Segments
Happy Easter and Passover to all who are celebrating! This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s radio show and podcast, we’re marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. So much has happened in the half-century since that tragic moment in Memphis. Our nation is unrecognizable in many ways. Yet some of the biggest injustices Dr. King fought against continue to fester.
The first anniversary of the civil rights hero’s murder was marked by an Interfaith Justice Seder, and this year will see that commemoration reprised. Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, will join host Rev. Welton Gaddy to discuss the origins of the Seder and what is planned for this year.
It’s been over a month since the passing, at age 99, of the man widely hailed as “American’s Preacher” – the Rev. Billy Graham. Many who were not fans of Graham expressed a recognition that he represented a more restrained and less overtly political strain of conservative Christianity than many who came after him. A harsher – and more personal – rumination about Graham’s impact appeared in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine. The author of that piece, Bob Moser, will join Welton to discuss what he calls Graham’s “soul-crushing legacy.”
Finally, it’s no secret that gratitude makes life better and challenges easier to endure. Religious and secular teachings alike have long promoted this idea. Welton will close the show with a conversation about gratitude with historian and scholar Diana Butler Bass, who is out with a new book on the subject: “Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks.”
