wearing saffron robes, chanting in the streets, and raising money at airports. Many people feared them and considered them a cult. A lot has changed in the over fifty years since the founding of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Anuttama Dasa discusses ISKCON's origins, history, beliefs and practices, lived culture and more. Anuttama Dasa is the Minister of Communications for ISKCON. He has been a member of ISKCON since 1975. He has served as a member of the Governing Body since 1999. Originally from Michigan, he studied political science at Michigan State University and University of Michigan before leaving his studies to pursue a religious and spiritual quest. He lives in Rockville, Maryland.

ISKCON website: https://www.iskcon.org/

The Hare Krishnas: Celebrating 50 Years magazine - https://www.iskconcommunications.org/resources/iskcon-50th-anniversary-magazine/file

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#ISKCON #HareKrishna #AnuttamaDasa

Episode 4: Peter C. Hill and the context of theistic humility

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 11:52:50 -0600

Evangelicals and Humility in Multifaith Engagement

American Evangelicals are not known for embracing intellectual humility, but there are notable and promising examples. This podcast series explores the topic through the story of how Evangelical Christians and Zen Buddhists in Portland have been able to engage in an intellectually humble exchange of perspectives without compromising their core convictions. The series also includes analysis and commentary from scholars who specialize in the psychology of intellectual humility. As this is time of extreme national polarization on many fronts, this series is especially relevant as it demonstrates that strong religious convictions are not necessarily incompatible with intellectual humility and do not always lead to antagonism between groups. Our hope is that this series is inspiring, and that it demonstrates the need for additional research exploring how those with strong religious convictions develop humility while doing so across worldview-threatening differences.

Episode 4: Peter C. Hill and the context of theistic humility

Peter Hill is a social psychologist at the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University. His unique contribution to humility research is in exploring considerations related to theistic intellectual humility. He discusses how existing concepts related to intellectual humility have not taken account of the way this is experienced and expressed by theists, the importance of emotions, and how strong religious convictions and exclusivism are not necessarily incompatible with theistic intellectual humility.
Video: https://youtu.be/9mTci8CYmek
Audio: http://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/episode-4-peter-c-hill-and-the-context-of-theistic-humility/
Exploring further: https://researchoutreach.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Peter-C.-Hill.pdf

Episode 1: Wes Markofski and the “other evangelicals”

Wes Markofski is a sociologist at Carleton College, and author of Multiculural Evangelicalism and Ethical Democracy in America (forthcoming). He discusses his research on “reflexive evangelicals.” Despite popular images of white American Evangelicals as the embodied antithesis of intellectual humility, responsiveness to facts, and openness to the other, Markofski discovered that Evangelicals can and do practice intellectual humility in public life while simultaneously holding fast to particularistic religious convictions.

Video: https://youtu.be/ULbFxYiC3qw
Audio: http://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/episode-1-wes-markofski-and-the-other-evangelicals/
Exploring further: https://tif.ssrc.org/2018/01/11/the-other-evangelicals/

Episode 2: Evangelicals and Zen Buddhists reflect on 20 years of dialogue

Members of the Evangelical group New Wine, New Wineskins, and Buddhists from Dharma Rain Zen Center reflect on their twenty years of dialogue and relationships. Two leaders from these religious communities, Paul Louis Metzger and Kyogen Carlson, got together in Portland to discuss religious and political divisions after the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush. The talks then expanded to involve other members of these religious communities through common meals.
Video: https://youtu.be/FEBib0emq5k
Audio: https://youtu.be/FEBib0emq5k

Exploring further: https://tricycle.org/magazine/beloved-community/

Episode 3: Daryl Van Tongeren and the psychology of humility

Daryl Van Tongeren is a psychologist at Hope College and a leading researcher on the science of humility. He is the author of Humble: Free Yourself from the Traps of a Narcissistic World. He defines “intellectual humility,” and discusses the psychological challenges we face in exercising humility, particularly in the context of cultural worldviews where religion is a part of our identity. He also shares his thoughts on how we might develop more empathy and bridge divides.

Video: https://youtu.be/tzY-pm8LYkY
Audio: http://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/episode-3-daryl-van-tongeren-and-the-psychology-of-humility/
Exploring further: https://www.workman.com/products/humble/hardback

Podcast series produced by the Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy/Multifaith Matters.

We appreciate the contributions of Wes Markofski, Daryl Van Tongeren, Peter C. Hill, the Dharma Rain Zen Center, and New Wine, New Wineskins.

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

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#humility #intellectualhumility #multifaith #interfaith #dialogue

Episode 3: Daryl Van Tongeren and the psychology of humility

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 11:52:13 -0600

Evangelicals and Humility in Multifaith Engagement

Episode 3: Daryl Van Tongeren and the psychology of humility

Episode 1: Wes Markofski and the “other evangelicals”

Episode 2: Evangelicals and Zen Buddhists reflect on 20 years of dialogue

Exploring further: https://tricycle.org/magazine/beloved-community/

Episode 4: Peter C. Hill and the context of theistic humility

Podcast series produced by the Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy/Multifaith Matters.

We appreciate the contributions of Wes Markofski, Daryl Van Tongeren, Peter C. Hill, the Dharma Rain Zen Center, and New Wine, New Wineskins.

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

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#humility #intellectualhumility #multifaith #interfaith #dialogue

Episode 2: Evangelicals and Zen Buddhists reflect on 20 years of dialogue

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 11:51:30 -0600

Evangelicals and Humility in Multifaith Engagement

Episode 2: Evangelicals and Zen Buddhists reflect on 20 years of dialogue

Exploring further: https://tricycle.org/magazine/beloved-community/

Episode 1: Wes Markofski and the “other evangelicals”

Episode 3: Daryl Van Tongeren and the psychology of humility

Episode 4: Peter C. Hill and the context of theistic humility

Podcast series produced by the Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy/Multifaith Matters.

We appreciate the contributions of Wes Markofski, Daryl Van Tongeren, Peter C. Hill, the Dharma Rain Zen Center, and New Wine, New Wineskins.

Podcast with Kyogen Carlson and Paul Louis Metzger: http://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/conversation-with-paul-louis-metzger-of-multnomah-university-and-kyogen-carlson-of-the-dharma-rain-zen-center/

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#humility #intellectualhumility #multifaith #interfaith #dialogue

Episode 1: Wes Markofski and the “other evangelicals”

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 11:50:53 -0600

Evangelicals and Humility in Multifaith Engagement

Episode 1: Wes Markofski and the “other evangelicals”

Video: https://youtu.be/ULbFxYiC3qw
Audio: http://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/episode-1-wes-markofski-and-the-other-evangelicals/

Exploring further: https://tif.ssrc.org/2018/01/11/the-other-evangelicals/

Episode 2: Evangelicals and Zen Buddhists reflect on 20 years of dialogue

Exploring further: https://tricycle.org/magazine/beloved-community/

Episode 3: Daryl Van Tongeren and the psychology of humility

Episode 4: Peter C. Hill and the context of theistic humility

Podcast series produced by the Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy/Multifaith Matters.

