Religion & Belief
Weekend America's Religion & Belief Coverage
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Conversations with America: Alexandra Fuller
Elections are bearing down on us. Sometimes we can get a sort of mental whiplash from all the back-and-forthing during the week. The weekend, if you're lucky, is a time when you can stand back from some of that and reflect on what's really important. Between now and election time, we're asking some folks to bring us their personal takes on what's important in this election. Our first essay comes from Alexandra Fuller. She's a writer in Jackson, Wyoming. But she grew up in a very different place. Sort of.
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Science of Happiness
A new book, "Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion," brings together the thoughts and experience of world renowned scientist Paul Ekman and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. An unusual project for a renowned brain scientist, but Ekman is the kind of researcher who inspires passionate following.
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Sober Up and Fly Right
Sure, legal prohibition against alcohol might have official ended 75 years ago, but not everyone has given up the fight. The Prohibition Party has a split ticket this year between an actual dead man, and a man (alive) who says the return of prohibition could be the cure for society's ills.
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Tending the Fire
In the Big Sur area, fires that have burned for a month are now mostly contained. The area's National Parks are open again, but voluntary evacuations are still in effect which means people who live there need special passes to get in. And that includes the monks at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.
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An Indian Sacrament Behind Prison Walls
At San Quentin State Prison in California, there's a place of worship for everyone -- a Protestant chapel, a Jewish synagogue, a Catholic church, a mosque and what's called the San Quentin Indian Reservation, where many of the American Indian inmates go every Saturday for a traditional sweat ceremony.
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Summer Travel: Rainbow Family Reunion
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Gathering of the Tribes, the annual migration of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. It sounds like a hippie happening, and it is. More than 20,000 come together first week of July, and the Fourth of July is their day of prayer, a prayer for peace.
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'Come O Thou Traveler'
When you want to get into a space that's all your own, what song do you keep going back to? Our latest story comes from Pastor Thomas Biatek, who listens to us in Shorewood, Minn., on KNOW radio. Biatek is a minister there, and the soundtrack to his weekend is a hymn called "Come O Thou Traveler."
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Pre-Wedding Jitters for a Gay Couple
The civil ceremony performers who make all those marriages legit are the true unsung heroes of June. And for at least one of those civil servants in Northern California, the diagnosis this weekend is exhaustion and the slightest case of something he never really thought he'd have -- his own pre-wedding jitters...
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Kosher Meat Plant's Immigration Woes
Last month, the largest kosher meat processing plant in America was raided by immigration agents. More than 300 workers, one-third of the workforce at Agriprocessors in Iowa, were arrested in the sweep. The bust shines a light not only on the kosher meat market, but also on working conditions for vulnerable immigrants.
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Questioning Our Religious Leaders
Our pastors, priests, rabbis, imams and shamans can sometimes say some outrageous things their congregations don't agree with. Just ask Sen. Barack Obama about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, or Sen. John McCain about John Hagee. Our listeners sent in their own stories of outrageous moments in religion, and how it influenced their own spiritual journey.
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Klezmer Funk Hip-Hop? Abraham Inc.
The legendary Apollo theater in Harlem was one of the few theaters in New York to hire African-American performers in the 1930s, but the venue itself was owned by Jews. So it's fitting that the klezmer-funk-hip-hop group Abraham Inc. will be having their debut performance at the Apollo tonight.
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A Dream Fulfilled in the Gospel Tent
Ron Hadley got his girlfriend pregnant and faced jail time. When complications threatened his unborn child's life, he vowed to turn to God and turn his life around. His gospel choir just had their New Orlean Jazz Fest debut, and now he's set his sights on touring the world -- and making his now 6-year-old son proud.
