religion

Secularists defend philanthropy efforts against misreporting

July 17, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Religion 00:15:35 0 Comments

Philanthropy among those who are non-religious has gotten a bit of a boon of late. Despite magazine reporting to the contrary, the Foundation Beyond Belief has just hit a million dollar fundraising mark.

Host Jamila Bey and co-host Ed Brayton spoke with Sarah Morehead, head of the Recovering from Religion Foundation, and Todd Stiefel, founder of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation, to discuss doing good for goodness’ sake.

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Nonprofit starts hotline to answer questions about faith

June 7, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Religion 0 Comments

A nonprofit organization called Recovering from Religion is starting a helpline for people who have nowhere else to turn with questions about their faith and traditions.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Sarah Morehead, the executive director of the group, to talk about the new service they’ll be providing, the 120 partner groups who are on board and why it’s a hotline for even folks who are still religious.

 

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From Australia to US, musician brings atheism on the road

May 21, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Religion, Sex 00:17:39 0 Comments

Australian singer, songwriter Shelley Segal joins the SPAR with Jamila to talk and sing about many of the topics that have compelled her art, including religiously-imposed sex segregation, the horror of a life lived longing for an afterlife, and the unbelievable adorableness of wallabies.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Segal to discuss all of this and more.

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Photo Credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock.

New doc dissects the challenges, feats of pastors-turned-atheists

April 11, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Podcast 00:15:36 0 Comments
A new documentary called “Refusing My Religion” is diving into the issue of former pastors coming out as atheists. The film is nearing completion and features a number of the world’s leading authorities on atheism.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with documentary filmmakers Marc Levine and Michael Dorian to discuss the film.

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Atheists hope to raise political profile at annual convention

Atheists hope to raise political profile at annual convention

March 7, 2013 Carmen Russell Politics, Religion 00:13:31 0 Comments
Atheists from across the country will gather in San Francisco this weekend for the National Atheist Party Convention and one topic the group hopes to address will be how to raise the political profile of one of the nation’s largest growing demographics in the religion category.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Troy Boyle, president of the National Atheist Party, to discuss the weekend’s agenda.

 

 

New Book Tells Woman's Story of Jehovah's Witness Excommunication

New Book Tells Woman’s Story of Jehovah’s Witness Excommunication

February 25, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Religion 00:13:45 0 Comments

When Bridget Gaudette was 22 years old, she was orphaned. Her family and her friends shunned her, ostracizing her from their lives and excommunicating her for violating one of the tents of her Jehovah’s Witness faith.

Now, she’s launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her book, “Grieving for the Living: Effects of Disownment in Adulthood.”

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Gaudette to talk about her own experiences and the need for support for those who find themselves without family for being authentic to themselves.

 

Photo Credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock.

Organization Helps Former Clergy Find New Employment Outside of Faith

February 14, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Religion 00:17:43 0 Comments

The Clergy Project organization helps members of the clergy to leave their positions in cases in which the participant realizes he or she no longer believes the doctrine required by his or her faith organization. But what then?

Folks who have made church their vocation often have struggled when it comes to replacing their employer. Thanks to a grant from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation, former clergy may now avail themselves of job training and placement services.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Todd Steifel and Clergy Project graduate Teresa MacBain to discuss how the project is working for those who no longer work for their former faith tradition.

Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Photo Credit: ©RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rodionov.

What’s Next For the Papacy?

February 11, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Religion 00:17:34 0 Comments

After Pope Benedict XVI announced on Monday his resignation, many have been left wondering—beyond his worry about his health—about why he’ll be leaving so soon. Some say there’s more than just that.

Host Jamila Bey talked with Nicholas Cafardi, a scholar of Canon Law and emeritus dean of the Duquesne University School of Law, to discuss some of the legal questions left in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.

Photo Credit: Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock.

Henry Rollins Exclusive: Americans Don’t Understand Second Amendment

February 7, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Podcast, Religion 00:14:23 0 Comments

From his days fronting the hardcore punk band, Black Flag, to his current public radio gig in California, Henry Rollins has always been someone to speak his mind and to talk about what he thinks could make this a better world.

Rollins spent an hour with Jamila Bey talking about the First Amendment, the state of journalism and speech today, and a topic near to his heart and part of the title of this program: religion.

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Photo Credit: Thomas Northcut/Lifesize/Thinkstock.

Research Finds That Sports Results are God’s Will

January 31, 2013 Carmen Russell Health, Religion 00:08:31 0 Comments

A recent study at the Public Religion Research Institute has found that more than half of Americans believe that God has a hand in choosing sports victors and many also say God rewards faithful athletes with victory and good health.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Daniel Cox, the director of research with the Public Religion Research Institute, about the institute’s findings.

Photo Credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock.

How a Louisiana Teenager Went Up Against His State Over Creationism

January 24, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Religion 00:17:38 0 Comments

Zack Kopplin, a former resident of the state of Louisiana, truly took it to heart when a teacher assigned him to do a project that would be a challenge to him. He decided to get the law that permits Creationism to be taught in schools repealed.

It’s been two years since, and Zack is still busy as ever—though now in college. Host Jamila Bey spoke with Kopplin to discuss his latest civic activism.

Culture, sex scandal , reverend doctor monica coleman, philip moore, US, Interviews, religion, child sexual abuse

What Protestants Have Learned From the Catholic Sex Scandals

January 24, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Religion, Sex 00:19:10 0 Comments

From Penn State to the Boy Scouts, sex scandals have continued to tarnish images and violate innocent victims across the country for many, but few are as prominent it seems as the Catholic Church.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Rev. Dr. Monica Coleman, an African Methodist Episcopal minister and founder of the Dinah Project, and Philip Moore, founder of Prey4Innocent.com, to discuss how Protestant churches in the United States can learn from the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.