We start things off with a conversation with Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward and a proud Baylor alum. In her words: “What these students showed is that there is a movement afoot, including in places like Waco, and maybe especially in places like Waco.”

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The report raises crucial questions about the future of democratic governance. It underscores the importance of understanding both the successes and failures of democratic systems, prompting a reevaluation of what democracy means in different contexts.

Key takeaways include:

- Democracy is Multifaceted: The state of democracy varies significantly across different nations, and understanding local contexts is crucial for promoting democratic values.

- Engagement is Essential: Electoral participation and civic engagement are critical in challenging authoritarian regimes.

- Concession Matters: Accepting electoral defeat is a vital component of maintaining democratic integrity.

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In our conversation, she emphasizes collective hope, continuous community action, and a reevaluation of stories and faiths to inspire resistance and societal transformation. Rebecca raises up the potential for joy, creativity, and community in activism and advocacy. We also explore the intersectionality of environmental, racial, gender, and spiritual activism, urging us to see these issues as part of a shared fabric of interconnected change—especially when it comes to the true theological underpinnings of our democracy (spoiler alert—it's got a lot more to do ith MLK than DJT.)

Sign up for Rebecca Solnit’s newsletter at https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/

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With the global impact of the war in Iran growing daily, this week on The State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Retired Lt. Gen. Charles D. Luckey — former head of the US Army Reserve, former JAG officer, and veteran of three combat tours, including in Iraq. He’s also a seminary student at Wake Forest Theological Seminary — and all these identities intersect to provide unique insights and observations.

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Only 13% of the population identifies as White evangelical Protestants, but their outsized influence on U.S. politics is both startling and strategic. Robby reveals how this minority shapes policies and what it means for the future of our democracy. Don't miss this compelling episode that challenges common assumptions and offers insights into reclaiming a pluralistic society, the real impact of faith on politics, and how you can be part of the change.

Dr. Robert P. Jones is president of the Public Religion Research Institute. Robby’s Substack is at https://www.redeemingdemocracy.net/, and his next book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy, is coming in September 2026.

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Reza shares a striking story from his book on Howard Baskerville, the American missionary who fought alongside Iranians in 1907, to the century-long struggle for freedom that defines Iran’s modern history. More than just a series of revolutions, these events are part of an enduring quest for dignity and sovereignty—a fight that has repeatedly been undermined by foreign interference and internal repression.

Most surprising is how he dismantles the myth that religion uniquely dictates Iran’s actions. “Religion is just one part of identity,” he explains. “It’s used by regimes for control, but it doesn't inherently define the country’s trajectory.” That shift in perspective is illuminating. It reminds us that Iran’s complex history of democracy protests—dating back to 1905—has always been about Iranians asserting their right to shape their future. Yet, external powers have consistently interfered, from Britain in 1905 to the CIA-backed coup of 1953, and now, the current military escalation.

Reza sounds a warning for those celebrating the fall of the Supreme Leader: external attacks are a most effective way to rally internal support, invoking the surge in support for George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 as one relatable example. He challenges us to let go of simplistic hopes that bombs or sanctions will transform Iran overnight. Real change, Reza suggests, comes from within—and it will take generations, because history is not so much context as it is fuel for ongoing resistance and conflict.

MORE ABOUT REZA ASLAN:

Reza Aslan is a scholar of religion, a best-selling author, a college professor, and a public intellectual who has a gift for making complex religious history accessible to broad audiences. Reza's books include Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, and Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalism. He has hosted television programs exploring religion and culture, such as Believer with Reza Aslan.

Born in Iran, living in Los Angeles, Reza brings a depth of understanding to the current situation that is important to explore. The nuance he brings is expressed in a moving New York Times essay titled, The Mistake That Iranians Make About America.

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The author of Strongmen: from Mussolini to Today, Ruth makes clear that war is often a cold-blooded tool of authoritarians – particularly if they see other means of consolidating power no longer work. Religious and spiritual language is also a near-universal tool in the strongman’s arsenal, making American Christian Nationalism just more of the same for anyone looking closely at the history of authoritarianism in the past century or so.

Inevitability is a cornerstone of the image projected by strongman propaganda. As Ruth points out in her book, The authoritarian playbook has no chapter on failure. And so self-delusion is an important part of keeping an authoritarian takeover in motion: nobody can stop this. In fact, most people are enthusiastically supportive of anything we do (regardless of what the polls say – sound familiar?)

So what hope is there for effective opposition? Ruth emphasizes that nonviolence is essential, and that collective action is required to break the hold most strongmen have over their followers and foes alike. With concrete historical examples and accessible explanations of what’s really happening today, she doesn’t shy away from making clear how high the stakes are – but also how real the possibility of shepherding our intact democracy through this crisis is.

More About Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a historian and professor at New York University who specializes in fascism, authoritarianism, propaganda, and democracy protection. Her writing explores how strongman leaders use culture, media, and corruption to consolidate power, in books include Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. Dr. Ben-Ghiat is a frequent public commentator on threats to democracy in the United States and globally, and shares her insights on her Substack, @lucid.

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Jay also sounds the alarm about developments in anti-Jewish bigotry in recent months, including an explosion in antisemitism in connection with the Epstein files. He has harsh words for the way responsible voices have been too silent in the face of the conspiracy theories proliferating in the ongoing chaos of the Epstein case.

In the midst of all this, a nationwide attack on LGBTQ+ rights, focusing especially on trans individuals, continues unabated. Among the latest initiatives: 47 right-wing secular and religious organizations, including some big names, are scheming ways to repeal marriage equality in this country. Jay has some thoughts on how the current Supreme Court justices are likely to approach any case involving this issue.

A meditation teacher as well as a rabbi, Jay highlights the concept of despair as a trap. And the importance of staying present and engaged. He also talks about practices that can help sustain us in these challenging times.

Paul also shares his words from the People's State of the Union, attended by a number of members of Congress and organized by MoveOn as an antidote to the theatrics that took place under the rotunda.

More about Jay Michaelson

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michelson is a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School and a field scholar at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. He is also an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, and CNN. Jay worked as an LGBTQ activist for 10 years and is the author of 10 books, including God versus Gay: The Religious Case for Equality. These days, he writes a weekly Substack newsletter, Both/And With Jay Michelson, which is a must-read.

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The book opens with stories of summer jobs ranging from dishwasher to factory worker, all while weaving in the idea that God works even in the most mundane places. This is an invaluable reminder that we’re all on a spiritual journey, whether we realize it or not. And the path to faith isn’t a straight line. It’s messy, ongoing, and filled with grace. Honesty is what makes his memoir resonate. It invites us to reflect: where are we still "works in progress"?

Father Jim also takes us through the tumultuous history of America—recalling moments like the Bicentennial, the moon landing, and the Nixon resignation—and connects it to our current time. We’re living in a moment that will surely be remembered as monumental, and Jim’s reflections on truth, history, and the ways we forget or erase it feel especially urgent. Lies and nostalgia can be dangerous when they hide the real stories, especially the stories of marginalized communities.

What’s powerful is how Jim emphasizes that the gospel isn’t about nostalgia or idealized versions of the past; it’s about standing with those on the margins—migrants, refugees, LGBTQ+ folks, and others dehumanized and pushed aside. His stories about engaging with those communities—meeting Pope Francis, speaking at protests, standing with migrants—are inspiring. They’re a reminder that courage isn’t absence of fear but standing with others when it’s hard.

Our lives, our nation, and our faith are all ongoing works. We’re never finished, and that’s the point. Father Jim Martin's reflection on his own moments of reckless youth, and how those stories led him closer to a calling, offers hope to anyone feeling like their journey is incomplete.

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Talk about action—Bishop Dwayne and partners organized a massive, diverse, faith-inspired gathering in Washington, D.C. just days after a series of ICE-related deaths. 450 clergy mobilized in 72 hours, with multiple faith traditions coming together to oppose policies rooted in hate and fear—and almost 60 faith leaders arrested during the peaceful protest. As the bishop describes his own motivation, he subjected himself to arrest “for all my neighbors that don't deserve to be arrested, detained, or deported.” Others visited individual senators’ offices, making over 50 Hill visits to challenge funding for the extremist practices of ICE. It’s all a reminder that faith, when truly grounded, can be a revolutionary force.

With the 250th anniversary of the country this year, Bishop Dwayne has a powerful vision for faith-inspired organizing for the occasion: “We all want to survive and live our best lives, and that requires us to come together, love our neighbors, and build a different story for America.” This underscores once again that our faith and beliefs are a resource of resilience, meant to be shared in action, not just in prayer.

Another layer to this: it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of injustice, but each of us has a role. Whether we march, donate, pray, or hold space for others, our collective effort is what moves the needle. As Bishop Dwayne beautifully put it, “We all have different contributions—some in the streets, some behind the scenes, some in policy, some in prayer.”

That’s a crucial truth—each person’s place in this movement is vital. We can find the testimony that grounds each of us, whether rooted in faith, philosophy, or our own personal convictions. When the moment calls, that’s what will carry us—the belief that your action, no matter how small, is part of a larger and essential whole.

Also, Interfaith Alliance is taking the Trump administration to court. At the top of the show, attorney and Democracy Forward Executive Director Skye Perryman is back to explain this lawsuit, brought with a diverse group of partners, which focuses on the lack of representative pluralism in the makeup of the Religious Liberty Commission.

More About Bishop Dwayne

Bishop Dwayne Royster is a faith leader and community organizer who serves as the executive director of Faith in Action, a national network dedicated to grassroots organizing for racial and economic justice. An ordained minister in the Progressive National Baptist Convention, he has spent decades working at the intersection of faith, public policy, and social change.

More About Faith in Action

Faith in Action is a grassroots, nonpartisan, global, faith-based organizing network. It works with over a thousand congregations in more than 200 cities and towns through its 46 local and state federations.

More About the Lawsuit

A multifaith coalition—including Interfaith Alliance, Muslims for Progressive Values, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Hindus for Human Rights—filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission. The plaintiffs argue the commission was created and structured in a way that violates federal law and undermines religious pluralism.

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Simran reflects that true bravery is not about bravado or self-assertion but about steadfastly choosing love over hatred, even when faced with hate or violence. For example, during a clergy-led protest in Minnesota, ordinary people—clergy, community members, and even those with vulnerabilities—stood on the front lines, committed to protecting their neighbors and advocating for justice. Their actions exemplify that small, consistent acts of love and solidarity are the most powerful resistance to authoritarian tactics.

This kind of courage asks us to stand with neighbors in difficult moments, practice humility and listen deeply, and act lovingly in the face of fear.

The author of the best-selling book The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life, Simran shares a story from Sikh tradition that struck me: a tiny lantern flickering in the darkness, not to fix everything but to let a little light shine. When enough of those lanterns light up, the darkness begins to lift. It’s a simple, powerful lesson: humility, love, and perseverance are acts of courage.

Thursday, Feb. 5th was the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. This purportedly apolitical event has turned into a “partisan farce,” in the words of US Rep. Jim Clyburn. He spoke with us exclusively about his reasons for not attending the breakfast, and you’ll hear that along with the comments of other members of Congress who have also made the difficult decision to absent themselves: Rep. Jared Huffman, Rep. Lucy McBath, and then Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who is also an ordained minister. Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush was invited to share thoughts about the Christian Nationalist takeover of the National Prayer Breakfast on C-Span, and you’ll hear an excerpt of that on this week’s show, as well.

More about Simran Jeet Singh

Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is a scholar, educator, writer and activist, who focuses on religion and racism. Simran is a professor at the historic Union Theological Seminary and Senior Advisor for the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program, a columnist for the Religion News Service, and a contributor for TIME Magazine. A Texas native, Simran is the author of several important books, including the national best-seller The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life, and his Substack is titled, More of This, Please. Simran also hosts Wisdom & Practice, a new podcast by The Aspen Institute and PRX. He's working on a new television series titled Undivided.

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Maggie and host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush discuss some of the concrete ways these communities are, in fact, coming together, but also the very real risks that doing so brings, and the courage needed to persevere in the face of challenges that can include divisions and mistrust within diverse communities themselves.

The result can be profoundly inspiring: Paul and Maggie talk in-depth about a major Capitol Hill briefing last December convened by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), in partnership with Interfaith Alliance and Union Theological Seminary. In addition to MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati and JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, a Muslim, and Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is Jewish, addressed the gathering, moderated by Union Seminary Senior Executive Vice President Rev. Fred Davie.

Paul and Maggie walk us through some of the highlights of the event, with excerpts from the various speakers and commentary on the significance of their words. For context, the briefing took place just days after the Hanukkah massacre of Jews in Sydney, Australia. But the focus on each other’s humanity, on the critical need for solidarity - especially during times of pain and fear – was unshakable. You can watch a recording of the entire briefing on the Interfaith Alliance YouTube page.

Paul also shares his first-person experiences on the front lines with faith leaders from all over the country who gathered last week in Minneapolis to take a moral stand against the authoritarian atrocities being perpetrated by ICE in that community.

More about Maggie Siddiqi:

Maggie Siddiqi is senior advisor at Interfaith Alliance. She is an expert in faith-based advocacy for social change, coalition-building across lines of difference, and public policy on religious freedom and standing up against hate. Maggie is also a non-resident fellow at MPAC. She has held important faith-focused positions at the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education and at the Center for American Progress. Maggie served as emcee for the briefing, in addition to playing a key role in organizing the event itself.