We appreciate the contributions of Wes Markofski, Daryl Van Tongeren, Peter C. Hill, the Dharma Rain Zen Center, and New Wine, New Wineskins.

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

Support this work
One-time donation: https://multifaithmatters.org/donate
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#humility #intellectualhumility #multifaith #interfaith #dialogue

Religion and Hiroshima: Beyond the Mushroom Cloud

Sun, 04 Sep 2022 11:30:34 -0600

How should the horror of the atom bomb be remembered? In what ways might we remember so that the terrible experience of its use might be transformed into hope for a universal community of peace? In a fascinating case study, Yuki Miyamoto compares how Buddhist and Catholic survivors of the 1945 bombings make sense of their experiences through an ethic of "not retaliation, but reconciliation." This study is not only of great historical interest, but also provides help for us as we reflect on the continued threat of nuclear catastrophe.

Yuki Miyamoto is Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University and is an ethicist whose work centers on nuclear discourse and environmental ethics through the framework of comparative ethics. She is the author of various books, including Beyond the Mushroom Cloud: Commemoration, Religion, and Responsibility After Hiroshima.

Yuki Miyamoto: https://las.depaul.edu/academics/religious-studies/faculty/Pages/yuki-miyamoto.aspx

Beyond the Mushroom Cloud: Commemoration, Religion, and Responsibility After Hiroshima: https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Mushroom-Cloud-Commemoration-Responsibility/dp/0823240517

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#Hiroshima #Nagasaki #nuclearweapons #YukiMiyamto #Catholics #Buddhists

Summum

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 16:20:43 -0600

A conversation with three leaders of Summum (a Latin term meaning “the sum total of creation”), a religious group in Salt Lake City, including Su Menu, president of Summum, Bernie Aua, vice president, and Ron Temu, counselor who oversees their mummification practices. Summum began in the fall of 1975 when founder Claude “Corky” Rex Nowell began to have a series of encounters with highly intelligent beings who work the pathways of spiritual evolution. During these encounters he received instructions concerning the underlying principles (Laws of Nature) which establish and maintain the universe. In this podcast we learn how they came to embrace Summum, its Seven Aphorisms or principles, practices like meditation, their book SUMMUM: Sealed Except to the Open Mind, and the significance of its pyramid structure and the process of mummification.

Summum websites:
https://www.summum.us/
http://www.summum.org/
http://www.summum.tv/
http://www.kphi.org/

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#Summum

Massimo Introvigne on The Church of Almighty God

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 16:47:41 -0600

In this conversation, Massimo Introvigne shares the story of The Church of Almighty God, a group in China that has seen rapid growth, dramatic persecution, and the struggle of believers to see asylum in countries around the world. Among the items discussed, Introvigne reconstructs the Church's idiosyncratic theology, centered in the belief that Jesus Christ has returned in our time in the shape of a Chinese woman, worshipped as Almighty God, to eradicate the sinful human nature and that we have entered the third and final time period in the history of humanity: the Age of the Kingdom.

Massimo Introvigne is an Italian sociologist, the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), in Torino, Italy, and the author of some 70 books in the fields of new religious movements and pluralism.

Inside the Church of Almighty God: The Most Persecuted Religious Movement in China by Massimo Introvigne: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Church-Almighty-God-Persecuted/dp/0190089091/

CESNUR: https://www.cesnur.org/

Bitter Winter: https://bitterwinter.org/

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#MassimoIntrovigne #ChurchofAlmightyGod #ChineseReligion

George Chryssides Introduces Jehovah’s Witnesses

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:22:22 -0600

The Jehovah's Witnesses have been the focus of much evangelical apologetic and secular media critique. In this podcast, new religions scholar George Chryssides presents an overview of the Watch Tower organization's origins, their lived religion, key beliefs and practices, and controversial aspects like disfellowshipping, blood transfusions, and sexual abuse allegations. Chryssides is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at York St. John University, UK. His books include The Bloomsbury Handbook to Studying Christians, Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses second edition, Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change, and The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements.

In this podcast we discuss some of the material from Jehovah's Witnesses: A New Introduction - https://www.amazon.com/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Introduction-George-Chryssides/dp/1350190896/

George D. Chryssides: https://yorksj.academia.edu/GeorgeChryssides

Jehovah's Witnesses website: https://www.jw.org/en/

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#JehovahsWitnesses #GeorgeChryssides #newreligions

Divine and Demonic COVID-19 Vaccine Explanations

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 11:11:55 -0600

A discussion of research around demonic and divine attributions surrounding COVID-19 vaccines. Julie Exline discusses a research paper of she and her colleagues which showed that demonic vaccine attributions were linked with more anti-vaccination attitudes, and were also linked with conspiracy beliefs, QAnon, and apocalypticism. Exline is professor of psychology and spirituality at the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Reserve University. A special emphasis of her research includes religious and spiritual struggles, and the causes and consequences of supernatural explanations for events.

Julie Exline: https://psychsciences.case.edu/faculty/julie-exline/

Journal article: "Demonic and Divine Attributions around COVID-19 Vaccines: Links with Vaccine Attitudes and Behaviors, QAnon and Conspiracy Beliefs, Anger, Spiritual Struggles, Religious Beliefs and Political Variables, and Supernatural and Apocalyptic Beliefs"
Religions 13 (2022) https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/6/519

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#COVID19 #demonic #divine #conspiracy #QAnon

Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) as Lived Religion

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 10:58:30 -0600

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose members were formerly known as Mormons have been the focus of evangelical critique for many years by way of a doctrinal contrast and a heresy apologetic template. But what might we learn about the LDS by other pathways? In this conversation Charles Randall Paul, founder and president of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, shares aspects of the faith of the LDS as lived religion such as the importance of ritual, ethics, and sacred mythic narrative.

Charles Randall Paul: http://religious-diplomacy.org/board-of-directors/

Converting the Saints: A Study of Religious Rivalry by Charles Randall Paul: https://www.amazon.com/Converting-Saints-Religious-Rivalry-America-ebook/dp/B07F458LZM/

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints official website: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/about-us?lang=eng

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#Mormonism #LatterdaySaints

Threat rejection, COVID-19 and dehumanization

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 10:15:22 -0600

The COVID-19 pandemic brought lots of surprises, including the political and religious conflicts connected to it. In this podcast we explore one facet of this as Emily Kubin and Frank J. Kachanoff discuss their research published in the paper "Threat Rejection Fuels Political Dehumanization" published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Part of their abstract for the paper reads, "Americans disagree about many things, including what threats are most pressing. We suggest people morally condemn and dehumanize opponents when they are perceived as rejecting the existence or severity of important perceived threats." Although not a part of their research project, this dynamic may play a part in conservative Christian reactions to those who take a different stance on COVID-19 vaccines.

