All posts tagged: Interfaith Alliance

Katherine Stewart Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

Katherine Stewart Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

Published by skeptic

 This week, author and journalist Katherine Stewart joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the rise of Christian Nationalism, Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, and the weaponization of faith for political gain. Together, they dive into the current political climate, the deep divisions within American society, and how knowledge and organizing are key to defending democracy. Katherine’s latest book, out on February 18th, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, explores the Christian Nationalist movement, which is fueled by the ultra-wealthy to protect their fortunes at the expense of democracy. Building on the foundation of her previous work, The Power Worshippers, Katherine’s new book reveals how these powerful forces exploit religious narratives to erode democratic institutions. “Extreme levels of inequality are eroding our democracy. This is something that we need to understand. I think there was nothing more stark than to see perhaps the group of the richest men in the world attending Trump’s inauguration. You had Bezos there, you had Musk there with his salute, whatever. I mean, you have …

Christian Nationalism and Hate Violence: What Can We Do?

Christian Nationalism and Hate Violence: What Can We Do?

Published by skeptic

 This week, Zev Mishell, National Programs Associate at Interfaith Alliance, joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the intersection of systemic violence, hate crimes, and religious and political ideologies in America. Zev is the author of Interfaith Alliance’s new report, Together Against Hate, which closely analyzes how interfaith movements can address hate-based violence by uniting across differences while also examining how White Christian Nationalism is driving the alarming rise of hate in America. The report comprises case studies of successful strategies, practical recommendations, and a guide to organizations working to combat hate and extremism in the U.S. It is based on extensive research and interviews with nearly two dozen advocacy organizations dedicated to faith-based organizing, upholding civil rights and confronting hate. The full report will be released on Monday, January 13th, on the Interfaith Alliance website. “Religion is contextual, and it can manifest itself in extremely damaging and violent ways. It can divide us from one another. It can create supremacist outlooks. It can create and be influenced by ethno-nationalist outlooks. And maybe …

Bad Theology, Bad for Democracy

Bad Theology, Bad for Democracy

Published by skeptic

 This week, Dr. Robert P. Jones, president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the intersection of race, religion, and politics in America, focusing on the rewriting of history regarding the January 6, 2021 attacks, and the impact of shifting demographics and the influence of polarizing figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk. We also pay tribute to the late Jimmy Carter. Paul shares excerpts from powerful interviews he conducted with the 39th president of the United States. Robby is the author of several influential books that explore democracy, religion, and race in America. Bringing together rigorous scholarship with in-depth research, he is one of the few experts capable of helping us understand the forces shaping our democracy, and the major political and religious movements that seek to shape it in the future. “For most of our country’s history, we have been on the wrong side of civil rights, the wrong side of slavery, the wrong side of Jim Crow. If we are this far …

President Carter showed us faith and Democracy can go hand in hand

President Carter showed us faith and Democracy can go hand in hand

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — As we reflect on the passing of President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100, we should honor one of the core throughlines of his incredible life: his faith. As a Baptist minister myself, I particularly want to celebrate how President Carter carried himself as a person with deeply held religious convictions, while leading a diverse democracy in which people of all faiths and backgrounds deserve equal dignity and treatment under the law. I had the privilege of interviewing President Carter several times on the role religion played in his life and work. Having interviewed many leaders, Carter was one of the most intelligent and formidable people I’ve ever spoken to. I remember trembling a bit when I asked the first question: If he was comfortable with the title of “Sunday school teacher.” He responded without hesitation, recounting how he started teaching Sunday school at age 18 at the Naval Academy Chapel — even leading services while at sea. During his presidency, he taught Sunday school 14 times at a nearby church, and, …