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She stresses that not even the conservative Supreme Court has always sided with this administration and that lower court judges rejecting executive branch policies are sometimes Trump appointees themselves.

Skye and host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush talk about the essential role for people of all faith traditions and belief systems to hold fast to their values and teachings regardless of the forces buffeting society, and how important maintaining community connections is to get through the enormous challenges we are all facing right now.

"Courage is the new currency," Skye often says, and stresses that there are many, many ways for people of good conscience to get involved in the work of defending and rebuilding our democracy - including, admittedly, options that do involve personal risk.

Democracy Forward has just released its 2025 Impact Report, documenting how the power of people in courts and communities has, again and again, been victorious over the relentless power grab of this administration. Skye stresses that these successes have come, in great part, thanks to the intense preparation that was done ahead of the election, and that a proactive stance regarding what may come next continues to be essential.

It’s available at https://democracyforward.org/work/research/2025-impact-report/

More About Skye Perryman:

Skye L. Perryman is the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, communications, policy education, and research. Named as one of the 2025 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine, Skye took the helm at Democracy Forward a few months after January 6, 2021, in the midst of rising extremism in communities and courts across the country.

Skye has testified before the U.S. Congress and other expert bodies, and her legal work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as state supreme courts. She is a frequent guest on network and cable television news programs, and her work and commentary are routinely covered in national newspapers, newsmagazines, and radio broadcasts.

Skye Perryman is also an invaluable member of the Interfaith Alliance board.

More about Democracy Forward:

Since January 2025, Democracy Forward has played a leading role in inspiring courage and in protecting the American people from harmful and unlawful federal executive action. The organization has filed hundreds of legal actions, launched hundreds of investigations, and, through its Democracy 2025 initiative, has organized the largest, most successful affirmative litigation effort against executive branch excesses in United States history.

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Please forward this episode of The State of Belief to one person who would enjoy hearing this conversation - and thank you for listening!

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The discussion centers on the current authoritarian crisis engulfing their community, driven by ICE raids and systemic injustice. Each leader shares their insights on the role of faith in activism, the importance of community, and their personal experiences confronting violence and authoritarianism, both globally and locally. They also explore the historical context of displacement and oppression and the need for solidarity in these turbulent times.

The episode highlights the essential relationships strengthening and encouraging the work of our guests and every activist; the ways creative expression can support resilience; the gift that ritual can be in a time of chaos and crisis; and of course, the role faith can play for individuals and entire movements. The conversation offers valuable lessons on how to engage with and support marginalized communities even in this time of potential personal risk.

More About Our Guests:

Rev. Susie Hayward is minister for justice and formation at Creekside United Church of Christ in Minneapolis. She’s a religion and peace scholar, activist, educator, and minister, as well as a longtime leader in faith-based organizing and justice work. Susie spent 14 years at the US Institute of Peace.

Rev. Dr. Jia Starr Brown is an African American pastor, educator, author, and activist with more than three decades of experience advocating for underrepresented communities. With a heart for community and access for all, she stands - and activates - as a truth-teller at the intersection of faith, education, and justice.

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel is Pastor for Justice Ministries and Director of the Center for Sustainable Justice at Lyndale United Church of Christ, and adjunct faculty at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She’s the author of the book Carnal Knowledge of God: Embodied Love and the Movement for Justice.

Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs is a Mohican pastor, author, and environmental justice leader who works with Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. Formerly the Director of Racial Justice and Community Engagement for the Minnesota Council of Churches, Rev. Jim Bear weaves Indigenous spirituality, Christian faith, and climate justice into powerful teachings on healing, land, and community.

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The Intersection of Faith and Feminism: One of the most compelling aspects of The Testament of Ann Lee is its portrayal of a strong female figure in a religious leadership role. Alyssa notes that Ann Lee's story highlights how Christianity and feminism can coexist, challenging the often male-dominated narratives within religious traditions - but also illustrate the unfair gender-based challenges that she faced, and that continue to dominate much of organised religion today.

The Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom: Guthrie emphasizes the historical context of Ann Lee's journey, illustrating how her quest for religious freedom in the 1700s mirrors the ongoing struggles many face today. The film serves as a reminder that the fight for true religious freedom is not just about the freedom to practice one's faith but also about ensuring that this freedom extends to all, regardless of their beliefs. This is particularly relevant as we approach Religious Freedom Day on January 16th, a time to reflect on what religious freedom truly means in a diverse society.

Courage in the Face of Adversity: Both guests highlight the courage displayed by Ann Lee and her followers as they faced persecution for their beliefs. This theme of courage is not only relevant to the historical context of the Shakers but also resonates with contemporary movements advocating for social justice and equality. 

Listen to this episode and reflect on how these themes of faith, feminism, and freedom can inspire us in our own lives and communities. Let's continue the conversation about what it means to truly embrace religious freedom for everyone.

More About Our Guests:
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is vice president of program and strategy at Interfaith Alliance. Author of the book Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity, Guthrie holds an MDiv from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and is a fellow at the Center for American Progress Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative. Read Guthrie's column on The Testament of Ann Lee here.
Alyssa Klein is a journalist and the creative force behind Interfaith Alliance's social media strategy. With a focus on art, advocacy, and social change, she's worked for prominent causes including the Women's March on Washington. Her writing has appeared in Vice, among other periodicals.

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Our conversation highlights how religion has shaped key moments in recent American history. Adelle discusses her reporting on houses of worship in the Washington, D.C., area that rallied to support federal workers facing job losses, offering everything from legal help to counseling. Jack examines faith-based resistance to Trump-era immigration policies, including Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde’s widely noted Inauguration Day sermon and lawsuits brought by religious groups advocating for immigrant rights.

We also explore Black ministers pushing back against rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the growing influence of Christian Nationalism in government, and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. military chaplaincy. The episode touches on the election of Pope Leo, the first American pope, and what his leadership could mean for U.S. Catholics.

Throughout, Adelle and Jack share stories of courage, compassion, and activism within religious communities, underscoring the vital role faith continues to play in addressing social and political challenges.

More About Our Guests:

Adelle M. Banks is the projects editor and a national reporter for Religion News Service, where she has covered religion, race, the faith of African Americans, and partnerships between government and religious organizations since joining the organization in 1995. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, she has earned awards including the 2024 William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award. Adelle is co-author of the book Becoming a Future-Ready Church: 8 Shifts to Encourage and Empower the Next Generation of Leaders. 

Jack Jenkins is a national reporter for Religion News Service based in Washington, D.C., where he covers the intersection of religion and politics — with particular attention to U.S. Catholics and broader faith trends. He is the author of American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country. Jack holds degrees in history, religion and philosophy, and a Master of Divinity focused on Christianity, Islam, and media.

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Here are just three of the themes that stood out:

• The Resilience of Marriage Equality: Mary reflects on the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Kim Davis's attempt to challenge Obergefell v. Hodges (which Mary argued before the high court in 2015). Despite the fears surrounding the potential reversal of marriage equality, the unanimous decision from the Court signals a strong commitment to protecting the rights of same-sex couples. Mary emphasizes that the societal benefits of marriage—providing stability and protection for families—are too significant to overlook. This reinforces the idea that marriage equality is not just a legal issue but a fundamental aspect of human dignity and community well-being.
• The Role of Religious Communities: Ben highlights that not all religious individuals oppose LGBTQ+ rights. In fact, many religious communities are allies, advocating for equality and inclusion. This challenges the narrative that LGBTQ+ rights and religious freedom are inherently oppositional. By fostering dialogue within religious spaces, we can create a more inclusive environment that respects diverse identities and beliefs, ultimately enriching our communities.
• The Urgent Need for Advocacy in Education: Both Mary and Ben stress the critical situation facing LGBTQ+ youth, particularly transgender individuals, in schools. With increasing hostility and discrimination, many students are forced to seek education outside of traditional settings. This underscores the need for robust anti-discrimination policies and supportive educational environments. As advocates, we must work tirelessly to ensure that all students feel safe and valued in their schools, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone concerned with understanding the complexities of LGBTQ+ rights in today's society. Join us as we explore these pressing issues and discuss how we can all contribute to a more equitable future.

More about the guests:

Attorney Mary Bonauto has been with GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLADLaw) since 1990. She first fought for marriage equality in Massachusetts, as lead counsel in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.  She won, making that the first state to allow same-sex couples to marry, in 2004. In 2015, Mary was one of three attorneys who successfully argued before the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, leading to the expansion of the right to marry to all 50 states. Mary is a 2014 MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, and this past January, she received the Presidential Citizens Medal in a White House ceremony.

Ben Marcus is an attorney and Senior Constitutional Law Fellow at GLADLaw, the leading LGTBQ+ legal services and civil rights organization. Ben has a deep interest in the relationship between religion and law, with a JD from Yale Law School and a master’s from Harvard Divinity School. Ben has held multiple positions at the Freedom Forum since 2015.

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Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali community outside of Mogadishu. It’s centered on the Cedar-Riverside Community, which has long been a welcoming place for refugees and immigrants, from Jewish congregations and Protestant refugees to East African immigrants, particularly Somali Americans. The Somali Muslim community here is facing increased scrutiny and enforcement actions by ICE, alongside divisive political rhetoric. In fact, over 80% of the Somali community are U.S. citizens, challenging the justification for targeting them.

Najeeba celebrates the power of interfaith cooperation and unity in crisis, with powerful examples of interfaith gatherings, like a recent meeting hosted by a Muslim imam and a Christian pastor, attended by a supportive rabbi. Acts of emboldened empathy can look like simply showing up to support one another, like attending Friday prayers at mosques, can be a profound act of solidarity.

The appeal of collective punishment is a worrying trend Najeeba identifies across the political spectrum. She warns against narratives that justify collective punishment of entire communities based on the actions of a few. Instead, Najeeba calls for collective empowerment, moving beyond zero-sum thinking to embrace a collective, pluralistic approach to power-building and recognizing that individual and communal flourishing are interconnected.

The episode also features my conversation with Imam Ayman Soliman - granted asylum status way back in 2018 - a beloved chaplain at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital seized by ICE and held for ten weeks under threat of deportation. His case activated a wide interfaith network of support and concern.

You’ll also hear about a brand-new public campaign from Interfaith Alliance, a 30-second video ad highlighting the immorality and horror of ICE disrupting religious and secular celebrations of this special time of the year. You can view and share the ad on youtube. And sign your name to the Love, Not Ice campagin today.

More About Dr. Najeeba Syeed:

Najeeba is a celebrated peacemaker, educator, and scholar in interfaith studies and conflict resolution, serving as the inaugural El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director of the Interfaith Institute at Augsburg University. She has more than two decades of experience in mediation, restorative justice, and social equity work. With communities in Minnesota being targeted for capricious enforcement of ICE policies, it is invaluable to have an expert witness and effective leader to share her insights with us.

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Of the themes that emerged in the conversation, these were particularly notable:

• The Misuse of Scripture: Brian discusses how certain factions within Christianity, particularly Christian Nationalists, exploit biblical texts to promote a narrative of violence and division. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing these manipulations and encourages listeners to engage with the Bible in a more faithful and loving manner.
• The Role of Faith in Politics: We explore the troubling trend of intertwining faith with militarism, particularly in the context of the U.S. military. Brian highlights the monthly Pentagon prayer services led by fringe faith figures associated with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, preachers who promote a theology that justifies violence in the name of God.
• Courage in the Face of Oppression: One of the most inspiring parts of our discussion was Brian’s reflection on the growing movement of individuals standing up against Christian Nationalism. He shares examples of grassroots rallies where people are finding their voices and courage to advocate for a more inclusive and pluralistic society – and the courage they summon to do so.

Paul starts the episode with an urgent check-in with Rev. Noelle D'Amico, Director of Social Justice at the Workers Circle. The organization and its partners are bearing faithful witness to the human rights abuses being committed in Americans' name at the so-called Alligator Alcatraz in Florida as well as other shadowy detention centers.

The Rev. Dr. Brian Kaylor is president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way. He’s also an ordained Baptist minister and a prolific author.  His newest book, The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power, reveals how scripture is twisted to justify the politics of hate and division. The book is a master class in learning how to recognize these manipulations--and how to discover a more faithful way to read the Bible through the lens of Jesus' love and justice.

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Here are three key takeaways that resonated with me:

• The Importance of a Diverse Evangelical Voice: Gabriel emphasizes that Latino evangelicals are not a monolith. With over 10 million Latino Evangelicals in the US, it's crucial to recognize the diversity of thought and experience within this community. They are not just swing voters; they have their own unique voices and public policy priorities that extend beyond the traditional party lines. This diversity enriches the broader evangelical conversation and highlights the need for inclusive dialogue on issues that matter to all of us.
• Courage in Advocacy: Courage is a recurring theme in our discussion. Gabriel calls for faith leaders from all backgrounds to stand up for the marginalized, particularly immigrants facing unjust treatment. He shares powerful stories of families torn apart by indiscriminate immigration enforcement and the moral imperative for faith communities to respond with compassion and action. This episode serves as a reminder that true faith is not just about belief but also about living out those beliefs through advocacy and support for those in need.
• The Advent Welcome Campaign We also discuss the launch of the Advent Welcome Immigration Solidarity Initiative, "Room in the Inn." This campaign invites all faith leaders and communities to create space for immigrants and refugees during the Advent season. It’s a call to action that aligns with the core message of hospitality found in the Christian tradition. As Gabriel eloquently states, “When Jesus said, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’, he wasn’t kidding.” This initiative is a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility to welcome the stranger and uphold human dignity – especially at this time of the year.

Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero is a prominent Latino evangelical pastor and the founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC), a movement that is non-partisan, Biblical, Gospel-centered, pastoral, and rooted in the life of Christ. He was the former Director of the Hispanic Leadership Program (HLP), and the Institute for Faith and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary. He also leads a multicultural congregation as pastor of The Gathering Place, a Latino‑led Assemblies of God church in Orlando, Florida, alongside his wife, Rev. Jeanette Salguero.

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In this episode, we dive deep into her journey, the significance of her role, and the current state of faith in America. Here are three key takeaways that resonated with me:

• The Power of Belonging: Rev. Winnie emphasizes the importance of creating spaces where everyone feels they belong. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is not just a historic building; it serves as a beacon of hope and inclusivity for people from all walks of life.
• Integrating Identity and Faith: One of the most profound moments in the conversation is when Rev. Winnie shares her experience of realizing her call to the priesthood and embracing her identity as a queer woman. She highlights that these aspects of her life are not separate but are deeply intertwined. This integration of identity and faith is crucial for authentic ministry and serves as an inspiration for others navigating similar journeys.
• Responding to Current Challenges: In light of the rising tide of White Christian nationalism, Rev. Winnie calls for a proactive approach to ministry that emphasizes advocacy and community-building. She discusses the importance of addressing social justice issues through action and engagement, reminding us that faith must be lived out in tangible ways.

Don’t miss this enlightening conversation that challenges us to rethink our roles in our communities and the broader society.

More About the Very Rev. Winnie Varghese:

Rev. Winnie is the first female dean of the largest cathedral in the United States, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Varghese has held pastoral positions in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and at several other New York congregations.

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The ground covered includes:

The Subtle Erosion of Democracy: Maria emphasizes that democracies are not always dismantled through overt military coups; rather, they often face a slow, insidious decline. Authoritarian leaders can undermine democratic norms and institutions by eliminating checks and balances, weaponizing government agencies, and suppressing dissent.

The Power of Faith in Resistance: Throughout history, religious communities have played a pivotal role in resisting authoritarianism. Maria highlights how faith leaders and congregations are stepping up to provide moral support and physical presence in protests and acts of civil disobedience.

Courage in Action: Courage manifests in various forms, from speaking out against injustice to putting one’s body on the line for the sake of others. Maria reminds us that courage is contagious; when individuals see others taking a stand, it inspires them to do the same. This ripple effect is vital for sustaining movements and fostering a culture of resistance.

We encourage you to listen to this meaningful and timely episode, and reflect on how we can each contribute to the fight for democracy and justice.

About Dr. Maria J. Stephan

Maria is co-lead and chief organizer at the Horizons Project, which works on building inclusive democracy and dismantling tyranny through nonviolent action. She is a political scientist and co-author of the award-winning book Why Civil Resistance Works. Previously, Maria served as Director of the Program on Nonviolent Action at the U.S. Institute of Peace and held foreign affairs roles in the U.S. State Department.

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The Historical Roots of Separation: Randall emphasizes that the concept of separation of Church and State is not just a recent source of concern, but a foundational principle rooted in the diverse religious landscape of early America. The Founding Fathers, aware of the religious conflicts in Europe, sought to create a nation where no single religion would dominate.

The Threat of Majoritarianism: One of the most striking points Randall makes is the current Supreme Court's tendency to favor majoritarianism, particularly in matters of religion. He argues that the court's decisions often reflect the beliefs of a Christian majority, sidelining the rights of minority faiths and non-religious individuals.

The Call for Courage and Hope: In a time when religious freedom is under attack, Randall encourages us all to embrace small acts of resistance and to remain hopeful. He reminds us that courage can manifest in various forms, from participating in rallies to engaging in meaningful conversations about faith and democracy.

It’s an enlightening conversation with Dr. Balmer, as we navigate the complexities of faith, politics, and the future of our democracy. Together, we explore how we can uphold the separation of Church and State and ensure that all voices are heard in our society.

More about Randall Balmer

A prize-winning historian and Emmy Award nominee, a New York Times best-selling author, Randall Balmer holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth, the oldest endowed professorship at Dartmouth College. He's also an Episcopal priest, and as early as 1989, he was publishing books like Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into Evangelical Subculture in America, and Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts Faith and Threatens America. Most recently, Dr. Balmer published America's Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State, addressing some of the most foundational and endangered principles of our history and national identity.

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With 42 million Americans, including children, veterans, and working families, at risk of losing food benefits – ostensibly due to the government shutdown, a coalition led by the Rhode Island Council of Churches and Democracy Forward sued the administration to restore these benefits – and won.

Skye's message is clear: We can't wish our way out of challenging times - we must go through them, together, with courage and community. She stresses that “Courage is the new currency" for creating positive change, and legal action remains a powerful tool for protecting citizens' rights.

The episode begins with a short visit with Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, Senior Pastor at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. With the philosophy "Silence is not love", her congregation painted their church steps as a rainbow flag in an act of sacred resistance to Governor Abbott’s decree that rainbow-colored crosswalks must be removed from the state. This simple but powerful act can serve as inspiration for each of us to take action where we are, how we can.

About Skye Perryman and Democracy Forward:

Skye Perryman is a lawyer and the President & CEO of Democracy Forward, a non-partisan national legal organization. Under her leadership, Democracy Forward uses litigation, regulatory engagement, and policy work to defend democracy, protect civil rights and social progress, and challenge unlawful executive action.

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• The Power of Intentional Curiosity: Scott shares his transformative journey following a near-death experience due to asthma. This epiphany moment led him to make a profound commitment: to engage openly with discussions about religion and spirituality without sarcasm or dismissal. His intentional curiosity opened doors to understanding diverse beliefs and perspectives, showing that being open-hearted can lead to deeper connections and insights.
• Art as a Spiritual Medium: Throughout the conversation, Scott emphasizes the role of art in exploring spirituality. He believes that creativity can serve as a powerful conduit for understanding and expressing our beliefs. Whether through theater, comedy, or storytelling, art allows us to engage with complex themes of existence and morality.
• Navigating Life 's Challenges with Compassion: Scott's experiences in the competitive world of television, particularly on shows like Politically Incorrect, taught him the importance of compassion in every interaction. He shares how he strives to treat everyone—guests, colleagues, and audiences—with respect and love.

Be sure to hear this enlightening episode as we explore these themes and more! Scott’s insights are not only thought-provoking but also serve as a guide for navigating our own beliefs and interactions in a complex world.

More About Scott Carter and Ye Gods

Scott Carter is the creator, executive producer, and host of the Ye Gods with Scott Carter podcast, where he invites comedians, writers, thinkers, and artists to talk about belief, doubt, and the moral codes that guide them.

Scott has 21 Emmy nominations and many, many industry awards for his work in television, where he served as producer and writer for shows like Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and Real Time with Bill Maher. He's been a stand-up comedian. He's also a playwright whose works cover culture, spirituality, and storytelling. They've been produced in cities all across the US and abroad.

The Ye Gods podcast gets into the spiritual beliefs and guiding principles of a variety of guests, going in depth with notable individuals from various fields with no judgment and no agenda. Ye Gods is created with Southwest Florida's WGCU Public Media and is distributed by the NPR Network.

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The latest episode The State of Belief features Dr. Diana Butler Bass. As an award-winning author, speaker, and theologian, Diana brings a wealth of insight to the intersection of faith, spirituality, and contemporary issues. In this episode, we dive deep into her new book, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance, and explore the importance of community, the power of alternative narratives, and the call to courage in these challenging times.

The conversation includes:

• The Power of Gathering: Diana shares her journey of creating community through her online newsletter, The Cottage. Initially hesitant to see herself as a gatherer, she discovered the profound impact of bringing people together, especially during the isolating times of the pandemic.
• Reclaiming the Christian Calendar: Host Paul Brandeis Raushenbush and Diana discuss how the Christian calendar offers an alternative structure of time that can ground us in hope and resilience. She emphasizes that this calendar is not just a relic of the past but a living tradition that can help us navigate the complexities of our current world.
• Courage to Stand Against Injustice: Diana encourages us to tap into our best selves and draw inspiration from historical figures who have stood up for justice and peace. She reminds us that while Christianity has often been misused to support oppressive systems, there is a rich tradition of resistance and compassion within the faith. This call to courage is not just for Christians but for all of us, as we seek to help each other get through these challenging times.

It's a thought-provoking episode about exploring how we can reclaim our narratives, foster community, and find the courage to stand up for what is right.

Diana Butler Bass is an award-winning author, speaker, and theologian whose books include Christianity after Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, and Freeing Jesus, among many others. The latest, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance, will be published on November 4.

Her Substack, The Cottage, remains among the top five religion-oriented newsletters on the site.

Please share this episode with at least one person you think would enjoy the conversation!

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The latest episode of The State of Belief features the inspiring Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center of New York. Rev. Chloe and host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushebush dive deep into the intersection of faith, activism, and community engagement in today's complex landscape. Here are three key takeaways:

• The Power of Nonviolent Resistance: Rev. Chloe emphasizes the importance of nonviolence in our current socio-political climate. Drawing from historical figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., she highlights how faith communities can harness the strength of peaceful protest to stand against violence and injustice.
• Interfaith Collaboration is Essential: The episode sheds light on the vital role that interfaith work plays in fostering understanding and solidarity among diverse communities. Rev. Chloe shares insights from the Interfaith Center of New York, which has been a beacon of hope and collaboration since its founding.
• Courage in the Face of Adversity: Rev. Chloe speaks candidly about the weight of responsibility that comes with being a faith leader in today's world. She defines courage not just as the absence of fear, but as the willingness to act despite it. This perspective is particularly relevant as we navigate the challenges posed by authoritarianism and social division.

For 18 years, Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer has been leading the Interfaith Center of New York, the most religiously diverse and civically engaged network of grassroots and immigrant religious leaders across the five boroughs of New York City. Ordained in the Episcopal tradition, Rev. Chloe has also been a priest at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Harlem since 2011.

As a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she has participated in interfaith dialogues and humanitarian initiatives in countries such as Afghanistan and Iran. And Rev. Chloe served as a clergy advisor on transition teams for New York City's mayor and Manhattan District Attorney. Rev. Chloe is the daughter of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Please share this episode with one person you think would enjoy the conversation!

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·      The Power of Collective Action: Adam emphasizes that democracy is under threat, and now is the time to take to the streets and assert a commitment to a government "of the people, by the people, for the people." The No Kings demonstration is not just a protest; it's a celebration of democratic values and a powerful reminder that authoritarianism is not a foregone conclusion.

·      Faith as a Catalyst for Change: Adam highlights the essential role that people of faith play in social movements. Faith traditions have a rich history of advocating for justice, and by showing up, we can bring our moral voices to the forefront of the fight for democracy.

·      Know Your Rights and Stay Safe: In preparing for the NoKings demonstration, it's crucial to understand everyone’s fundamental rights as protesters. Adam reminds us that the rights to free speech, assembly, and religious expression are fundamental to our identity as Americans.

Don’t miss the Interfaith Alliance webinar on The Sacred Tradition of Protest on Tuesday, October 14th.  All the details are available at interfaithalliance.org

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Celina traces her own journey from discovering the League during her college years to leading it as a voting rights attorney. She reflects on the League's history, including its founding in 1920 and its progressive role in enfranchising women and marginalized communities. She emphasizes the organization’s current focus on voter protection and civic courage in the face of modern voter suppression tactics.

Celina advocates for widespread participation in democracy through actions like the League's “Unite and Rise 8.5” initiative, aiming to mobilize millions of voters, as well as the national Vote 411 campaign. The conversation also highlights the importance of knowledge in reducing misinformation as well as combating disinformation, and underscores the civic duty to show up courageously against injustices – even if one has to do it in circumstances that can sometimes be scary.

The episode also includes the comments of Lt. Gen. Charles D. Luckey (Ret.), reacting to the extraordinary gathering of our military's leaders from around the world to hear remarks from Secretary Pete Segheth and the nation's commander-in-chief.

 More about Celina Stewart

Celina joined the League in 2018 as director of advocacy and litigation, and later served as senior director and chief counsel. Appointed CEO just three months before the 2024 election, she guided the organization through one of the most consequential election cycles in modern history. A creative legal strategist, Celina has led litigation to protect voters from intimidation and disinformation. Before joining the League, she served as chief operating officer and director of philanthropy at FairVote, where she advanced structural election reform and organizational growth.

More about Charles D. Luckey

Lt. Gen. Charles D. Luckey (Ret.) served in the US Army and Army National Guard for 43 years. He retired from the Army as its oldest Green Beret in uniform after serving as the Commanding General of the United States Army Reserve Command from 2016 to 2020. Charles is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law.

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Most of this episode was recorded live in Dallas, Texas, at a Religious Freedom in Public Schools Summit convened by Interfaith Alliance. In dialogue with host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, who moderated the conversation, Rabbi Sharon stresses how important separation of Church and State has been to the full inclusion of people who confess minority religions, including Judaism, in our country. A cornerstone of that is ensuring that public education remains a neutral ground where children from diverse backgrounds can learn together.

