In 2020

Over the past week, the nation has reckoned with what many would consider the most chaotic presidential debate on record and a dangerously ill president, as well as the untimely nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. In shrugging off long standing democratic traditions – ones set in place to ensure our nation’s stability – the administration is threatening the very pillars of decency, civility, and equity that all of us hold dear. This week’s episode of State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, will explore how we can reflect on our history to create a better path forward.

Since taking office, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has been a stalwart champion of progressive change. In his book, Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America, he looks back at eight progressive senators that came before him. Senator Brown sat down with Rev. Welton Gaddy, host of State of Belief, this week to talk about his book — which is now being released in paperback — and to look ahead to the divisive political reality before us. 

Since 2016, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding has issued invaluable data on the political tendencies and beliefs of American Muslims and other groups. Dalia Mogahed, ISPU’s director of research, will join Welton to share highlights from this year’s edition, the 2020 American Muslim Poll, Amid Pandemic and Protest.

By its very nature, religious debate is ingrained in every facet of our lives, from the political to the personal. L. Benjamin Rolsky — religious scholar and author of The Rise and Fall of the Religious Left: Politics, Television, and Popular Culture in the 1970s and Beyond — joins Welton to discuss his skeptical take on the limited success of progressive religion in influencing our culture.

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