Common Threads: An Interfaith Dialogue

As I mention in the introduction to Part 1, it is rare that you find someone from the theist crowd acknowledging that the other camp has something important to say. I was impressed with this book's author in that he does exactly that. Admittedly, many famous atheists pepper their arguments with a good deal of venom. Scott handles this tactic well. Scott Shay is the co-founder and Chairman of Signa...

Today our use of the word "stoic" is so far removed from how it is used classically. I'm so glad our old friend & colleague David Fideler decided to get in touch with us about his new book "Breakfast With Seneca." It's a great introduction to a noble philosophical tradition. Do treat yourself to some high minded discourse in these 2 episodes from 2022. Theme music "Nigal."

I recall really enjoying these 2006 conversations with Rev. Stephen Bauman, who is a pastor for a church in NYC. We discuss the rewards & challenges of being a spiritual leader in the city that never sleeps. By the way, this is the last old cassette that I've been able to find in my basement. Unless anything else shows up, from this point on I'll be uploading only recently broadcast shows. Theme m...

Since Trump never went away like a good ex-president should, we must continue to be vigilant, as his hapless followers are determined to wreak havoc on our democracy. There are many strains of this toxicity. One of the most pernicious is the Christian Nationalism movement. It just ain't going away. In these 2 episodes from March 2022 we speak with Rev. Nathaniel Manderson. He's a Baptist minister...

I am just about done with digitizing these old cassette copies of episodes from the ancient past. I have no honest idea as to the air dates of these. I suspect we're talking about the very early years of the new century. Sometime between 2000-05? Probably. The 1st part is a conversation with Srivas Das, one of the early pioneers of the Hare Krishna movement in Ghana & other African countries. Here...

Boy, do we cover a lot of ground in these 2 episodes! As I state in my introduction to Part 1, over beer & pizza my cousin Andres tells me about this awesome author he's read who he thinks would be a good fit for CT. Man, he was right. Our guest is Dr. Diana Walsh Pasulka author of 'American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology' and 'Heaven Can Wait: Purgatory in Catholic Devotional and Popular Cult...

We are now hearing and reading about a subject that has been thrown in the back of the closet for decades. The question before us is: Should the descendants of slaves be compensated for the invaluable contributions that their ancestors made to the growth of the USA in our formative years? The various positions taken on this issue come from the arenas of politics, social justice and economics. Here...

These episodes from 2006 were real finds for me. My guests here are Yashwant Pathak & Shekhar Patel from the International Center for Cultural Studies. They make a solid case for protecting the many indigenous cultures around the world that are threatened by ecological intrusion, social upheaval and over-zealous missionaries who are bent on eliminating sacred traditions that have upheld these soci...

Back in the 70s, a religious punchline often included "The Moonies." That's what members of the Unification Cult were called, in reference to their messy messiah Sun Myung Moon. We haven't heard much of them as of late, but they hardly disappeared. Well, Moon died (What? No resurrection?), and now a battle is taking place between Moon's widow and 2 of her sons who are allied against her. And here'...

In November of 2021 Calvin University presented an online conference that focused on how Evangelical Christianity has, over time, defined just what made a woman "godly." Needless to say, in this 21st century there has been a movement among women to deconstruct these notions and replace them with what many would call a more enlightened understanding. In these episodes we speak with the author of th...

These are wonderful conversations that I had in 2021 with author Susan Garthwaite. We discuss the wisdom of St. Hildegard, a 12th century mystic who was a woman of great regard by the Catholic Church. These days her influence spreads far beyond denominations. What's interesting when speaking to people like Susan, who struggle between cultivating the great spiritual tradition that birthed and raise...

The movie The Kashmir Files was slated for a massive release in India in January of 2022. Due to Covid it is being held back. Here in the US there were some private screenings in major metro areas. While I did not see the film myself, several friends did, and were very encouraging when I told them I'd be speaking with director Vivek Agnihotri. This was a powerful conversation about one of the worl...