Randi highlights the immense pressure placed on teachers when faced with mandates for religious instruction. Teachers find themselves in a challenging position, often caught between differing parental beliefs and the need to create an inclusive environment for all students. Randi emphasizes the importance of supporting our educators, ensuring they have the resources and backing to foster critical thinking and respect for diverse beliefs without imposing any one ideology.

Then we hear Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, offer eye-opening facts about the shifting global landscape of democracy. Marking International Democracy Day, Skye offers vital insights into how grassroots activism can counter the global drift toward autocracy - a trend affecting countries across the globe, including the United States, where she sees it playing out in public education policies, among other places. With compelling urgency, she underscores the importance of confronting extremism, misinformation, and regressive judicial decisions that threaten the very core of democratic principles, and the role of public schools in that struggle.

More about the speakers:

The longtime leader of the largest LGBTQ synagogue in the world, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City, Rabbi Sharon holds the title of Senior Rabbi Emerita and is now leading The Beacon, a nationwide grassroots movement of public witness.

Rabbi Sharon is married to Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. AFT represents 1.8 million educators and health care professionals across the country. Randi has just released a brand-new book, titled Why Fascists Fear Teachers.

Skye Perryman is the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, “working tirelessly every day to safeguard our enduring, yet fragile, democracy.” That’s the description Time Magazine included in listing Skye as one of the 100 most influential people of 2025.

We hope you'll take the time to listen - and share this insightful episode with at least one person you think would benefit from hearing it!

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The episode also ventures into the complex territory of Jewish identity and advocacy amid the ever-shifting political landscape. Jonathan candidly addresses the emotional and ethical dilemmas tied to Israel's policies, especially concerning Gaza and the potential for a Palestinian state, and how these issues resonate with the broader Jewish community. Highlighting the strength and guidance found in both religious and cultural Judaism, he also emphasizes the indispensable role of interfaith solidarity, particularly between Jewish and Christian communities, in combating antisemitism and advocating for peace. Jonathan's call for perseverance, respect, and open dialogue within the Jewish community itself offers a powerful reminder of the importance of unity and understanding in addressing both internal and external challenges.

About Jonathan Jacoby:

Jonathan is the National Director of the Nexus Project. He was the founding Executive Director of the New Israel Fund and founding President of the Israel Policy Forum. He also held leadership positions at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and Americans for Peace Now. Jonathan has pioneered new models for public-private partnerships in the field of rare disease research as a co-founder of SOAR (Support Of Accelerated Research.)

About the Nexus Project:

The Nexus Project works to fight antisemitism, uphold democracy, and protect free speech - and recognizes that these tasks are intertwined. The Nexus team takes all accusations of antisemitism seriously, which is why they also speak out when fears of antisemitism are cynically exploited to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel or US policy. The Nexus Document is a framework for understanding antisemitism, Israel, and Zionism, detailing what does and what does not constitute antisemitism.

We hope you'll take the time to listen - and share this timely episode with at least one person you think would appreciate hearing it!

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The conversation covers challenges faced by libraries, including censorship and misinformation, and the essential role libraries play in supporting democracy, freedom of expression, and education. Paul and Sam also underscore the importance of faith communities in supporting libraries and librarians, suggesting practical steps like using libraries, joining library boards, advocating against censorship - and of course, getting a library card!

Interfaith Alliance, together with Unite Against Book Bans, has released a resource titled Banned Books, Banned Beliefs, and is preparing to roll out a major initiative, Faith for Libraries. And as Paul says, there is so much to learn about the American Library Association’s work at www.ala.org.

Sam Helmick (they/them) is the 2025-26 president of the American Library Association. Sam is a librarian, advocate, and community leader known for their work defending intellectual freedom and expanding library access.

We'd love to have you listen to and share this gripping episode with at least one person you think would appreciate hearing it!

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In this episode, Keya and host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush take an unflinching look at the current challenges facing Washington DC and the broader implications for democracy and civil liberties. Here are three key takeaways that are particularly noteworthy:

• The Importance of Listening and Believing: Keya emphasizes the critical need to take political rhetoric seriously. She highlights how the warnings from political leaders about authoritarianism should not be dismissed as mere rhetoric. Instead, we must listen and prepare for the potential consequences of their actions.

• Community and Collective Action: One of the most inspiring aspects of the conversation is Keya's focus on the strength of community. She shares how the people of DC and diverse organizations—including faith groups - are coming together to resist federal overreach and protect their rights. From training sessions to grassroots organizing, the emphasis on collective action is vital. As Keya states, "It is only in community that we will turn this around."

• Prioritizing Joy in Activism: Keya reminds us of the importance of joy in our activism. She discusses how Free DC incorporates joy into their organizing efforts, emphasizing that taking care of ourselves and each other is crucial for sustaining long-term resistance. This perspective is a reminder that while we fight for justice, we must also celebrate our victories and find joy in our shared humanity.

After hearing this episode, you’ll have a deeper understanding of the current state of Washington DC, and the inspiring work being done by Free DC. The experiences Keya describes are a stark warning for other American cities, and for each of us. Learn more about the organization at www.freedcproject.org

Keya Chatterjee has an impressive background in social and climate justice, having previously led the U.S. Climate Action Network, worked at World Wildlife Federation, USAID, and NASA. Under her leadership, Free DC has become a prominent voice opposing federal overreach - a very big job indeed, in the face of the Trump Administration’s forcing federal law enforcement on the district and expanding detention powers.

Before the in-depth conversation with Keya Chatterjee, Paul spends a few minutes with Rev. Andy Oliver, pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church. He and a fellow clergyman were arrested this past week in St. Petersburg, Fla., while praying on a “Black History Matters” street mural - that was about to be destroyed - in front of the city’s Woodson African American Museum.

We'd love to have you listen to and share this thought-provoking episode with at least one person you think would appreciate hearing it.

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Three important additional points that emerge from the conversation:

• The Invisible Influence of Christian Hegemony: Talia discusses how Christian hegemony often goes unnoticed by those who grew up within it, while it remains glaringly obvious for those outside the faith - especially when it becomes more militant. This awareness is crucial for understanding the current political landscape and the implications of Christian nationalism.
• The Authoritarian Family Structure: One of the most striking aspects of Talia's research is her examination of how authoritarian parenting styles within certain Christian communities can shape broad societal attitudes. She highlights the works of influential figures like James Dobson, who died earlier this month. She sees his teachings on child-rearing as promoting a model of obedience and submission that can lead to accepting authoritarianism in adulthood.
• The Need for a Diverse Coalition Against Extremism: Talia emphasizes the importance of embracing a cacophony of voices in the fight against the rigid and coordinated forces of the Christian right. She advocates for a coalition that includes people of various faiths and those with no faith at all, working together to uphold the values of a multiracial democracy.

We'd love to have you listen to and share this thought-provoking episode and reflect on these critical issues. Talia's newsletter is titled The Sword and the Sandwich.

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Listen for an in-depth look at:
• Interfaith America’s work on managing conflict in classrooms and workplaces, creating opportunities for groups to move beyond just coexisting and rather collaborating for a common cause.
• How the inspiration of Live Aid and Adam’s past experience in leadership at USAID during the Biden-Harris administration, as well as as a faith leader, inform his current position as CEO at Interfaith America.
• Navigating our polarized environment: “We find ourselves at a crossroads of sorts where the politicization of a number of our traditions has become quite difficult and untenable. But I keep trying to come at this with some sense of curiosity and not contempt.”

Where to find Adam:
• Check out his book, Love, Light, Joy & Justice: How To Be A Christian Now
• Embrace the “power of pluralism,” and get involved with Interfaith America.
• Hear more from Adam in his Ted Talk, “Inclusion: the ancient idea that just might save all of us.”

There’s a lot to learn from this conversation. I hope you’ll share it with someone you know who’ll enjoy hearing it!

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This week on The State of Belief, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush sits down with Ani Zonneveld,  feminist Muslim activist, musician, and Grammy-winning songwriter. Ani’s journey from Malaysia to Germany, Egypt, India and eventually Los Angeles - and the lessons learned along the way - is nothing short of inspiring. And she lays it all out in her brand-new memoir, titled The Unlikely Social Justice Warrior: Making My Life Count as a Muslim Feminist.

As a diplomat’s daughter, Ani nurtured her social justice consciousness despite a privileged upbringing. From witnessing the aftermath of the Sinai War to playing soccer with a Dalit child in India, these moments shaped her anti-war and anti-racist beliefs.

It was after 9/11 that Ani delved deep into Islam, discovering its egalitarian and inclusive roots and founding Muslims for Progressive Values, championing LGBTQ+ inclusion, gender equality, and human rights from a faith-based perspective.

Music is a cornerstone of Ani’s spiritual journey. While pursuing a professional music career in LA, she faced sexism and racism, and experienced suppression of the diverse musical heritage of Muslim immigrants in the American context. Ani sees a conservative swing in Islam, which she describes as quite different from the religious tradition she grew up in.

Ani hopes to inspire young people to channel their anger constructively and build alliances across differences, based on being exposed as students to diverse cultures and traditions in public schools, countering conservative efforts to restrict such content.

There’s a lot of value in this conversation. I hope you’ll share it with someone you know who’ll enjoy hearing it!

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"I was raised in a Christianity that was about service, that was about love, that was about forgiveness, that guided us to the margins. What are you doing for the least among us? Are you welcoming the stranger? Are you caring for the poor? Are you trying to help those who are hated and despised on the lowest rungs? Because that was Jesus's whole ministry. You reach out to the marginalized.”

“And, of course, as you know, the nice Christians don't get the airtime. You don't see the Christians on cable news talking about how war is bad or how homophobia is bad. You see the other kind - because villains make for better TV than nice people.”

- Actor, author, comedian, commentator John Fugelsang.

• You can preorder his book that comes out September 9th,  Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds
• Check out his daily show Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang on Sirius/XM
• Subscribe to his Substack to get political commentary right to your inbox.
• Keep up with his almost-daily podcast, the Sanity-Cast, which covers politics, religion, and pop culture.

Also in this episode: an excerpt of Texas State Rep. James Talarico's definition of Christian Nationalism from a public conversation last week with Interfaith Alliance Vice President of Programs and Strategy Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, who's also a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The event was co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Interfaith Alliance. The full recording is available here.

Please share this episode with one person who would enjoy hearing this conversation, and thank you for listening!

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Despite the administration's rhetoric about protecting religious liberty, their actual immigration policies have been directly attacking faith communities. Paul and Liz discuss the revocation of the “sensitive locations” policy, which previously protected places like houses of worship from ICE enforcement actions. This has had a direct impact on people of faith feeling safe to practice their religion in community. Faith leaders like Bishop Marion Budde have been targeted for their modest pleas consistent with gospel teachings. This administration has even gone after Catholic bishops for simply caring for refugees and immigrants.

Faith communities have long been central to immigration justice movements, from the sanctuary movement of the 1980s to organizations like HIAS, which started by helping persecuted Jews during the 1880's and now supports refugees of all faiths. They explore the question of whether religious freedom is being applied equally to all faiths or just a narrow slice of the Christian right. This is a crucial point in understanding the broader implications of religious liberty claims. There’s been an increase in litigation tactics relying on the expansive interpretation of religious liberty created under the Roberts Court. Paul and Liz discuss cases like Masterpiece Cakeshop and how these precedents intersect with immigration contexts.

Elizabeth Reiner Platt has been leading the Law, Rights & Religion Project since 2015. Her publications have included the report, “Whose Faith Matters? The Fight for Religious Liberty Beyond the Christian Right”, which is just incredibly relevant today. Liz is a legally trained scholar and advocate who leads efforts to reframe religious liberty in the U.S., especially in relation to gender justice, reproductive rights, and racial equity. Just last month, the Law, Rights & Religion Project moved from Columbia Law School  to Union Theological Seminary in New York, and this week it published Liz’s latest comprehensive report, titled Religious Liberty & Immigration: Legal Analysis of Past and Future Claims.

If you enjoy the episode, please consider sharing it with your friends and family. Your support helps us continue these important conversations!

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Paul and Jay dive deep into the ongoing saga surrounding the Epstein files and the implications for the current administration. They explore the ambivalence many progressives feel about discussing this topic, especially when there are so many pressing issues at hand. However, Jay argues that understanding the Epstein case is crucial, not just for its political ramifications but also for the fundamental issues of trust and transparency that it raises.

You'll hear about the legal maneuvers surrounding the Epstein case, including the recent attempts to unseal grand jury transcripts and what that could mean for accountability. Jay provides clarity on the complex legal landscape and the potential consequences for those involved, including Donald Trump. Paul and Jay also reflect on the broader implications for democracy and the role of higher education. Jay shares his thoughts on how the current administration is reshaping the federal government and the challenges we face as a society.

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson is the author of ten books and a journalist whose work appears on CNN, in Rolling Stone, and in his weekly Substack newsletter, Both/And with Jay Michaelson. For twenty years, Jay's work has focused on the intersections of politics and religion.