Reproductive Rights on Trial with Skye Perryman

Reproductive Rights on Trial with Skye Perryman

Published by Sam

 In the coming days, the United States Supreme Court will hear a case on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) – a federal law that guarantees all people treatment for emergency medical conditions. However, anti-abortion extremists are trying to exclude pregnant people from EMTALA’s long-standing protections. This has the potential to not only drastically impact access to life-saving reproductive care, but also religious freedom. The same goes for the recent SCOTUS oral arguments on access to mifepristone, the leading medical pregnancy termination drug. And of course, we’re fast approaching the 2nd anniversary of the Dobbs decision, reversing Roe v. Wade. Infringing on people’s rights to make personal decisions based on their own moral beliefs is one way that religious extremists are seeking to chip away at our democracy and impose their Christian nationalist agenda. One way to push back is to stand together for the values most Americans actually hold. This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush speaks with Skye Perryman of …

Faith and LGBT Politics with R. G. Cravens

Faith and LGBT Politics with R. G. Cravens

Published by Sam

 While some traditions and congregations may be more inclusive than others, LGBTQ+ people have always had a presence in faith communities. When faith communities are affirming of LGBTQ+ people, it creates opportunities for more welcoming spaces, challenges forces of division, and fosters a society that embraces pluralism and intersectionality. This affirmation and inclusion also expands religious freedom for all by promoting peaceful coexistence and challenging the exclusionary and discriminatory white Christian nationalist agenda. This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Dr. Royal G. Cravens III to explore the history of LGBTQ+ inclusion within faith communities. They discuss how faith and LGBTQ+ communities can empower each other to engage in positive political action and dismantle the barriers that often separate faith and acceptance. “I think the one thing that’s so important for me to say now is that the idea that one person can’t be both LGBTQ+ and religious, that’s a false construction. It’s a political construction, largely. It’s something that …

Worth Fighting For: John Pavlovitz

Worth Fighting For: John Pavlovitz

Published by Sam

 As many faith traditions across the globe celebrate important Holy Days this weekend, it provides an opportunity for introspection and diving deeper into our personal relationships with faith. At a time in our history when an extremist religious minority seeks to weaponize faith in the service of an authoritarian political agenda, it’s important to build bridges and connections across traditions to lead with shared values of truth, justice, and love. This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. John Pavlovitz joins host Rev. Paul Raushenbush to examine how faith can buoy us through challenging times. “But the parts about the fighting with and for my faith tradition, so the part about Christianity, is really important to me because it acknowledges that I have come through this tradition. I love it, many things that I have experienced as a part of it, but I also see its toxicity. And so there’s the honesty about the tensions of saying, I have a deep spirituality and I have an incredibly …

Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement: AnneMarie Mingo

Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement: AnneMarie Mingo

Published by Sam

 The outsized, but often forgotten, role of women in the Civil Rights Movement has come up several times recently on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio program and podcast. Now, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes an expert on the subject, Dr. AnneMarie Mingo. Her new book, out on March 26th, 2024, is titled Have You Got Good Religion? Black Women’s Faith, Courage, and Moral Leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. “Unfortunately, we still see that today, where many of the women who are the strategists, the architects, those who are making it happen, are ignored. But one of the things that I’ve always appreciated that the women that I studied didn’t get caught up in, was the fact that they were ignored. They still did the work anyway.” – Dr. Anne Marie Mingo, associate professor of ethics, culture, and moral leadership, and director of the Metro Urban Institute at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. An ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, AnneMarie is the founder of Sister Scholars, an organization …

Najeeba Syeed and Manu Meel

Najeeba Syeed and Manu Meel

Published by Sam

 On March 7, 2024, interfaith leaders from across the country will gather in Minneapolis for an Interfaith Symposium at Augsburg University. The symposium offers an opportunity for people to build community, collaboration, and trust by participating in vital interfaith dialogue. During a time when religiously motivated hate crimes are on the rise and Christian nationalists are hard at work attempting to overturn democracy, these interfaith conversations are more important than ever. This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush speaks with Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA and keynote speaker at the symposium, and Prof. Najeeba Syeed, executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg University, about the importance of interfaith solidarity in building a stronger, inclusive society and resilient democracy. “There has to be a conversation about: what do we do when there is a community, an individual in our community, there’s some dynamic where someone is being targeted for hate? What and how do we engage that interfaith space around that reality, that lived …