"Threat Rejection Fuels Dehumanization": https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/19485506211068922

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#socialpsychology #dehumanization #COVID

Andrew DeCort on Christian Nationalism in Ethiopia

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 17:27:17 -0600

Andrew DeCort is a lecturer on religious and political ethics and Ethiopian studies. He's the author of Bonhoeffer's New Beginning: Ethics After Devastation, he founded the Institute for Faith and Flourishing, and co-directs the Neighbor-Love Movement. His forthcoming book is titled Why Pray?: Seven Practices of Flourishing on the Edge of Faith. In this podcast we discuss his article "Christian Nationalism Is Tearing Ethiopia Apart," published at Foreign Policy, and his book Why Pray?.

Andrew DeCort: https://andrew-decort.com/

"Christian Nationalism Is Tearing Ethiopia Apart": https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/18/ethiopia-pentecostal-evangelical-abiy-ahmed-christian-nationalism/

Neighbor-Love Movement: https://balinjeraye.org/en/

Bonhoeffer's New Beginning: https://www.amazon.com/Bonhoeffers-New-Beginning-Ethics-Devastation-ebook/dp/B07GBJND67/

Why Pray?: https://bittersweetmonthly.com/books/why-pray

#Ethiopia #AndrewDeCort #dehumanization #ChristianNationalism

From Bubble to Bridge: Educating Christians for a Multifaith World

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:14:47 -0600

The great book From Bubble to Bridge: Educating Christians for a Multifaith World by Marion H. Larson and Sara L. H. Shady (IVP Academic, 2017) is the focus of a conversation between Charles Randall Paul, founder and president of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, and John W. Morehead, Director of FRD's Evangelical chapter.

From Bubble to Bridge: https://www.amazon.com/Bubble-Bridge-Educating-Christians-Multifaith/dp/0830851569/

John Morehead's review of this book from Cultural Encounters journal: https://www.academia.edu/35625175/From_Bubble_to_Bridge_Educating_Christians_for_a_Multifaith_World

Multifaith Matters podcast on harm-based morality with Kurt Gray: https://youtu.be/9mbQ0ul9Jo4

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Kurt Gray on Harm-Based Morality

Sat, 07 May 2022 19:13:52 -0600

Why are we so polarized about gay marriage, immigration, gun rights, abortion, not to mention religious beliefs? Kurt Gray helps shed light on this through his use of interdisciplinary methods to study our deepest beliefs and how to bridge moral divides. Dr. Gray is an Associate Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill, where he directs the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding.

Website: https://www.kurtgray.com

Deepest Beliefs Lab: https://www.deepestbeliefslab.com

Center for the Science of Moral Understanding: https://www.moralunderstanding.com/

Book: The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters https://www.amazon.com/The-Mind-Club-audiobook/dp/B01C4PMEAM/

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#KurtGray #harm-basedmorality #socialpsychology #moraltolerance #moralfoundationstheory

Phil Wyman Discusses His New Book ”Love Big or Go Home”

Sat, 16 Apr 2022 18:38:40 -0600

Phil Wyman is a longtime friend, colleague, and great example for the Christian walk alongside all kinds of people often ignored or marginalized by the church. In this conversation we discuss the background and elements of his journey encapsulated in his new book Love Big or Go Home. Phil also provides an update on his upcoming move to Wales and how folks can play a part.

Phil's website: https://burningreligion.com/

Love Big or Go Home: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Big-Go-Home-inherent/dp/1692552341/

Wild Theology podcast: https://wildtheology.podbean.com/

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#PhilWyman #LoveBigorGoHome #BurningReligion

Ethan Stark discusses Heathenism, interfaith work, and combating extremism

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 19:42:16 -0600

Ethan Stark is a Heathen involved in interfaith work and combating extremism, and is involved with The Troth and Heathens Against Hate. In this podcast we discuss how he came to embrace Heathenism, some of the unique aspects of Heathenism, aspects of his interfaith work, and his thoughts on confronting hate and prejudice.

Learn more about Ethan's work at Hallowed Renewal: https://www.hallowedrenewal.com/

The Troth: https://thetroth.org/

Heathens Against Hate: https://www.heathensagainst.org/

Suggested resources on Heathenry

American Heathens: The Politics of Identity in a Pagan Religious Movement by Jennifer Snook

https://www.amazon.com/American-Heathens-Politics-Identity-Religious/dp/1439910979/

A Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru by Patricia Lafaylive

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/

Asatru for Beginners: A Modern Heathen's Guide to the Ancient Northern Way by Mathias Nordvig

https://www.amazon.com/Ásatrú-Beginners-Heathens-Ancient-Northern/dp/1647397634/

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#Heathenry #Asatru #Paganism #EthanStark #TheTroth #HeathensAgainstHate

Daniel Wise on Ghost Hunting and the Paranormal

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 11:25:26 -0600

Daniel S. Wise is an independent scholar whose research focuses on paranormal belief and other aspects of the evolving contemporary American religious landscape. He has a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia with a dissertation on ghost hunting as a form of late modern enchantment. In this conversation we discuss aspects of Daniel's dissertation, some of his recent writing for Religion Dispatches on the paranormal, and why the study of the paranormal is important in order to understand American religiosity.

Daniel Wise website: https://danielswise.com/
Daniel's author page at Religion Dispatches: https://religiondispatches.org/author/d_wise/

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#ghosthunting #DanielSWise #paranormal

Orthodoxy and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:29:05 -0600

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a great tragedy with many facets. One of the more significant elements is the role of Orthodoxy, Eastern Christianity often unknown by those in Western Christianity like Catholicism and Protestantism. In this episode we discuss Orthodoxy and how it is intertwined with the complexities of the invasion of Ukraine. Our guests are Paul L Gavrilyuk and Cyril Hovorun. Dr. Gavrilyuk holds the Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy at the Theology Department of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he studied physics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology i Russia. He was one of the first scholars from the former Soviet Union to come to the United States to pursue graduate work in theology. In 2001, he received his doctorate in patristics from the Graduate Program in Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Dr. Hovorun is a Professor of Ecclessiology, International Relations and Ecumenism at Saint Ignatios and Professor at Stockholm School of Theology. He is originally from Ukraine, where he first began his studies in theoretical physics before moving to the study of theology at the theological seminary and academy in Kyiv. He continued theological education at the National and Kapodistiran University of Athens and Durham University in the United Kingdom. The topic of his thesis was related to the post-Chalcedonian Christology. Fr. Hovorun taught theology in a number of confessional and public institutions, including theological academies in Kyiv, Moscow, Minsk, and elsewhere.