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On this Independence Day episode, Paul and his guest, who is president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), explore:

• PRRI’s recent polling on the Trump Administration: “Democracy at Crossroads: How Americans View Trump’s first 100 Days in Office,” and some of the misconceptions that have arisen.
• From De Tocqueville to Trump, how the notion of “creed” has developed over time, shaping the current state of religious freedom in America. 
• How we can meaningfully celebrate Juneteenth and July 4th together - and why we should!

Towards the end of the episode, Robby leaves us with a powerful reminder of civic responsibility: “... whether it's inside a home, inside a business, inside a church or a synagogue or a mosque, there are roles for all of us to play because there is a fight going on, for - I know Biden used this term maybe a little too much, but I do think it's true - this kind of the soul of America really is, in many ways, at stake right now.”

Where to find Robby Jones:

• Bookmark the PRRI website, where a wealth of invaluable research is regularly posted for free.
• Check out Robby’s bestselling books, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy, and the Path to a Shared American Future; White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity; and The End of White Christian America.
• Subscribe to his Substack, White Too Long, where he frequently posts on religion, White Christian Nationalism, and protecting a pluralistic democracy.

Have you heard these recent episodes of The State of Belief? 

• June 24, 2024: On Diversity and Democracy with Wajahat Ali
• June 14, 2025: A Pastor Reports from the Front Lines in Los Angeles: Faith and Immigration

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Life is more than serving a cause we believe in, no matter how urgent that may be. And so they reflect on balancing professional aspirations with personal commitments. Waj opens up about his daughter’s passion for dance and her journey as a cancer survivor, juxtaposed with his career in writing and advocacy. They also tackle the power of storytelling in political activism and its role in challenging misinformation and fear-based tactics.

The conversation delves into important themes, including:

• Navigating Patriotism, Diversity, and Democracy: Paul and Waj discuss the challenges faced by immigrants and citizens in a fascist political climate, emphasizing the importance of ethical grounding and personal responsibility.
• Finding Purpose and Superpowers: Waj has inspiring things to say about the roles available to each of us, if we’re truly interested in making a difference. There are strengths everyday citizens bring, even if that’s integrity and honesty as an act of resistance to corruption and lies.
• Christian Nationalism and Authoritarianism: Christian Nationalism demands the suppression of diverse stories in the service of a single self-serving narrative. It uses fear and ignorance to advance a specific  kind of White Christian agenda, targeting, in turn, LGBTQ, Black, Muslim, and Jewish communities – and leaving no room, in the end, even for dissenting White Christians like Mike Pence.

Wajahat Ali is the author of Go Back to Where You Came From and Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become an American. He has a very popular Substack, The Left Hook With Wajahat Ali, and co-hosts The Democracy-ish Podcast.

Waj is a Daily Beast columnist, a writer, television commentator and keen observer of what this country seems to be doing to itself. The child of immigrants, he's an invaluable contributor to the conversation around patriotism, diversity and democracy.

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• The Reality of Court Raids: Noel shares firsthand accounts of ICE agents conducting raids at courthouses, targeting asylum seekers who are simply following the legal process. This alarming trend highlights the urgent need for awareness and action within our communities.
• The Power of Faith Communities: Throughout the episode, the focus is on the vital role that faith leaders and religious organizations play in advocating for immigrant rights. Noel emphasizes the importance of building relationships with impacted communities and using our moral voices to challenge unjust policies.
• The Broader Fight for Democracy: The conversation also touches on the intersection of immigration and democracy. Noel articulates how the current administration's tactics are part of a larger strategy to destabilize democratic values. This is a call to action for all of us to engage in the fight for democracy, not just for immigrants but for the integrity of our society as a whole.

The episode wraps up with Paul’s words from the June 10th Faith Rally for a Moral Budget at the US Capitol, as well as a conversation he recorded at that event with two of the leaders attending from Iowa: Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Executive Director Connie Ryan and Rev. Heather Wachendorf.

Listen to this powerful episode and reflect on how you can contribute to the ongoing struggle for justice and equality. Together, we can amplify the voices of those who are often silenced and work towards a more inclusive future.

Rev. Noel Andersen is the National Field Director for Church World Service where he has developed a national network of faith communities taking action in solidarity with immigrants and refugees. He is ordained in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and is the lead organizer and co-founder of the UCC National Collaborative on Immigration, a grassroots network of UCC leaders taking action for immigrants’ rights. Noel works at the intersection of faith and justice, mobilizing religious communities to resist unjust immigration enforcement, including ICE raids in Los Angeles and beyond.

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Leah traces the origins of Indivisible, where she serves as co-executive director, back to authoring The Indivisible Guide in the wake of the 2016 election. The conversation highlights the importance of:

• The Power of Local Organizing: Leah emphasizes how grassroots movements can effectively challenge the status quo. After the 2016 election, many individuals who had never been politically active stepped up to organize in their communities. This surge of local activism powered the growth of Indivisible, and it continues to be a driving force in the fight for democracy today.

• Building Coalitions Across Differences: To be seen as serious, a coalition needs diverse voices and perspectives. Leah points out that while we may not agree on every issue, we can unite around shared values, such as the dignity of all human life and the commitment to a pluralistic democracy. This approach is essential, especially in a time when divisiveness can easily fracture movements.

• Mobilization as a Strategy: Leah shares insights on the significance of mass mobilization in the current political climate. With the upcoming No Kings initiative, Indivisible aims to demonstrate that there is a strong and growing opposition to authoritarianism. Mobilization is not just about numbers; it's about sending a message, building community, and preparing for future actions. As Leah noted, "We are building muscles to mobilize," which is crucial for sustaining momentum in the fight for democracy.

Leah Greenberg is co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, a grassroots movement with over one million participants – and counting. A former congressional staffer, she co-authored We Are Indivisible: A Blueprint for Democracy After Trump. Leah has been recognized for her leadership in civic engagement and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2019. Indivisible is partnering with many groups - including Interfaith Alliance - for the upcoming No Kings initiative on June 14, 2025.

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Just a couple of highlights:

• How Can Faith and Action Unite? Jim connects the Christian tradition of Pentecost and the current moment we find ourselves in. Just as the early followers of Jesus found courage to speak out in the streets, we too are called to rise above fear and take action. This event is not just a protest; it’s a public witness to our values as people of faith, transcending partisan politics.
• Why is the Budget a Moral Document? Wallis emphasizes that the choices we make in our budgets reflect our values and priorities as a society. So we’re not just advocating for specific programs; we’re advocating for a moral budget that aligns with the teachings of Jesus and supports the most vulnerable among us.
• What Does a Call to Collective Action Look Like? There are still ways for all of us to engage in the democratic process. Whether you can attend the event in person or not, there are numerous ways to participate. From writing letters to your senators to mobilizing your community, every action counts. Jim reminds us that moments like these can change the narrative and impact votes. Together, we can show that faith communities are not silent but are actively engaged in shaping a more just and compassionate society.

You’ll also hear an excerpt from Sen. Cory Booker’s marathon Senate speech last month, where he and Sen. Chris Coons raised up Scripture as a guide toward the values our federal budget should truly embody as a moral document.

Listen to this episode and join in this important movement. Let’s come together to advocate for a budget that reflects our shared values and supports those in need. The Pentecost Witness for a Moral Budget is Tuesday, June 10th, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Rev. Jim Wallis is the founder of Sojourners Magazine and the Sojourners Christian Community, and has been at the forefront of bringing together faith and social justice activism for decades, advocating for for issues such as racial equality, poverty alleviation, peace, and environmental stewardship as a preacher, teacher, best-selling author, and theologian. He currently serves as the founding Director of the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University. Jim’s books include God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, and The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy.

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In a powerful response, Interfaith Alliance is bringing together an amazing coalition of leaders and communities around the urgent call to Recommit to Pride - and we are encouraging people from all backgrounds to sign the Recommit to Pride Pledge.

This week on The State of Belief, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, a true pioneer in progressive activism and LGBTQ+ inclusion within the Jewish community. Rabbi Kleinbaum has dedicated her life to creating spaces of faith and support for marginalized communities, and her insights are more relevant now than ever.

In this in-depth conversation, you’ll hear all about:

• The Power of Community and Action: Rabbi Kleinbaum emphasizes that while no one can do everything, everyone can do something. This mantra has guided her throughout her journey, from her early days in the LGBTQ+ movement to her current role as the director of The Beacon, a multi-faith initiative aimed at mobilizing communities in response to political challenges.
• Joy Amidst Struggle: One of the most profound lessons offered is the importance of making room for joy, even in the face of suffering. Rabbi Kleinbaum highlights how both the Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities have historically used humor and celebration as tools for survival. She reminded us that while we must acknowledge the pain and challenges we face, we also have a responsibility to nurture our spirits and find joy in our lives.
• Engagement in the Present Moment: Rabbi Kleinbaum's work with The Beacon encourages each of us to take an active role in our communities. By participating in local actions and expressing a vision for a better future, we can create a "split screen" that showcases both the challenges we face, and the hope we hold.

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is a fixture in Jewish life, progressive activism, and interfaith organizing in New York City and far beyond. She led the largest LGBTQ synagogue in the world, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, from 1992 – 2024 with a powerful message of inclusivity, social justice and spiritual resistance. From service and support to the most marginalized during the height of the AIDS crisis, to the devastation of the first Trump administration, Rabbi Sharon brought courage and wisdom to her decades of leadership at CBST, where she now holds the title of Rabbi Emerita. Today she serves as director of The Beacon, and teaches at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Boston.

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With a career that’s equal parts military precision and legal acumen, Lt. Gen. Luckey provides an unparalleled perspective on the challenges confronting democratic institutions today. Raised by politically diverse parents, he sees this moment and this country in a resolutely nonpartisan way. And that also leads Lt. Gen. Luckey to be able to see profound opportunity for faith communities in this time of turmoil and division. Through the lens of a former judge advocate, the conversation expands to explore the core values underpinning lawful military orders and civil service oaths. These insights underscore the enduring necessity of character and integrity across both military and civilian spheres.

Are we in a constitutional crisis? Not yet, he says. But we’re getting closer. Quoting a conservative circuit court judge, Lt. Gen. Luckey finds both inspiration and a warning that goes far beyond partisanship, right to the heart of both: the love of country, and the love of neighbor.

Retired Lt. Gen. Charles Luckey is the former Chief of the United States Army Reserve. In that position, he was responsible for manning, training, and equipping a force of more than 200,000 Soldiers and civilians across 50 states, five territories, and more than 30 countries. Having completed three combat tours, Lt. Gen. Luckey is a practicing attorney and a leading voice for American values at home and around the world. He regularly shares his insights on his LinkedIn page.

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Kelly shares her personal experiences and insights on the emotional impact of censorship, the importance of diverse stories, and how communities can come together to support libraries and schools. The discussion includes practical steps each of us can take, such as attending library board meetings, writing letters of support, and engaging in local elections to protect the freedom to read.

Later, Paul is joined by Rev. Amos Brown, the longtime president of the NAACP of San Francisco and a lifelong civil rights leader. He tells the story of loaning the Smithsonian Institution precious personal items – a historical Bible and the first book about Black American history – and how, seemingly in implementing an anti-diversity executive order, the Smithsonian attempted to return them. (He notes that most recently, there seems to be movement toward reversing this decision.)

Kelly Jensen is editor at Book Riot, the largest independent editorial book site in North America. Her weekly newsletter tracking violations of the right to read and opportunities for advocacy is titled Literary Activism.

Rev. Dr. Amos Brown is a longtime pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, a congregation attended by Vice President Kamala Harris. One of the very few students at Morehouse College who were taught by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Amos serves as president of the NAACP San Francisco branch.

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The St. Isidore case originated in Oklahoma, and Shannon is intimately familiar with its history and its significance for anyone concerned with the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. The background she reveals makes clear exactly why this is such a big deal.

Most recently, Rev. Fleck was chosen to serve as executive director of Faithful America, the largest online community of Christians advocating for social justice. It’s an incredibly difficult time to step into that kind of role, but our conversation shows why she was called to this role, and how prepared she is to take it on. Shannon openly discusses the difficulties caused by Christian Nationalism and unequal treatment of different belief traditions, emphasizing the vital role that faith-based alliances play in uplifting underrepresented voices and fending off political pressure.

Shannon’s call to “know your neighbor” is an invaluable reminder that deep connections can still thrive even in a time of seemingly unbridgeable division.

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Among the important topics they cover:

• Why Jewish safety and democracy are intertwined
• How genuine concerns about antisemitism are being hijacked to undermine civil liberties and democratic institutions
• How to respond during this critical moment 

Our voices are wonderful tools for change, and we must never stop using them to counteract hate and extremism in all its forms. Please listen to this episode and reflect on these essential themes. What Amy has to say is not just applicable to the Jewish community but to everyone interested in democracy, justice, and the welfare of humanity.

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On this special episode of The State of Belief, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes Father James Martin, a Roman Catholic priest, author, and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in the Church. Father Jim shares his experiences meeting Pope Francis, discussing LGBTQ issues and receiving the pope’s unwavering support for that ministry, and highlights the late Pope's commitment to the poor and marginalized. Reflecting on Pope Francis's legacy, Father Jim, a fellow Jesuit, emphasizes his empathetic leadership and pivotal encyclicals on the environment and brotherhood. The discussion also touches on current challenges facing the Church and hopes for its future direction.

