This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s radio show and podcast, we feature additional voices from the Democratic National Convention. Our host Rev. Welton Gaddy and Interfaith Alliance president Rabbi Jack Moline were on the ground in Philadelphia last month and interviewed politicians, activists, faith leaders and more. Don’t miss the second half of our convention coverage from the Wells Fargo Center.
Religious liberty is frequently hijacked by the Religious Right to support discrimination against LGBT people. Welton had the opportunity to discuss the intersection of religious freedom and LGBT rights with veteran Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rabbi Jonah Pesner from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Kate Kight, who attended the convention representing LPAC as superhero character “Wonderqueer.”
This week, we also hear Jack Moline’s conversations at the convention with Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and modern-day suffragist Patricia Doss, as well as excerpts from interviews with Jerry Springer, Arab American Institute President Jim Zogby, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), convention delegate Judith Foster and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.
We close out the show by rewinding to August 2008, when the Democratic Party had just nominated a young senator named Barack Obama for president. Welton’s conversation from that time with Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, who was serving as the first female Director of the Department of Religion at the Chautauqua Institution, reveals that much has, and has not, changed in the past eight years.