Please consider making a donation to Rebuild Ukraine: https://rebuild-ua.org/

Paul L. Gavrilyuk: https://paulgavrilyuk.wordpress.com/

Cyril Hovorun: https://www.sanktignatios.org/dr-cyril-hovorun/

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#Ukraine #RussiaUkraine #Orthodoxy #EasternOrthodoxy

Ryan Burge on 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America

Sun, 20 Mar 2022 13:06:26 -0600

The way most people think about religion and politics is only loosely linked to empirical reality argues Ryan Burge in his new book, 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America. He explores the data and challenges common myths frequently circulated in social media. Burge is an assistant professor of political science and graduate coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. He teaches in a variety of areas, including American institutions, political behavior, and research methods. His research focuses largely on the interaction between religion and political behavior, especially in the American context. Burge is author of The Nones, and is a pastor in the American Baptist Church.

Ryan Burge website: http://ryanburge.net/

20 Myths bout Religion and Politics in America: https://www.amazon.com/Myths-about-Religion-Politics-America/dp/1506482015/

The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going: https://www.amazon.com/Nones-Where-They-Came-Going/dp/1506465854/

#RyanBurge #Nones #religion #politics #religionandpolitics

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler on Reading the Bible With and Without Jesus Part 2

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 15:26:09 -0600

In this episode, we take another look at topics in the book The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently, as well as how the Bible has at times been weaponized by Christians against Jews. Our guests are Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler. Levine is with Hartford Seminary as the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies. She is the author of many books, including The Misunderstood Jew, Short Stories by Jesus, as well as The Difficult Words of Jesus, and she is the co-editor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament. Brettler is the Bernice and Morton Lerner Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. He has also taught at Brandeis University, Yale University, Brown University, Wellesley College, and Middlebury College. He is the author of many books, including How to Read the Bible and The Creation of History in Ancient Israel, and is the co-editor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament.

Reading the Bible With and Without Jesus

https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Without-Jesus-Christians-Differently/dp/0062560158/

The Difficult Words of Jesus

https://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Words-Jesus-Beginners-Perplexing/dp/1791007570/

The Creation of History in Ancient Israel

https://www.amazon.com/Creation-History-Ancient-Israel-ebook/dp/B000P2XHQ2/

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#AmyJillLevine #MarcZviBrettler #Judaism #HebrewBible

Kalpana Jain discusses Jainism

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 16:23:11 -0700

In an article at Religion Dispatches, Kalpana Jain argued that Jainism is a religion that even Indians know very little about. In this episode she provides an introduction to this religious tradition. Kalpana Jain is a long-time investigative journalist who worked at The Times of India for many years. She reported on India's ailing public health system and many other social justice issues. Her reports led to the resignation of a minister for health. She studied gender and religion and holds a master's in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School and a master's in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. She has worked as a writer and researcher at Harvard. Her case on modern-day slavery in India, and a woman's fight against it, is part of a Harvard course, and her book on the AIDS epidemic in India, published by Penguin, is part of the curriculum at many Indian universities.

Kalpana Jain's website: https://kalpanajain.com/

Further resources on Jainism

JAINA: Federation of Jain Association in North America:

https://www.jaina.org/page/ResourcesJainism

JAINA Web Resources: https://www.jaina.org/page/WebResources

Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India

https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195132343.001.0001acprof-9780195132342

The Jains

https://www.routledge.com/The-Jains/Dundas/p/book/9780415266062

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#KalpanaJain #Jainism #India

Massimo Introvigne and the Western Esoteric Tradition

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 15:20:28 -0700

Evangelicals and other Christians often express concern and fear over "the occult," and the analysis can be very superficial. In this podcast noted scholar of new religions, Massimo Introvigne, provides an overview of the Western Esoteric tradition. Introvigne is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.

For more on Western Esotericism:

Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed by Wouter Hanegraaff

https://www.amazon.com/Western-Esotericism-Guide-Perplexed-Guides/dp/1441136460/

Access to Western Esotericism by Antoine Faivre

https://www.amazon.com/Access-Western-Esotericism-Esoteric-Traditions/dp/0791421783/

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#MassimoIntrovigne #WesternEsotericism #occult

Lucien Greaves of The Satanic Temple on After School Satan Clubs

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 14:56:03 -0700

The Satanic Temple has gathered a lot of media attention and Christian protest for various activities which provide an opportunity for Christians to reflect on the meaning of religious freedom, including that for religious minorities and those who make them feel uncomfortable. In this podcast I talk to Lucien Greaves, the co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, about their After School Satan Clubs: what they are, how they relate to various Good News Clubs on school campuses, and how this relates to religious freedom and the public square.

For a further exploration of these topics:

Lucien Greaves at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LucienGreaves

The Satanic Temple: https://thesatanictemple.com/

Stephen Bradford Long on The Satanic Temple: https://youtu.be/bg7TalPZ_Rs

John Morehead's appearance on Greaves' podcast: https://www.patreon.com/posts/discussion-with-62697704

For a good academic discussion of TST see Joseph Laycock's "Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion" (Oxford University Press, 2020) https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Devil-Satanic-Changing-Religion/dp/0190948493

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Mark Townsend and the Journey of a ”Heretic” Priest

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 10:55:56 -0700

In this episode we have a conversation with the Reverend Mark Townsend to learn about his spiritual journey, and our differing understandings and approaches to understanding the meaning of Jesus, the Cosmic Christ, and multifaith engagement. A former clergyman in the Church of England, Mark now leads his own inclusive and ecumenical ministry that nourishes a strong appreciation for the diversity of faith beyond Christianity, ,and which strives to honor the divine in all peoples, regardless of their faith, culture, sexuality or background. He is a member of the Association of Independent Celebrants, in addition to being a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Mark has been featured on the BBC and several other news programs throughout Britain. He is the author of several books, including The Gospel of Falling Down, Diary of a Heretic, The Path of the Blue Raven, and Jesus Through Pagan Eyes.

In this podcast we also discuss my edited book Beyond the Burning Times: A Christian and Pagan in Dialogue.

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The Significance of Liminality, with Phil Wyman

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 13:46:28 -0700

The book Crossing Thresholds explores liminality, the crossing of thresholds, and says that "liminal reality can offer people of faith and especially those in leadership positions a hermeneutical key and a pastoral method." But what is this liminal reality, how can it be both dangerous and a place for positive transformation, how does it relate to the bounded set of church structures, and how can liminality transform the American church? Phil Wyman helps us explore these questions. Phil is former pastor of The Gathering in Salem, and he has years of experience in liminality with Witches, Pagans, festival-goers and others.

Randal Rauser on Jesus Loves Canaanites

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 11:57:03 -0700

Christians have been quick to raise concerns about violence in the Qur'an in the Muslim context, but often ignore or gloss over violence in the biblical text. One of the greatest examples of violence in the Bible is the divine command for the wholesale destruction of the Canaanites. In this episode of the podcast our guest is Randal Rauser, who discusses his book Jesus Loves Canaanites: Biblical Genocide in the Light of Moral Intuition. Rauser is Professor of Historical Theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton Alberta.

Also mentioned in this podcast and related to the subject matter:
"The Zeal of Phinehas: The Bible and the Legitimation of Violence" by John J. Collins, Journal of Biblical Literature 122/1 (2003): 3-21.