Father James Martin is editor-at-large of America Magazine, the Jesuit Review of Faith and Culture. He’s also an influential moral voice for the inclusion of LGBTQI+ Catholics in the full life of the Church, and a hero to many. A papally-appointed consultant to the Vatican, Father Martin is the author of numerous books, including Jesus: a Pilgrimage; Learning to Pray; and Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity.

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That includes urgent warning signs such as the deportation of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, and the potential invocation of the Insurrection Act, and the dismantling of DEI initiatives while at the same time installing Orwellian anti-anti-Christian campaigns in government agencies. Paul’s call is for everyone to take action and stand up against authoritarianism while coming together to support one another and uphold the values of democracy and compassion.

Raising up voices of hope and courage, Paul shares excerpts from a past Easter program with Bishop Mariann Budde, who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC. She reflects on the difficult lessons of the holiday in the context of modern-day America, and the courage exhibited by those being sacrificed then as well as now.

We hear from Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, about the significance of Passover and the importance of interfaith collaboration in the fight for justice.

And we celebrate with Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister of Middle Collegiate Church, who offers a powerful reflection on Easter and the theme of rebirth as her congregation celebrates the reopening of their church after a devastating fire.

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The episode examines the role of race in contemporary politics, highlighting how xenophobia and White Christian Nationalism intersect with the actions of the current administration. Dr. Dyson underscores the importance of faith communities rising up and embodying the principles of love and liberation, urging them to speak out against injustice and advocate for the vulnerable.

Throughout the discussion, Dr. Dyson highlights the necessity of moral clarity and encourages listeners to actively participate in the democratic process through voting and local governance. He also delivers a powerful call to action, urging listeners to voice their opposition to evil (“VOTE”) and recognize the ongoing struggle for justice as a vital component of a functioning democracy. His words serve as a timely reminder of the collective responsibility to create a more equitable society.

White Christian nationalism makes one thing clear that we should not be mistaken about. The real religion is whiteness, not Christianity. White Christian Nationalism should be WHITE Christian Nationalism, or WHITE Christian NATIONALISM, right? That's where the emphasis is. This is a nationalist project motivated by a xenophobic passion, a protectionist concept of America, and trying to have a society that fails to make a distinction between patriotism and nationalism.

Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is a renowned scholar, author, and public intellectual whose work sits at the intersection of race, politics, and culture. A professor at prestigious institutions like Georgetown and Vanderbilt, he has spent decades examining the complexities of racial justice, the power of rhetoric, and the role of faith in social movements. As an ordained minister and cultural critic, he brings a unique perspective to discussions on spiritual resistance and activism.

At Venderbilt, Dr. Dyson holds the Centennial Chair and serves as University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Science, and University Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Society in the Divinity School. He's the author of many influential books like Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America and Unequal: A Story of America. His most recent is Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote.

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In this episode, we discuss the alarming state of our nation, where people are being marginalized, and our democratic values are under threat. We hear from thought leaders like Maria J. Stephan (Horizons Project), who emphasizes the historical significance of faith communities in pro-democracy movements worldwide, and the importance of coming together to resist authoritarianism.

You will also hear the inspiring voices of Rahna Epting (MoveOn) and Leah Greenberg (Indivisible); Bishop Dwayne Royster (Faith In Action);  Wa’el Alzayat (Engage); Jamie Bieran (Bend the Arc Jewish Action); and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (Poor Peoples’ Campain, Kairos Center), who share their insights on the power of collective action and the need for solidarity across different faith traditions. They remind us that we are not alone in this fight and that together, we can make a difference.

As we prepare for the upcoming Hands-Off Day of Action on April 5th, this episode serves as a rallying cry for all of us to stand up for our rights, our communities, and our democracy. With over 430,000 RSVPs already, this is shaping up to be the largest single day of protest since the inauguration.

Join us as we reflect on the courage and resilience of faith communities throughout history and how we can channel that spirit into action today. Be inspired to take part in the movement for justice and democracy. Together, we can show that our voices matter and that we will not back down in the face of adversity.

Video of this conversation is available on YouTube.

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Chase Strangio discusses the broader societal implications of controlling people's bodies and families: “Control over the body and control over the family is a central tool of authoritarian regimes in order to control society at large. There is a need to control people's imagination, people's sense of what they can do with their bodies, what they can do with their desire, and what they can do with their families.” Tahil Sharma underscores the importance of clear communication and solidarity between different communities, stressing, “Religious folks, faith leaders, folks within faith institutions and communities need to do a better job at translating between communities so we can really understand how we can build solidarity…We need to be so clear that if we need to build solidarity, we need to make sure people understand that we're standing with them.”

Jon Cohen, highlighting a simple fact that often goes overlooked, says, “A majority of people of faith support LGBTQ non-discrimination, and that's really showing up in the work... And it feels like a privilege to be able to do this work and to be able to channel our energy to do something about it, and to really put our resources to making things better for the LGBTQ community.” Ross Keys emphasizes the need to be carefully strategic and self-aware in activism, saying, "Understand your limits. Focus. If you think you can work on all the bills, you're going to watch them all pass by and not get a thing done – and you're probably going to get burned out at the same time."

Chase Strangio is co-director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project and a nationally-recognized expert on transgender rights. Chase’s work includes impact litigation, as well as legislative and administrative advocacy, on behalf of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV across the United States. He's the first transgender attorney to argue a case in front of the US Supreme Court.

Tahil Sharma is the faith director at the National LGBTQ Task Force and has been dedicated to the work of interfaith cooperation and social justice for over ten years. Born to a Sikh mother and a Hindu father, Tahil’s inter-religious upbringing in Los Angeles influenced his willingness to connect with people across differences and inspired him to engage in the work of storytelling and bridge-building.

Jon Cohen is a national community builder with a commitment to LGBTQ+ rights. His work organizing diverse communities through an intersectional Jewish lens is inspired by the wisdom and experiences he has gained as a Gay Mexican Jew. As Keshet’s Director of Community Mobilization, Jon has led initiatives helping Jewish institutions in all 50 states to fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

Ross Keys heads the Interfaith Alliance of North Dakota. He's also a longtime leader of the North Dakota Human Rights Council, and has worked in the federal government for nearly thirty years, holding a number of positions for Congressman Earl Pomeroy and Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Kent Conrad. Ross has crisscrossed the state with each of these elected officials and had the opportunity to help North Dakotans on a number of issues.

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Jay speaks about the weaponization of accusations of antisemitism – and how these tactics are being used to attack higher education, ultimately harming the interests of American Jews. He also critiques the rise of the "woke right," arguing that anti-woke rhetoric has evolved into a new form of censorship, and expresses concerns about the future of LGBTQ+ rights. Above all, he emphasizes the importance of standing in solidarity across lines of difference to protect civil rights in these challenging times.

“[The right isn’t] against censorship. They just wanted to do the censoring. And the same things that people complained about, rightly or wrongly, in the last few years: Oh, you can't say anything about gender, or you can't say anything about race, or you have to be careful what you say about this and that, and you have to always be careful because somebody's going to be offended. That's exactly the world we're living in now. It's just the other side. You can't say anything that's too critical of anything that's on the right…The people who are complaining are now doing the exact same thing that the people who they were complaining about were doing.”

- Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson, visiting professor at Harvard Law School and a field scholar at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality.  He is the author of ten books, and a journalist whose work appears on CNN, in Rolling Stone, and in his weekly substack newsletter, Both/And with Jay Michaelson.  For twenty years, Jay's work has focused on the intersections of politics and religion; he worked as a religious LGBTQ activist for ten years, and earlier this month he convened the first-ever conference on the legal recognition of religious psychedelic use by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He holds a PhD from Hebrew University, a JD from Yale Law School, and nondenominational rabbinic ordination. Jay's latest book is The Secret That Is Not a Secret: Ten Heretical Tales.

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As Jeff sees America’s slow civil war speeding up, he and Paul revisit his reluctance to initially use the term 'fascism' and now emphasizes the growing movement's influence, without yet consolidating into a regime. They explore the implications of such movements on journalism, rule of law, and personal freedoms, highlighting examples like Trump's cult of personality and Musk's hyper-capitalist influence. The conversation also examines the role of Christian Nationalism and its influence on politics, with a particular focus on the intersection of religion and governance. Jeff underscores the importance of solidarity, complex storytelling, and the fight against inevitability in combating these trends, even though the future remains uncertain.

The dialogue between Paul and Jeff serves as both a cautionary tale and a call to arms. We need listeners and readers alike to stay alert, engage actively, and never lose sight of the human element amidst the grand political machinations. As we confront these challenging times, this conversation stands as a reminder that solidarity and storytelling are powerful tools in shaping a future where democracy and humanity prevail.

I remember at one point a Trump supporter showing me, sharing with me, some crazy conspiracy theories. And at the time I was out there, when I met her, I was reporting for Vanity Fair Magazine, and it was just a pivot. I remember I was sitting in her Cadillac outside a Trump rally. She was showing me this crazy stuff, and then I look up and it was actually a congressman talking on Tucker Carlson sharing this conspiracy theory. And I realized she's not the fringe - I am.

- Jeff Sharlet, the best-selling author of books like The Undertow: Scenes From A Slow Civil War. His book The Family was turned into a powerful Netflix series, and his Substack is a must-read @Slow Civil War. Jeff is Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College.

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Together, they explore how faith communities can take action against executive overreach, attacks on religious institutions, and efforts to dismantle critical government programs.

Here's the complete list of speakers:

• Jamie Raskin – United States Congressman, MD-08
• Skye Perryman – President and CEO, Democracy Forward
• Adam Nicholas Phillips – Chief Strategy Officer & Chief of Staff, Interfaith America; former head of localization and faith-based efforts at USAID
• Melissa Rogers – Former Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Biden and Obama administrations
• Jennifer Butler – Founder, Faith in Democracy; former founder and executive director, Faith in Public Life
• Maggie Siddiqi – Senior Fellow, Interfaith Alliance, former Director of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at U.S. Department of Education

At a time when religious communities are being targeted, and democratic institutions are under attack, this discussion serves as a powerful call to action, emphasizing that courage, community, and persistence are essential in this moment. Rep. Jamie Raskin warns, "It is the religious, the real religious community, that is under attack by these people, and we've got to stand up and defend all of these positive projects that religious organizations have been engaged in." Rev. Jennifer Butler underscores the need for resistance, stating, "The first rule for resisting autocracy? Do not obey in advance." Maggie Siddiqi highlights the misuse of government power, reminding us, "Formal investigations are the role of government whenever that's warranted. Unsubstantiated slander is not."

Skye Perryman reinforces the legal limits of executive authority, asserting, "In this country, the president doesn’t get to denounce the Constitution or take away constitutional rights with the stroke of a pen or with the signing of an executive order." Rev. Adam Nicholas Phillips paints a dire picture of the consequences of policy decisions, warning, "Stories are unfolding every day, every hour, around the world because of the pause in funding, and because of the systematic dismantling of USAID in a matter of days." Melissa Rogers reinforces the fundamental principles of democracy, stating, "Presidents are not kings, and thus the federal executive branch must have legal authority for its actions."

Video of this panel discussion is available online at https://youtu.be/dXw0VjJOmJ8?si=huGDOgoJ-vDdY2bj

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Olivia, known for her work in reproductive rights and advocacy, discusses her journey as a young activist and the challenges and triumphs she has already experienced. She emphasizes the importance of using one's voice and platform to create meaningful impact, and the necessity of working together to build a more just and compassionate society. Olivia discusses how her faith informs her activism – and helps give her the strength and energy to persist in her work no matter what obstacles are thrown her way. 

I posted a video where I said if Jesus, Mary, and Joseph showed up at your door and asked for a place in the inn, would you welcome them into your home? Or would you say, “Show me your papers”? And this woman, she's a conservative, she responded to me. She said, “If three strangers showed up at my home in the middle of the night, I would answer the door with a gun.”Do you not understand how insane you sound? Do you not understand how warped your view of religion has become? ... I'm like, do you not realize that you are the false prophets that we are warned about in the Bible, do you understand that?

- Olivia Julianna, abortion rights activist, democracy organizer, and political influencer from Houston, Texas. With over 1 million followers across TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, her content has accumulated over 1 billion views, putting youth voices front and center in the fight for our future. She rose to national prominence for initiating the takedown of a whistleblower website that targeted those in the state of Texas who aided in abortion access, and raised $2.2 million for abortion funds after she was publicly attacked by Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. Olivia spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention about the complexities of her religious upbringing while championing progressive causes. An influential force on social media, more of Olivia’s work can be found on her Substack.

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Rev. Jacqui, renowned for her deep faith-based commitment to social justice, shares her personal history of activism, rooted in her family's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. She highlights the lessons we can draw from Black history and the Black Church to help foster unity, equity, and love, emphasizing the power of faith to overcome the forces of division and oppression.

"When asked about what you're doing about immigrants, lean on your faith: that our faith compels us to care for the stranger, because we were once strangers in a strange land. In fact, the Hebrew scriptures say thirty-some odd times you should love the stranger, and one time love your neighbor. The whole idea of loving your neighbor as yourself means loving the alien, loving the stranger, loving the immigrant, loving the widow, loving the child. And I think, for as long as we can say those things as part of our creed, as part of our call to ministry, if you will, that stands well for us.”

