Segments
This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Welton Gaddy will looks at faith on the bus and in the courtroom. We will hear from NETWORK’s executive director, Sister Simone Campbell, as the nuns get back on the bus. Then, Welton turns to journalist Sarah Posner to discuss the politics of religious faith and presidential candidates rushing to stand with Kim Davis in Kentucky. Finally, with an uplifting closing segment, we will turn to Rabbi Brad Hirschfield to discuss Rosh Hashanah, and the hopes for the Jewish New Year.
Social Justice, Religion, and a Bus
This week, Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, returns to our program to discuss the newest tour of Nuns on the Bus. Under the banner of, “Bridge the Divides: Transform Politics,” the sisters are undertaking a 13-day tour leading up to Pope Francis’s visit to the United States. The bus tour left St. Louis on Thursday and will travel to 7 states before concluding in Washington, DC on September 22 – just in time or the Pope’s arrival. Sister Simone spoke to us just as she was boarding the bus for this latest trip for faith-inspired social justice. CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED INTERVIEW AND TRANSCRIPT
The Only Religion Question Reporters And Debate Moderators Should Ask Presidential Candidates
Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and interfering with other clerks doing so, continues to make headlines. Welton had hoped he could avoid the conversation on Kim Davis, but then he read a column titled The Only Religion Question Reporters And Debate Moderators Should Ask Presidential Candidates (Kim Davis Edition). After that he couldn’t resist inviting Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches back on the show to talk about how candidates taking sides on this controversy tells us a lot about where they truly stand on the US Constitution.
A Sweet New Year (and some timeless lessons)
Sundown on Sunday night marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. With so much turmoil in the world, holidays can act as a brief distraction – but some can also offer timeless wisdom and badly-needed guidance for today’s challenges. Welton welcomes his friend Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, president of CLAL – the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership – and author of You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism to the program this week. Together they will discuss lessons about perspective, resolve, and hope as the New Year approaches.
September 12, 2015 – Nuns Back on the Bus; Lessons of Kim Davis; Rosh Hashanah Wisdom by State Of Belief Radio on Mixcloud