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Andrew Perriman and Michael Cooper Conversation on Narrative-History and Missiology

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 22:58:58 -0600

How should the church engage the challenges of our present moment in the West? What is the place of narrative, history, and missiology? This episode explores these question as Andrew Perriman and Michael Cooper discuss the frameworks of narrative-historical and missiological perspectives.

Dr. Andrew Perriman presents his work at the P.OST website. He has lived in various parts of the world over the last 30 years: the Far East, Africa, the Middle East, the Netherlands, and now London. He has combined theological studies and writing with pastoral and missional work in a wide range of contexts. He has a degree in English Language and Literature from Oxford and an MPhil and PhD from the London School of Theology, of which I am an Associate Research Fellow. His overriding theological interest at the moment is in how we retell the biblical story as we negotiate the difficult transition from the center to the margins of our culture following the collapse of Western Christendom.

In addition to some articles in academic journals, he has written Speaking of Women: Interpreting Paul (IVP, 1998); Faith, Health and Prosperity: A Report on “Word of Faith” and “Positive Confession” Theologies (Paternoster, 2003); The Coming of the Son of Man: New Testament Eschatology for an Emerging Church (Paternoster, 2005; reprinted by Wipf & Stock); Re: Mission: A Vision of Hope for a Post-Eschatological Church (Paternoster, 2008); The Future of the People of God: Reading Romans Before and After Western Christendom (Wipf & Stock, 2010); and End of Story: Same-Sex Relationships and the Narratives of Evangelical Mission (Wipf & Stock, 2019). He also published a collection of blog posts on hell and heaven called Hell and Heaven in Narrative Perspective (2012).

Dr. Michael Cooper works with Ephesiology, a missions agency, training national leaders in evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, and church planting. He is the former president and CEO of an international NGO. In 2010, he founded a Business as Mission initiative that focused on helping alleviate spiritual and economic poverty in the developing world. For a decade he equipped undergraduate and graduate students at Trinity International University with skills to engage culture. He has thirty years of ministry and missions experience, ten years as a pioneer church planter in Romania after the fall of communism. He holds a MA in Missions from Columbia International University and a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Throughout his career, Michael has focused on creative ways to engage difficult-to-reach people with the gospel.

Michael has contributed numerous academic articles in Nova Religio, Pomegranate, Journal of Nature, Religion and Culture, Sacred Tribes Journal, Common Ground Journal, Missiology, Evangelical Missions Quarterly and he has presented academic papers at the University of Utah, London School of Economics, University of Bordeaux, University of Craiova and others. Michael is the author of Ephesiology: The Study of the Ephesian Movement (William Carey Publishers, 2020), Unwrapping the First Christmas (Ephesiology Press, 2019), Contemporary Druidry: A Historical and Ethnographic Study (Sacred Tribes Press, 2010) and co-editor of Social Injustice (The Timothy Center Press, 2011) and The Peaceable Christian (The Timothy Center Press, 2011) and Perspectives on Post-Christendom Spiritualities (Morling Press, 2010).

P.OST: https://www.postost.net/
Ephesiology: https://ephesiology.com/

Re: Mission: Biblical Mission for a Post-Biblical Church (Faith in an Emerging Culture) by Andrew Perriman
https://www.amazon.com/Re-Mission-Biblical-Post-Biblical-Emerging/dp/1842275453/

Ephesiology: A Study of the Christian Movement by Michael T. Cooper
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0857GN1L3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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#MichaelTCooper #AndrewPerriman #missiology #theology #narrative-historical

Joshua Packard and the Spirituality of Generation Z

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 11:06:45 -0600

Dr. Joshua Packard, Executive Director of Springtide Research Institute, is our guest. We begin with a little discussion of The Dones, those done with church but not their faith. Then we turn our attention to discussion of Generation Z and their spiritual quest. How is it different from previous generations? What cultural and social forces are at work? What is the "unbundled spirituality" they pursue? How can youth ministers, pastors, and churches be better prepared to understand and relate to Generation Z?

Springtide Research: @WeAreSpringtide

The State of Religion and Young People 2021: Navigating Uncertainty

Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#JoshuaPackard #GenerationZ #TheDones #unbundledspirituality

David Livingstone Smith on Monster Making and Dehumanization

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 11:28:22 -0600

David Livingstone Smith returns for a further conversation on dehumanization in light of his new book Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization. How do some people come to believe that their enemies are monsters, and therefore easy to kill? In this podcast David defines dehumanization, shares historical examples, how theology and ideology can literally demonize "the other," and we discuss the importance of monster theory in understanding dehumanization as a process that leads to genocide, lynchings, and other violence. David is professor of philosophy at the University of New England.

A Conversation with a Pagan and Satanist on Christian Responses to Halloween

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 09:45:00 -0600

We can count on it every October. Not only will trick or treaters be at our door, many Christians will share their concerns about the alleged evils of Halloween, and with it, sometimes literally demonize Pagans and Satanists. David Dashifen Kees, a Pagan, and Stephen Bradford Long, a Satanist, share their thoughts on Christian responses to Halloween. Along the way we reflect on things associated with the holiday, and spirituality, including the importance of liminality, boundary maintenance, and living in the shadow of death.

For those who want to explore this topic in more depth from an alternative perspective see these resources.

The Reformation of Halloween: Rethinking Christianity's Response to Halloween by Phil Wyman

Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life by Jack Santino

"Samhain Past: History, Myth, and Mystery" from the Patheos Pagan channel

Suhag Shukla on Hindutva and Hinduphobia

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 22:56:51 -0600

A recent academic conference sparked controversy as it seemingly presented Hinduphobia rather than addressing Hindutva as its stated aim. In this episode Suhag Shukla helps us sort this out. Shukla is Executive Director and co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation. She holds a BA in Religion and JD from the University of Florida. Ms. Shukla has helped steer the Foundation to being recognized as a leading role for civil rights, human rights, and religious freedom. In the podcast we reference this essay by Shukla for more on the topic. You can also follow some of her work here and Twitter @SuhagAShukla.

Lilith Starr on her book ”Compassionate Satanism”

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 17:53:11 -0600

In this episode we speak with award-winning author Lilith Starr about modern nontheistic Satanism and personal Satanic practice. Her first book, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment, is part of The Satanic Temple's Recommended Reading list and has been featured by Satanic book clubs around the globe. Her second book, and the focus of this conversation, is Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice, the first comprehensive guide to modern Satanism by a Satanic insider. In 2020, she was awarded The Satanic Temple's first Anatole France Literary Excellence Award. Starr holds a B.A. with honors in English from Harvard University and an M.A. in Journalism and Communications from Stanford University.