 - Rev. Dr Jacqui Lewis is the senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, a diverse and inclusive congregation. Believing faith communities can lead the way to racial reconciliation, Rev. Jacqui co-founded The Middle Project and The Revolutionary Love Conference with her spouse, The Rev. John Janka, which train leaders to create a more just society. She holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in psychology and religion from Drew University. Her next book, The Just Love Story Bible for children and families is due out in September.

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Katherine’s latest book, out on February 18th, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, explores the Christian Nationalist movement, which is fueled by the ultra-wealthy to protect their fortunes at the expense of democracy. Building on the foundation of her previous work, The Power Worshippers, Katherine’s new book reveals how these powerful forces exploit religious narratives to erode democratic institutions.

“Extreme levels of inequality are eroding our democracy. This is something that we need to understand. I think there was nothing more stark than to see perhaps the group of the richest men in the world attending Trump's inauguration. You had Bezos there, you had Musk there with his salute, whatever. I mean, you have these tech billionaires there. And here's Trump promising to work for you when he's speaking to the right: 'When they come for you they're coming through me!' And you really think that he's going to serve you, when he's got these billionaires that he's really serving and who are basically paying him bribes by any other name to get policies that they want.”

- Katherine Stewart, an author and journalist who has been covering religious nationalism and the assault on American democracy for over 15 years. Her book, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, was awarded first place for Excellence in Nonfiction Books by the Religion News Association, and a Morris D. Forkosch award. Katherine writes for The New York Times Opinion, New Republic, and many others, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.

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Maggie joins Interfaith Alliance following a distinguished tenure with the Biden administration at the Department of Education, directing the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Prior to that, she served as senior director of the Religion and Faith team at the Center for American Progress, where she led the organization’s work on religious liberty. Maggie also spent nearly a decade in national organizations serving American Muslim communities, focusing on interfaith relations and faith-based advocacy.

"Religious freedom is a matter of equity. I'm not sure how the Trump administration thinks they can tout efforts to address religious freedom and antisemitism while undermining the very means through which those efforts happen. They cannot have it both ways. Equity is about fairness, right. That is what equity means, and we want students of all religious and non-religious backgrounds to be treated fairly and welcomed into class without having to hide a critical part of who they are and what they believe. That's a matter of equity and inclusion."

 - Maggie Siddiqi, senior fellow at Interfaith Alliance, where she focuses on building partnerships across the religious landscape. Maggie has a master’s degree in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary and a bachelor’s degree in religion from Wesleyan University. She also earned graduate certificates in Islamic chaplaincy from Hartford Seminary and in nonprofit management from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

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As the CEO of Democracy Forward, Skye discusses her organization's legal and advocacy work and mission to hold powerful entities accountable, protect democracy, and serve the public good. Together, Interfaith Alliance and Democracy Forward are on the frontlines, combatting extremism and Christian nationalism.

"I do think there's no way out of this but through it. And so my advice is the community and connection. We're going to get through it together. When you see someone seeking to tear you apart, to try to sow division, to try to make you feel like you're the only one or that your belief in justice and your belief in a better tomorrow is somehow naive or somehow radical or somehow audacious, you can ignore that. And I think that we can get through it together and to remember our history and how many people have done hard work against great odds at great risks to themselves in order to create a future that we have inherited, and that it's really our job, now, to be good stewards of that."

Skye L. Perryman is a board member of Interfaith Alliance and the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. She has built a visionary team of legal, policy, and communications experts to confront anti-democratic extremism head-on while also using the law to advance progress and a bold vision for the future. Known for her strategic insight and impact-oriented leadership, Skye has a track record of winning tough legal and policy battles, uniting diverse coalitions, and elevating voices that represent the fabric of our country to deliver results that improve the lives of millions.

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"I think a big part of what we're facing right now as a nation is that question, why should I still love my neighbor as I'm called to do? And for folks who are listening, I think the answer is we must do that because that is who we are. And we have to listen and understand as much as we can where people are coming from, why they hold the beliefs they do, and why they're making the choices they do… When we listen, we hear that a lot of people are voting for nationalist ideals or authoritarian ideals because they feel unheard, because they feel unseen, and because they are afraid. And that fear is very, very powerful. And when we listen to leaders like Dr. King and John Lewis and other folks who came before us, we see very much that engaging people's fear with compassion while still speaking the truth about another vision and what needs to happen can be very transformative."

- Jeanné Lewis, CEO at Faith in Public Life. She is a nonprofit executive, faith-based organizer, and authority on creating empowered communities. Jeanné has dedicated her career to building bridges, closing equity gaps and creating policies that lead to strong, thriving and self-determined cities.

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The report comprises case studies of successful strategies, practical recommendations, and a guide to organizations working to combat hate and extremism in the U.S. It is based on extensive research and interviews with nearly two dozen advocacy organizations dedicated to faith-based organizing, upholding civil rights and confronting hate. The full report will be released on Monday, January 13th, on the Interfaith Alliance website.

"Religion is contextual, and it can manifest itself in extremely damaging and violent ways. It can divide us from one another. It can create supremacist outlooks. It can create and be influenced by ethno-nationalist outlooks. And maybe it'd be better if we could just say, religion is terrible. We can get rid of it. Fine. But we can't. Because ultimately, so many people find spiritual and political inspiration from their religions."

 - Zev Mishell, National Programs Associate at Interfaith Alliance and a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School. He graduated with honors from Princeton University with a degree in Near Eastern Studies, specializing in Israel/Palestine and the history of the Israeli Far Right. Mishell has published in numerous media outlets, including The Forward, Religion News Service, and the Tel Aviv Review of Books.

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President Carter lived out the values he espoused, both in office and for decades afterwards. He was clear in his belief that respecting differences - including religious differences - was the way to live into his values, and these interview excerpts make that abundantly clear.

In conversations with Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, who was editor of the Huffington Post Religion section, the former president addressed challenging issues, including homosexuality. Jimmy Carter also welcomed the late Rev. Welton Gaddy to his presidential library in Atlanta in 2018, for an in-depth interview in connection with his then-new book, Faith: A Journey for All. He shared the role of prayer in his time in the White House, and his deep optimism about the resilience of America and our ability to overcome challenges.

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We also pay tribute to the late Jimmy Carter. Paul shares excerpts from powerful interviews he conducted with the 39th president of the United States.

Robby is the author of several influential books that explore democracy, religion, and race in America. Bringing together rigorous scholarship with in-depth research, he is one of the few experts capable of helping us understand the forces shaping our democracy, and the major political and religious movements that seek to shape it in the future.

"For most of our country's history, we have been on the wrong side of civil rights, the wrong side of slavery, the wrong side of Jim Crow. If we are this far from our Black brothers and sisters in politics today, maybe that ought to give us a little bit of pause… And I also want to say this: that often, I think way too often, even in progressive circles, we try to talk about the problem that we're having as polarization as if the division itself is the problem. But I think that's a wholly wrong way of looking at what's happening. It's sort of like, was polarization the problem during the Civil Rights Movement? Well, yeah, we were divided, and we were polarized over White supremacy and injustice. And if you believe in equality, if you believe in democracy, we ought to be polarized over White supremacy!"

- Robert P. Jones, PhD, president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and a prominent author whose recent book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy, is a New York Times bestseller. His previous works include White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, which won a 2021 American Book Award, and The End of White Christian America, which was honored with the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Robby’s writing is regularly found in The Atlantic, TIME, and Religion News Service and is frequently featured in major media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and The New York Times. He also writes a weekly newsletter focused on confronting and healing from the legacy of white supremacy in American Christianity, found on www.whitetoolong.net.

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That’s what we explore on the final episode of The State of Belief for 2024, as host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes colleague Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, an ardent fan of the Gregory Maguire book and subsequent productions of the Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked.

Defying conventional wisdom and expectations, Elpheba flies above the crowd, both figuratively and literally. Starting with the personal impact of the story during their formative years, Paul and Guthrie discuss its contribution to their passion for social justice and equality. Guthrie’s even written an Advent devotional that weaves in themes from Wicked, and wraps up the conversation with five important lessons for the challenging year ahead from this surprisingly relevant story.

“It opens our thinking to why do people believe differently than us, why do people come to different conclusions about policy and politics than us? And can we have cognitive empathy…not to justify the actions of others, but to have empathy for why they come to those decisions and try to think through it.”

- Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, Wicked superfan as well as Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at Interfaith Alliance. He’s held cornerstone roles at the BJC, the Center for American Progress, and the National Immigration Forum. Holding an MDiv, Guthrie is the author of the book Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity, and his Advent devotional appears in Word & Way.

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Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Ruth Graham, New York Times National Reporter covering religion, faith, and values. Together they review some of Ruth’s favorite stories of the past year, and highlight important work by other journalists. From surprising gender shifts among church-going young Americans to the support of many religious immigrants for anti-immigrant policies and challenges of increasingly diverse religious diaspora; from the ongoing spread of Christian Nationalism as a force in American politics to the evolution of evangelical Christianity toward core MAGA values, they mark the highlights of 2024 – and what themes are likely to emerge in 2025.

Ruth's recent work for the New York Times includes Pete Hegseth and His ‘Battle Cry’ for a New Christian Crusade; In a First Among Christians, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women; and America’s New Catholic Priests: Young, Confident and Conservative. She expands on the complexities of religious reporting, the challenges of capturing the diverse and evolving nature of faith in the U.S., and the personal stakes of writing these stories with empathy and understanding.

- Ruth Graham is a national reporter based in Dallas, covering religion, faith and values for The New York Times. She is the recipient of awards from the Religion News Association and the American Academy of Religion.

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In their conversation, Timothy and Paul discuss how religion can positively help people understand what is “good” by guiding them toward values like mercy, grace, and consistency. These values, they agree, support the fundamentally democratic idea that no one is free unless everyone is free.

“You can't have freedom without a notion of what is good, and one thing that religion serves people is as a metaphysical source. Religion can offer notions of what is good - not the only ones, and certainly not ones that can't be challenged by other religions or by people who are not religious. But religion can be a source of metaphysical commitment. It can lead you to caring about things like consistency or grace or mercy, and those things are necessary for freedom. So I'm not saying religion is necessary for freedom, but I'm saying that there's a fundamental way in which a religious commitment can actually help with freedom - so long as that you recognize that on this earth, those things clash.”

- Dr. Timothy D. Snyder, renowned historian and professor of history at Yale University, specializing in modern European history, with a focus on authoritarianism, Ukraine and the Holocaust. His many influential books include Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. He has held fellowships at the Centre Nationale des Recherches Scientifiques, Paris (1994-1995); the Harvard University’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies (1997); served as an Academy Scholar at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs (1998-2001); and has held multiple fellowships at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna.

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We get Matthew Taylor’s take, with a focus on the nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, and his Crusades-evoking tattoos. Matt’s also got a lot to say about the role Christian Nationalism played in getting out the vote in the 2024 election – and ways it’s sure to be a driving force in the incoming administration. None of it is a surprise for Matt, who’s the author of the important book The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy.

Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D., is a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic Jewish Christian Studies, specializing in Muslim-Christian dialogue, Evangelical and Pentecostal movements, religious politics in the U.S., and American Islam.

Paul also gets the insights of two of the creators of Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy – Executive Producer Todd Stiefel and Director Stephen Ujlaki. Featuring a who’s-who of knowledgeable voices, many of which you’ve heard on The State of Belief, the film traces the history of corrosive theocratic movements like Christian Nationalism back to the Moral Majority and Council for National Policy, and sounds a credible alarm about what the end game may well be.

Stephen Ujlaki is a professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). He has produced over 30 feature films and documentaries, and wrote, directed, and produced his most recent project, Bad Faith.

Todd Stiefel is the founder and president of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation and Heretical Reason Productions, and chairs the ScienceSaves campaign. An investor, activist, and philanthropist, Todd is the executive producer of the film Bad Faith.

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Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes the youngest guests ever to appear on The State of Belief, his sons Walter and Glenn. Together, they think about what it means to be thankful, and share what they are thankful for. Then Paul brings a prayer by his great-grandfather, theologian Walter Raushchenbusch, that has particular meaning for him in this season.

Then, Paul is joined by Dr. Diana Butler Bass, an award-winning author and commentator on religion and spirituality. The conversation covers Diana's journey as a writer and speaker, particularly in the past eight years; her work on cultivating an online community, The Cottage, on Substack; and her deep exploration into the practice of gratitude. They delve into her book Grateful: The Subversive Practice of Giving Thanks, discussing the transformative power of gratitude, especially in difficult times. Diana shares insights on how gratitude can reframe our understanding of our place in the world, drawing from personal experiences and historical contexts. The episode also touches on her collaborative project, the Convocation, and features a reading of Thanksgiving prayers significant to her.

Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality. Diana is the author eleven books, although her husband insists she’s actually written one really long book in eleven volumes, each one building on what came before. In her books she has traced developments in Christianity in the United States, and in her own life. She has written books for congregations and for those who have thought about leaving church behind. In the process she has helped many people understand what they are experiencing and discover new ways of exploring their spiritual lives.

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The State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, to talk about navigating the complexities of condemning violence on all sides, the power of interfaith collaboration, and the crucial role of religious communities—especially Jewish and Palestinian voices—in pushing for peace and justice. She also highlights ways that antisemitism can be a precursor to the erosion of a democracy.