I do take great pains to correctly ID the year of original broadcast of these oldies; but remember, they all came out of 2 big boxes sequestered in my basement. Very few had any markings on the cassette tape itself or the cover. Much of the time I can tell the timeline when I interview an author. We normally bring them on very close to the release date of their book, which is easily found. But som...

We're taking a break from uploading shows from The Vault of the Ancients to bring you 2 episodes that aired in early 2022. Here we converse with Prof. Humberto Casanova, a Chilean theologian. Mr. Casanova has impeccable credentials in the school of Reformed theology. But his thinking as taken a turn toward the more progressive end of Christianity. In his book Imagining God he examines the poetry,...

I chortled more than a bit listening to these 2002 episodes. Our guest Quentin Shultze discusses how to engage with new technology from a moral & ethical foundation. But think about where we were then & where we are now. It would be like hearing a discourse on the automobile from 1915 20 years later. So, here we discuss computers, cell (but not smart!) phones, e-dating in its infancy, and this who...

These episodes from 2005 feature conversations with author Kristin Swenson, who wrote the book "Living Through Pain: Psalms & the Search for Wholeness." Regardless of ones' religion, there is some deep wisdom here. And for such a heavy subject, we do chuckle from time to time. Enjoy. Theme music "Nigal."

These are 2 episodes from 2008, where I speak with contributors to the book A Global Guide to Interfaith, which came out the previous year. I've mentioned before that for a program with the word "Interfaith" in its title, we don't really examine actual interfaith movements all that often. We did near the beginning, back in the 1990s. But feedback has been almost unanimously favorable on our decisi...

While many gentiles know about the 3 main movements within Judaism (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox) the more contemporary movements of Reconstruction & Jewish Renewal do not get as much ink or members. But they are important none the less. In these 2 episodes I'll discuss them with Rabbi Arthur Waskow. He's a remarkable man, so this is not to be missed. We aired these in 2006. Theme music "Nigal."

If you're familiar with our vault of classic episodes, you're aware of the fact that in the past we've interviewed several wonderful authors within the genre of historical fiction to discuss religion, culture and literature of the middle ages. Here is an especially interesting couple of shows that aired in the early 00s. This time, our guest is not an author herself, but an academic who reviews bo...

This one is a real oldie. Back in 2002 we held our annual interfaith conference, with the theme of environmentalism. We shared the duties with the West Michigan Environmental Action Committee. So remember, all this happened a long time ago. Don't go trying to register for it. But like all of these ancient episodes, the conversation is still valid. Our guest is Dr. John Grim. You'll hear how good h...

I'm very pleased to find the cassette that had these 2005 episodes on it. I didn't think I would. Here I enjoy a conversation with Swami Chidananda, one of the main editors that worked intensely on the Gospel commentaries written over the span of many years by Paramhansa Yogananda. The noted Hindu mystic saw the Judeo-Christian scriptures through a Vedantic lens that is quite close to that of some...

We have such an interesting relationship with age here in the US. We tend to worship youth and disregard the wisdom and life experience that comes with more candles on the cake. Of course, it's also possible to gain years and stupidity. Think of the audiences who rely on Tucker and Sean for their news analysis. But I digress... In these episodes from 2022 we speak to therapist and spiritual adviso...

These episodes are from 2003. They feature the women who wrote the stories in the book "Daughters of the Desert." This is a wonderful book that examines the very underappreciated role of women in the development of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam. I don't have much to say other than do listen to these. Excellent conversations. Theme music "Nigal."

OK, if you skip this one you're forgiven. I'm still going through a big box of ancient shows, and the other day i came across this cassette. It is not an episode of Common Threads, but a recording of a conference we held on 11/6/1999. The problem is that this is a very, very BAD recording. I think someone just set up a tape recorder in the back of the room and hoped for the best. Some portions are...

I'd really thought we'd exhausted the episodes featuring my cousin, Fr. Tom Stella. But lo & behold, I reached into my box of old cassettes & pulled out these episodes from 2004 that promoted his book A Faith Worth Believing. If you've listened to any of the others already posted then you know you're in for a very intimate conversation on deep spirituality. Theme music "Nigal."