Tom Pyszczynski and the Psychology of 9/11

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 10:14:30 -0600

This month is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The nation continues to wrestle with the traumatic effects these many years later. In this podcast we unpack the psychology with Tom Pyszczynski, co-author with Sheldon Solomon and Jeff Greenberg of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror. In this book the authors analyze reactions to the attacks through the lens of terror management theory, an existential psychological model that explains why humans react the way they do to the threat of death and how this reaction influences their post-threat cognition and emotion. This is also manifest in evangelicals in the shift in their post-9/11 perspectives on Muslims, as well as in their reactions to those perceived as promoting syncretism, such as Rev. David Benke, and Larycia Hawkins.

Joseph Laycock on vampires, gaming and social panics, spirit possession and exorcism, and more

Sun, 22 Aug 2021 13:33:33 -0600

In this episode we explore an overview of the work of Joseph Laycock. Laycock is an assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University. He has written several books on new religious movements and American religious history. He is also a co-editor for the journal Nova Religio.

Books we discuss in this podcast include Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampires, Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds, Spirit Possession Around the World: Possession, Communion, and Demon Expulsion Across Cultures, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion, The Penguin Book of Exorcisms, and Religion, Culture, and the Monstrous: Of Gods and Monsters. We also briefly talk about the paranormal and a special edition on this in Nova Religio.

Catherine Wessinger on "cults" and Euro-American Nativist Millennial Movements

Sat, 14 Aug 2021 17:01:42 -0600

After Trump, QAnon, and the January 6 insurrection at the nation's capitol, a lot of analysis and commentary has ensued on how to understand them. Some have suggested they are cults and the followers brainwashed. In an article at Religion Dispatches, noted scholar of new religions and millennialism, Catherine Wessinger, took exception to such approaches. In this podcast we unpack her essay and discuss problems with the "cult" term and concept, and how to understand the Trump movement, QAnon, and January 6 as manifestations of Euro-American Nativist Millennialism.

Catherine Wessinger is the Rev. H. James Yamauchi, S.J. Professor of the History of Religions at Loyola University New Orleans. She is co-director of the Loyola Himalaya Adventure: Summer Study in Dharamsala, India program. Her primary research and teaching areas are women in religions, new religious movements, and Tibetan and Indian religions. Her articles in journals and chapters in edited books include history of religions and theoretical treatments of women and religion, millennialism, new religious movements, and religion and violence. Since 2000 Dr. Wessinger has served as co-general editor of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions published by University of California Press.

Jared Byas on His Book "Love Matters More"

Sun, 08 Aug 2021 10:22:59 -0600

Many conservative Christians are deconstructing and reconstructing their faith. One of the areas in which this takes place is how to understand the Bible. Jared Byas is our guest who talks about this in relation to his book Love Matters More: How Fighting To Be Right Keeps Us From Loving Like Jesus. Along the way we discuss our respective faith journeys and how our understanding of the Bible has changed through the process Jared Byas is co-host of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People and co-author of the book Genesis for Normal People. As a former teaching pastor and professor of Philosophy & Biblical Studies, he speaks regularly on the Bible, truth, creativity, wisdom, and the Christian faith. He and his wife, Sarah, live outside Philadelphia, PA with their four children, Augustine, Tov, Elletheia, and Exodus. Connect with Jared at jaredbyas.com.

Benjamin Zeller on UFO Religions

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 10:59:23 -0600

As a part of our series in response to the Pentagon report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAPs/UFOs), the noted scholar of new religious movements, Benjamin Zeller, discusses UFO religions. Zeller is associate professor of religion at Lake Forest College. He is the author of a number of books including Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion, and editor of Brill's Handbook of UFO Religions.

Darryl Caterine on the Paranormal and Popular Culture

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 11:14:31 -0600

Belief in the paranormal has remained high among Americans. What is the paranormal, what phenomena are involved, what can be said about the recent Pentagon UFO/UAP report, and why should religion scholars take the paranormal seriously? Darryl Caterine discusses this and more. Caterine is a professor of religious studies at LeMoyne College. He is a historian of religions whose research focuses on the intersections of religion, culture, and politics in the US and parts of Latin America. His areas of academic research include metaphysical/occult religions in America, and religion in popular culture. He is the author and co-editor of several books including an ethnography, Haunted Ground: Journeys Through a Paranormal America, and the volume we co-edited, The Paranormal in Popular Culture: A Postmodern Religious Landscape.

Chenxing Han and the Voices of Asian Buddhists in America

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 10:19:57 -0600

In her book, Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists, Chenxing Han writes that, "more than two thirds of U.S. Buddhists are Asian American. But you’d never guess this from mainstream representations, which all too often whitewash the racial and cultural diversity of American Buddhist communities.

"Be the Refuge is both critique and celebration, countering the erasure of Asian American Buddhists while uplifting their stories and experiences. The Oriental monk, the superstitious immigrant, the banana Buddhist: dissatisfied with these tired tropes, Han asks, Will the real Asian American Buddhists please stand up? Her journey to answer this question led to in-depth interviews with a pan-ethnic, pan-Buddhist group of eighty-nine young adults."

Chenxing Han is a Bay Area-based writer whose publications have appeared in Buddhadharma, Journal of Global Buddhism, Lion's Roar, Pacific World, Tricycle, and elsewhere. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA in Buddhist studies from the Graduate Theological Union. After studying chaplaincy at the Institute of Buddhists Studies in Berkeley, California, she worked in spiritual care at a nearby hospital in Oakland.

David Feltmate on religious satire in adult animation

Sun, 18 Jul 2021 16:18:30 -0600

Programs like The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy include a lot of humor related to religion. But what does it mean? David Feltmate discusses his book Drawn to the Gods where he examines how these animated comedies feature Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Native American religions, Hinduism, new religious movements, and atheism. Feltmate is Associate Professor of Sociology at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Thomas Johnson and C. Holland Taylor Discuss a New Festschrift

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 06:00:00 -0600

This episode brings together Thomas K. Johnson and C. Holland Taylor to discuss the publication of the significant volume they co-edited, God Needs No Defense: Reimagining Muslim-Christian Relations in the 21st Century, a festschrift in honor of Dr. Thomas Schirmacher, Secretary General and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance. This book brings together Christian and Muslim thinkers who articulate a vision for better relations between these religious traditions. Johnson and Taylor co-chair the Humanitarian Islam/WEA Joint Working Group. Johnson is Senior Theological Advisor to the WEA, which represents and connects over 600 million Christians in 140 countries. Additionally, he serves as Special Envoy to engage Humanitarian Islam. Taylor is Chairman and CEO of the LibForAll Foundation, and Emissary for the UN, Americas and Europe for Gerakan Pemuda Ansor, the world's largest Muslim young adults movement, with over 5 million members. Good Needs No Defense is available for purchase on Amazon in Kindle format, and via free digital download at Multifaith Matters.

Ted Peters on Astrotheology and UFOs

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:49:38 -0600

Given the work of the Perseverance Rover on Mars, and the recent release of the Pentagon's report on UFOs or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, speculation about the possibility of the existence of alien life is on our minds. Ted Peters helps shed light on this in this podcast episode. Dr. Peters teaches systematic theology and ethics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He is the author of God-The World's Future: Systematic Theology for New Era, and God in Cosmic History: Where Science and History Meet Religion. He is co-author of Evolution from Creation to New Creation. Along with colleagues he has edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Life, as well as Astrobiology: Science, Ethics and Public Policy.

