In 2015

This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, host Reverend Welton Gaddy will sit down with Adam Garner, an organizer of Interfaith Youth Core’s “Better Together Day” campaign. Kevin Eckstrom, Editor-in-Chief of the Religion News Service, will discuss the challenges of covering the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Acts in various states across the country. Welton will also speak with Asaf Orr, an attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, about what happened at a Louisiana high school after a student was told she could not wear a tuxedo to prom. Rabbi Jack Moline, Executive Director of Interfaith Alliance, will tell us about the Alliance’s new #EveryoneOnly campaign. And we’ll bring back our fast-paced Interfaith Awards feature. Download Icon

Organizing to be Better Together
According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, religious tension is at a six-year high around the world. The divide between religious and non-religious communities is large and a lack of understanding and knowledge across that divide is common. In order to help overcome religious tension, Adam Garner of Interfaith Youth Core, is leading the “Better Together Day”campaign on April 14th and will join us to share what he hopes this initiative, aimed at college-age people, will achieve.

Responsibly Reporting on RFRA
The public outcry over some state-level Religious Freedom Reservation Acts (RFRA) has received media coverage across the country. The coverage is complicated by the distinct bills moving through statehouses across the country with the same name, but different levels of discrimination allowed in the language of each bill. Kevin Eckstrom, Editor-in-Chief of Religion News Service, will join us to discuss the challenges of providing national coverage these pieces of legislation.

A Prom in Louisiana
Prom season can be nerve-wracking for many reasons: finding a date, finding the right tuxedo or dress, negotiating a reasonable curfew. In Louisiana, school officials told start student Claudetteia Love, who identifies as lesbian, that she couldn’t go if she insisted on wearing a tuxedo. Friends rallied to boycott the prom, and her family turned to the National Center for Lesbian Rights for help. The Center’s Asaf Orr, joins us to discuss the unexpectedly happy ending to this story.

Going Viral: #EveryoneOnly
Citizens across the nation are standing up in solidarity in an effort to counter numerous right-to-discriminate religious freedom laws. And businesses get much of the credit for pressuring lawmakers in Indiana, Arkansas and elsewhere to rethink misguided policies that could lead to discrimination. Rabbi Jack Moline, Executive Director of Interfaith Alliance, will join us to introduce the #EveryoneOnly campaign, which makes it easy for any business to boldly say “no” to discrimination.

Intersection Awards
We’ll wrap up the show with some mentions, honorable and otherwise, of recent news stories from the intersection of Religion, Government and Politics.

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