Robert Skvarla on Jeremiah Films, Conspiracies and Satanic Panics

Sun, 27 Jun 2021 15:09:52 -0600

Jeremiah Films produced a number of films and pseudo-documentaries that included satanic conspiratorial elements. Think of Gods of the New Age and The Pagan Invasion. In an article in Diabolique, Robert Skvarla argued that this didn't stop with the end of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, but instead shifted from religion to politics. Skvarla is a freelance writer from Philadelphia. His focuses include conspiracy culture, fringe communities, and new religious movements. He has written for Atlast Obscura, Philadelhia City Paper, and Cinepunx, and served as a programmer for the Cinedelphia Film Festival.

Rev. Munther Isaac and a Palestinian Christian Perspective

Sat, 19 Jun 2021 17:44:18 -0600

Renewed conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is the background for this episode. Munther Isaac is our guest, and as his book The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope describes, Christians have lived in Palestine since the earliest days of the Jesus movement. Yet, in the heated tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the voices of Palestinian Christians are often unheard and ignored. As a Palestinian pastor and theologian, Isaac gives the perspective of Palestinian Christians on the other side of the separation wall. He laments the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people but holds out hope for just peace and ways to befriend and love his Jewish and Muslim neighbors. Isaac has a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, and is the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College in Palestine and director of the Christ at the Checkpoint conference. He is also pastor of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, and author of From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ-Centered Biblical Theology of the Promised Land.

Rajanpreet Kaur of the Sikh Coalition

Sat, 12 Jun 2021 10:40:59 -0600

Although they are the fifth largest major world religions, Sikhs are often an ignored or stigmatized religious community in the US. They have been the victims of prejudice and violence at times due to a confusion with Muslims in post-9/11 America. In this episode our guest helps us understand Sikhism, how the Sikh community is woven into the fabric of American life, and how they have responded to violence and prejudice. Rajanpreet Kaur is the Senior Media and Communications Manager at the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States. Since 2017, she has worked to support a high-impact communications team that contributes to nearly every facet of the Sikh Coalition's work and drives groundbreaking media results on behalf of Sikhs in America. Since the start of the pandemic, this work has included press hits in national media and local news outlets that highlight the seva (selfless service Sikh communities nationwide are leading to give back to those in need during this difficult time.

Cory Willson on Mormon Lived Religion

Sun, 06 Jun 2021 10:11:02 -0600

Evangelical-Mormon dialogue has tended to focus on beliefs, sacred texts, and founding historical narratives. But what if we expanded our conversations to include how religion is lived in daily live, such as how the objects of material culture function and are valued? In this podcast Cory Willson discusses his chapter contribution in Talking Doctrine: Mormons and Evangelicals in Conversation with a respectful look at LDS sacred temple garments. Willson is the Jake and Betsy Tuls Associate Professor of Missiology and Missional Ministry and directs the Institute for Global Church Planting and Renewal at Calvin Theological Seminary. He is also one of the co-founders of Fuller Seminary's Interfaith Dialogue Journal, and the co-author of Work and Worship: Reconnecting our Labor and Liturgy.

Duerksen and Stella on Christian and Hindu Perspectives on the Meaning of Love

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 10:40:28 -0600

Darren Duerksen is a Christian who teaches at Fresno Pacific University, and Fred Stella is a Hindu affiliated with the Hindu American Foundation. Both men have been guests individuall on the podcast previously, but they come together in a conversation from Facebook Live to discuss “Why should I love my neighbor?: Hindu and Christian similarities and differences on the origins and nature of love.” How do these traditions understand the nature of the divine as a source and inspiration for love, as well as the nature of revelation in gaining instruction on love? How do the distinctives connect to things like racial injustice?

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Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

Michael J. Gorman discusses cruciform spirituality

Sun, 30 May 2021 16:24:34 -0600

The centrality of the cross of Jesus in Christian spirituality cannot be overestimated (Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Cor. 2:2). But what does this cruciform or cross-shaped spirituality spoken of by the Apostle Paul mean and look like? And how might it be more purposefully applied by American evangelicals and other Christians to our present circumstances, including multifaith engagement. Michael J. Gorman is the guest who helps us explore this. Dr. Gorman holds the Raymond E. Brown Chair in Biblical Studies and Theology at St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland. A highly regarded New Testament scholar, he is the author of a trilogy of books on cruciformity, including Cruciformity: Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross, Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul's Soteriology, and Becoming the Gospel; Paul, Participation, and Mission. He has also written Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness and Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers.

Rachel Mikva and Dangerous Religious Ideas

Sun, 23 May 2021 17:44:38 -0600

Rachel Mikva is our guest discussing her book Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Her book reveals how faith traditions have always passed down tools for self-examination and debate, because all religious ideas - not just extremist ones - can cause harm, even as they also embody important moral teachings. Rachel S. Mikva serves as the Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman Chair in Jewish Studies and the Senior Faculty Fellow of the InterReligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary. Rabbi Mikva went to teach and earn her PhD at Jewish Theological Seminary, focusing on rabbinic literature and the history of biblical interpretation. Her courses and research address a range of Jewish and comparative studies, with a special interest in the intersections of scripture, culture, and ethics.

Commentary: 9/11 Anniversary Patriots Bible - Zondervan, What Are You Thinking?

Wed, 19 May 2021 11:10:03 -0600

Religion Unplugged is reporting that Zondervan and Harper Collins are releasing a God Bless the USA Bible in September for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It will include "the full texts of the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and pledge of allegiance. The holy book also includes licensed lyrics to the popular 1984 song by country music singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood, 'God Bless the USA.'” In this podcast I discuss why this is a huge mistake, as it will inflame the post-9/11 trauma evangelicals feel that shapes their anti-Muslim sentiment, as well as the Christian nationalism found within the subculture. My brief commentary shares some specifics, and the hopes that evangelicals might bring some pressure on Zondervan and HarperCollins on this issue.

Fred Stella on South Asian and Hindu Responses to The Simpsons' Apu

Sun, 16 May 2021 14:35:17 -0600

The Simpsons has been on the air for over thirty seasons, but not all of the characters have been well received. For example, Apu has generated controversy, with some Hindus and South Asians seeing him negatively as a racist stereotype, and others finding finding him unproblematic. In this episode, Fred Stella, host of the Common Threads podcast, President of The Interfaith Dialogue Association at the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, and member of the National Leadership Council of the Hindu American Foundation, discusses the varied reactions to Apu and how religious communities can respond to satirical depictions in entertainment.

Daniel Bar-Tal on the social psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Wed, 12 May 2021 08:58:52 -0600

Why is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict such an unending cycle of violence? What is the psychology underlying conflict over land and religion? Daniel Bar-Tal explores this with us in this episode. Bar-Tal is an Israeli academic, author and Branco Weiss Professor of Research in Child Development and Education at School of Education, Tel Aviv University. He is the author and editor of a number of books and journal articles, including Intractable Conflicts: Socio-Psychological Foundations and Dynamics, and Stereotypes and Prejudices in Conflict: Representations of Arabs in Israeli Jewish Society. We are joined in this conversation by Charles Randall Paul, founder and director of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy and author of Converting the Saints: A Study of Religious Rivalry in America.

David Frankfurter on Demonic Conspiracies and Satanic Abuse

Sun, 09 May 2021 14:54:02 -0600

The QAnon conspiracy said that an underground Satanic pedophile ring of liberal Democrats was preying on our children. But such fears didn't start with them. In the 1980s, America was gripped by widespread panics about Satanic cults. Conspiracy theories abounded about groups who were allegedly abusing children in daycare centers, impregnating girls for infant sacrifice, brainwashing adults, and even controlling the highest levels of government. As historian of religions David Frankfurter at Boston University listened to these sinister theories, it occurred to him how strikingly similar they were to those that swept parts of the early Christian world, early modern Europe, and postcolonial Africa. He began to investigate the social and psychological patterns that give rise to these myths. Thus was born Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Satanic Abuse, a riveting analysis of the mythology of evil conspiracy that is the focus of this podcast.

Ryan Burge on the rise and meaning of The Nones

Sun, 02 May 2021 11:29:01 -0600

The growth of The Nones in American society has been dramatic. In 1972, just 5 percent of Americans claimed "no religion" on the General Social Survey. In 2018, that number rose to 23.7 percent, making The Nones as numerous as both evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics. Every indication is that The Nones will be the largest religious group in the United States in the next decade. They represent a seismic shift in the understanding of American religion and the Christian Church. Ryan Burge is the guest in this edition of the podcast to help us understand this phenomenon. Burge is an Assistant Professor of Political Science as well as the Graduate Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. He is also the author of The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going. In the book he details a comprehensive picture of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. He gives readers a nuanced, accurate, and meaningful picture of the growing number of Americans who say that they have no religious affiliation. This book explains how this rise happened, who The Nones are, and what they mean for the future of American religion. Finally, Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church, having served his current church for over thirteen years.

Thomas K. Johnson on Humanitarian Islam and the Ethics of Religious Freedom

Sun, 25 Apr 2021 14:48:49 -0600

In this podcast Thomas K. Johnson discusses his new books Humanitarian Islam, Evangelical Christianity, and the Clash of Civilizations, as well as The Protester, the Dissident and the Christian: Essays on Human Rights and Religion. (Free PDF copies have been made available on the Multifaith Matters recommended books page.) Johnson is Senior Theological Advisor to the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), which represents and connects over 600 million Christians in 140 countries. Additionally, he currently serves as WEA Special Envoy to the Vatican and as Special Envoy to Engage Humanitarian Islam. He has long been a foremost international Protestant voice on human rights and religious freedom, including consulting with diplomats and religious leaders from around the globe.

Johnson has authored nine books and more than 250 articles, essays, and book chapters in several languages. He has edited 25 books on religion in society, along with editing and translating numerous reports on human rights, religious freedom, and intrafaith and interfaith relations.

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Asma Uddin on the Christian-Muslim Divide and Political Vulnerability

Sun, 18 Apr 2021 14:32:29 -0600

In The Politics of Vulnerability, Asma Uddin, American Muslim public intellectual, religious liberty attorney, and activist, provides a unique perspective on the complex political and social factors contributing to the Muslim-Christian divide. Unlike other analysts, Uddin asks what underlying drivers cause good people to do, or believe, bad things? Why do people who value faith support measures that limit others', especially Muslims', religious freedom and other rights?

Uddin humanizes a contentious relationship by fully embracing both sides as individuals driven by very human fears and anxieties. Many conservative Christians fear that the Left is dismantling traditional "Christian America" to replace it with an Islamicized America, a conspiratorial theory that has given rise to an "evangelical persecution" complex, a politicized vulnerability.

Uddin reveals that Islamophobia and other aspects of the conservative Christian movement are interconnected. Where does hate come from and how can it be conquered? Only by addressing the underlying factors of this politics of vulnerability can we begin to heal the divide.

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Michael McRay on Stories to Transform Enemies

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 13:33:16 -0600

Michael T. McRay is a Nashville-based writer, facilitator, and story-practitioner, and the award-winning author of I Am Not Your Enemy. In the pages of this book, visits divided regions of the world and interviews activists, peacebuilders, former combatants about their personal stories of conflict, justice, and reconciliation. In Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, he hears from grieving parents who partner together across enemy lines, a woman who meets her father’s killer, and a man who uses theater to counter the oppression of his people, and many more. In a time of heightened alienation and fear, McRay offers true, sacred stories of reconciliation and justice, asking what they can teach us about our own divided states. Must violence be met with violence? Is my belonging complete only when I take away yours? Will more guns, more walls, more weapons keep us safe? Michael works with organizations around the world as a story consultant and produces and hosts Tenx9 Nashville Storytelling. Michael writes and speaks on issues of story, conflict, and reconciliation. He lives in Nashville with his family. You can follow him at http://www.michaelmcray.com and @michaeltmcray on Facebook and Instagram.

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Bron Taylor and Loren Wilkinson on Dark Green Religion

Sun, 04 Apr 2021 17:47:41 -0600

Religion informs our disagreements over social and political issues, and how to care for the environment and climate change is at the top of the list. Bron Taylor, professor of religion and nature, environmental ethics, and environmental studies at the University of Florida and author of Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future, joins with Loren Wilkinson, retired Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies & Philosophy at Regent College, and editor of Earthkeeping in the Nineties: Stewardship of Creation, as they come together to discuss the issues. Wilkinson's work is also featured in the film Making Peace with Creation.

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Defending Befriending on The Wild Theology Podcast

Sat, 03 Apr 2021 19:22:02 -0600

I was a guest on Phil Wyman's The Wild Theology podcast via Facebook Live where we discussed our practice of befriending those in other religions. We shared our stories, the responses of those in other religions, the harsh criticism we've sometimes received from fellow evangelicals, and related theological questions and concerns.

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler on Reading the Bible With and Without Jesus

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 09:41:31 -0600

In this episode, we discuss the book The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently with co-authors Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler. Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Department of Jewish Studies. She has also taught at Swarthmore College, Cambridge University, and the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. She is the author of many books, including The Misunderstood Jew and Short Stories by Jesus, and she is the co-editor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament. Brettler is the Bernice and Morton Lerner Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. He has also taught at Brandeis University, Yale University, Brown University, Wellesley College, and Middlebury College. He is the author of many books, including How to Read the Bible and The Creation of History in Ancient Israel, and is the co-editor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament. Also mentioned in this discussion is The Bible and the Believer: How to Read the Bible Critically and Religiously.

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