Rabbi Jill also shares inspiring stories of hope: Israelis protesting for peace, Palestinians resisting extremism, and partnerships across divides. “What gives me hope,” she says, “are the people, despite great losses, still fighting for justice and peace instead of turning to violence.”

Rabbi Jill Jacobs is a leading voice in Jewish social justice, the CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and author of Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community.

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Guest Amanda Tyler joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush with critical insights into the ideological and legal battles against Christian nationalism. In her new book How to End Christian Nationalism, Amanda outlines a three-pronged approach to confronting this dangerous ideology: building awareness, advocating for action, and organizing change. She discusses how Christian nationalism distorts the teachings of Jesus and undermines the very essence of religious freedom. Her call for Christians to take a more active role in speaking out and organizing for change serves as both a challenge and a beacon of hope for those committed to protecting a society where religious freedom and diversity are upheld.

“The way I understand Christian Nationalism is it's a political ideology and a cultural framework that tries to merge American and Christian identities, suggesting that to be a real American, one has to be a Christian - and not just any kind of Christian, but a Christian who holds certain fundamentalist religious beliefs that are in line with conservative political priorities. Christian Nationalism overlaps significantly with White supremacy, with a narrative that the only people who truly belong in this country are the people who held power at the beginning of the country - and that is White Protestant Christian men who own property. Everyone else is effectively a second-class citizen in the eyes of White Christian Nationalism.”

- Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), leading the organization as it upholds the historic Baptist principle of religious liberty: defending the free exercise of religion and protecting against its establishment by the government. The lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism and the author of How to End Christian Nationalism, Amanda is also the co-host of BJC’s Respecting Religion podcast. Her constitutional law analysis and advocacy for faith freedom for all have been featured by major news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS News, ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC, and she has testified before Congress on religious liberty and Christian nationalism. A graduate of Georgetown University and The University of Texas School of Law, she lives in Dallas with her husband and son.

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Guests Skye Perryman, Katherine Stewart, Adelle Banks and Bob Smietana join host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to share critical insights into the diverse religious communities shaping our democracy. Their dedication to engaging in nuanced reporting and analysis, and fostering partnerships within and beyond faith traditions, reflects a commitment to upholding a vibrant and inclusive democracy. Their insights explore how we can value and uplift a wide range of voices in the face of intense polarization, Christian nationalism and extremism.

Skye Perryman stresses the critical need to safeguard religious freedoms. "I think there's a huge role for people who have spiritual and moral commitments, including religious commitments, in this fight for democracy. And I know that there's a lot of attention to the corrosive role of religious philosophies…whether that's Christian Nationalism or religious fundamentalism." Katherine Stewart points out that "Christian nationalism is sort of a reactionary nationalism. It's about who gets to properly belong in the country and who doesn't. So it's fusing a kind of religious identity with a partisan political identity, that you're either in or you're out. You're with us or you're not.”

Bob Smietana reflects on broader political shifts over the past few elections, stating, "In the last eight years, the last three elections, there's been a lot of focus on White evangelicals who are very strong supporters of Donald Trump... but some of this is that White Christians in general, for whatever reasons, have leaned toward Donald Trump." Adelle Banks looks at the fight ahead and recalls a conversation with a Black minister preparing his Sunday sermon, saying, "He's going to be addressing grief, and talking about the need to have kind of a prophetic grief... as opposed to a pathetic grief... people should be trying to be resilient and moving forward, thinking of examples in the past where African-Americans have made it through difficult times."

Skye L. Perryman is President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. She has built a visionary team of legal, policy, and communications experts to confront anti-democratic extremism head-on while also using the law to advance progress and a bold vision for the future. Skye is a Board Member of Interfaith Alliance.

Katherine Stewart writes about the intersection of faith and politics, policy, education, and the threat to democratic institutions. Her latest book, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, was awarded first place for Excellence in Nonfiction Books by the Religion News Association and a Morris D. Forkosch award. Her new book Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy comes out early 2025.

Adelle M. Banks is the projects editor and a national reporter for Religion News Service, covering topics including religion and race, the faith of African Americans and partnerships between government and religious groups. She co-authored Becoming a Future-Ready Church: 8 Shifts to Encourage and Empower the Next Generation of Leaders.

Bob Smietana is a national reporter for RNS based near Chicago, covering evangelicals, weird religion and the changing religious landscape. He is the author of Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why it Matters.

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These conversations spotlight a shared commitment among diverse leaders—politicians, clergy, and activists—to advocate for social justice, community engagement, and the empowerment of marginalized groups. Underlining the bus tour’s goal of highlighting the role of diverse religious communities engaged in inspiring pro-democracy activism, these leaders’ efforts reflect a shared commitment to fostering a vibrant, multi-faith democracy, working alongside amazing partners to lift up the voices of all Americans in the face of extremism and Christian nationalism.

Karim Khayati, Rabbi Deanna Sussman, and Rev. Sarah Jones are leaders in the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faith communities, respectively, that make up the unique Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska. A fitting place to begin The Vote Is Sacred bus tour, and their thoughts are a fitting way to start this week’s show.

Dan Osborn highlights the lack of working-class representation, stating, “Less than 2% of our elected officials in the House and Senate came from the working class... I'm going to have a worker agenda.” Connie Ryan echoes the need for change, emphasizing that “reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and public schools are on the ballot,” calling for people to harness “the magical power of voting” to stand up for justice.

State Sen. Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott reminds us that “every single elected office matters,” while the Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot emphasizes the Episcopal Church's commitment to justice, stating, “One of the vows that we take... is to respect the dignity and worth of every human being.” Rev. Breanna Illéné also recognizes the intersection of faith and politics, asserting, “Your faith should impact your life. Politics impact your life... and they do mix and need to mix.” Rhonda Lindner expresses hope for democracy by asserting, “If every Wisconsin voter who wants to vote and who should vote, votes... democracy and the will of the people will stand.” And even as gerrymandering threatens the fairness of the vote in several states, Khalilah Worley Billy reminds us to "Find joy in this election."

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Valarie Kaur is just wrapping up a six-week stretch of the Revolutionary Love Bus Tour, part of a deeply spiritual and place-specific experience of community and a vision for a new level of connection. She and her crew took a break from singing while traversing the South to check in with The State of Belief.

Rev. Doug Pagitt is no stranger to long and grueling bus tours, bringing the message of Vote Common Good. This election season, the focus is on confronting Christian Nationalism, and he, too, was in motion as he shared his reasons for this particular focus in 2024.

The sole non-bus participant in this roundup, Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, describes the music-, wisdom-, and hope-laden gatherings organized by The Convocation Unscripted, under the banner of The Faith and Democracy Tour. She also updates Paul on her documentary film, For Our Daughters: Stories of Abuse, Betrayal, and Resistance in the Evangelical Church.

Kristin encourages us to embrace our role in the fight for justice and democracy: “This is not a time for cynicism, certainly not a time to give up or to feel hopeless. It's a time to cut through all of the muddiness out there, all of the messages coming through, and just focus. This is who you are. This is what we believe, and this is what you can do.”

And Interfaith Alliance is pulling into traffic with The Vote is Sacred Bus Tour. The brainchild of Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, it brings members of the Interfaith Alliance team to a number of communities to encourage getting out the vote and to raise up the critical issue of voter protection.

The Mother Superior of all of these bus tours, the Nuns On the Bus & Friends Vote Our Future Tour, was featured on The State of Belief just a few weks ago.

Valarie Kaur is a renowned civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, and author known for her visionary work in social justice and racial healing. As the founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, she leads movements on reclaiming love as a force for justice.

Doug Pagitt is a social activist, author, and possibility enthusiast dedicated to enlisting people in the hopes and dreams of a more just world. As Co-founder and Executive Director of Vote Common Good, he mobilizes people of faith to engage in civic life.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics.

Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is the Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at Interfaith Alliance, where he leads efforts like the upcoming “The Vote is Sacred” Bus Tour. An ordained Baptist minister and a leading advocate at the intersection of religion and policy, Guthrie has dedicated his career to empowering faith communities to advance social justice and counter religious extremism.

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Rabba Picker Neiss detailed how censorship works to suppress diverse viewpoints. “Anytime people are uncomfortable with a book because it doesn't reflect them, then it's a silencing of anyone different. And fundamentally, we're all different. And that's the beauty that we have in this country. That's the ethos that I think both of our organizations are working off of. That's the strength that we can really bring.”

Qiana Johnson also emphasized how book bans can ensure that members of our communities are harmfully marginalized, making our whole society worse off. “Parts of the human story are being weaponized, and parts of the human story are being denigrated, and parts of that human story and our beauty are being hidden. And part of the community is being told that they aren't truly part of the community, that they are dangerous parts of the community…We learn from things that are challenging, but we have to do that.”

Rev. Kim captures the urgency of taking action and being vigilant in the face of threats like book ban: “People of faith are called to be proactive, not reactive. Jesus told us to go and make disciples. We have a custom of waiting till something tragic happens before we awaken... but we don’t have to be on the defensive anymore.”

Qiana Johnson is the Associate Dean of Libraries, Collections, and Content Strategies at Dartmouth, focusing on acquisitions, discovery, access, preservation, and management of information resources. She's also an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church.

Rabba Rori Picker Neiss is the Senior Vice President for Community Relations at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and previously the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis. She has also served on the clergy team at a Modern Orthodox synagogue.

The Very Rev. Kim Coleman is the president of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) and the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia. She leads UBE in addressing racism and advocating for Black Episcopalians, raising awareness about book bans within the Episcopal Church.

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Emphasizing the need for a cohesive pro-democracy movement, Matthew and Paul review strategies for countering the impact of extremist groups through education and persuasion – highlighting the importance of reaching out to those who may have been misled but can still be engaged in constructive dialogue.

“We need to try to find all the allies we can, all the fellow travelers we can, and try to build a coalition that is pro-democracy. And I see the edges of that. I see the glimpses of that, and it fills me with hope because I think there are people who are listening to the better angels of our nature right now. We need their voices to be louder. We need them to be amplified.”

- Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D., senior scholar and the Protestant scholar at the Institute for Islamic Jewish Christian Studies, specializing in Muslim-Christian dialogue, Evangelical and Pentecostal movements, religious politics in the U.S., and American Islam. Before coming to ICJS, Matt served on the Georgetown University and The George Washington University faculty. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies. Dr. Taylor's literary and visual works include Scripture People: Salafi Muslims in Evangelical Christians’ America, the audio-documentary series “Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation,” and his latest book, The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy.

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The episode shares extended excerpts from a powerful recent panel discussion moderated by host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, featuring expert guests from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities – Dr. Najeeba Syeed, Rabba Rori Picker Neiss, and Rev. Fred Davie. Alongside that panel, Paul is also joined this week by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, a heartfelt conversation on the emotional and spiritual weight of the Jewish High Holy Days as they intersect with the ongoing violence in the Middle East.

These conversations delve into the complexities and conflicts faced by religious communities, offering strategies for fostering collaboration, empathy, and understanding in a divided society. They reflect on how global conflicts can have intense local impacts here in the US, underscoring the need for dedicated relationship-building to create a more inclusive future.

Discussing the ongoing conflict in Israel/Palestine, Rabbi Jill Jacobs reflected, “Most people want to live their lives in peace. And various leaders are deciding to continue to escalate.” She added, “We’re sitting in this liminal moment where we see that things could get much worse, or God willing and the leaders willing, they could get better.”

During the panel, Dr. Syeed emphasized the importance of facing challenges head-on: "We can't afford to disengage from the pain. We must show up, even in discomfort, and be ready to have the hard conversations that can lead to healing." Rabba Picker Neiss stressed the need for dialogue: “We need to ask questions and then we need to listen to the answers. We need to hold space, and we need to recognize that offering someone space doesn't mean giving up any of our own power.” Rev. Fred Davie offered a hopeful perspective, expressing that their collective efforts “serve as a bit of leaven, a bit of yeast, for this larger effort to build a kind of world…that we’d all like to see.”

Rev. Fred Davie is the Senior Strategic Advisor to the President at Union Theological Seminary, where he previously served as Executive Vice President for a decade. In his current role, he advises on public programming, racial justice, and social justice initiatives.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, leading over 2,300 rabbis and cantors in advocating for human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Rabba Rori Picker Neiss is the Senior Vice President for Community Relations at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). Previously, she was the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis and a member of the clergy at Bais Abraham Congregation.

Dr. Najeeba Syeed is the El-Hibri endowed chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute at Augsburg University. She is a recognized leader in peacebuilding, having twice received the Jon Anson Ford Award for reducing violence and being named Southern California Mediation Association’s “Peacemaker of the Year” in 2007.

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Kristin's new film, For Our Daughters, explores the troubling culture of submission and sexual abuse within the evangelical church, and its connection to the Christian nationalist agenda aimed at undermining women's rights in the upcoming 2024 election.

“I thought it was really important to put their stories, in all of their power, in front of the country. In front of Christian women in particular, in front of Christians, and just hear them and grapple with: how could this be allowed to happen? How could, even after these wrongs were exposed…How could this persist? And then, what are we doing as Christians, as church members, and as voters to perpetuate these systems that foster abuse?” 

- Kristin Kobes Du Mez, New York Times bestselling author and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. She has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC News and has been featured on NPR, CBS, and the BBC. Her latest works include her book, Jesus and John Wayne and groundbreaking documentary, For Our Daughters: Stories of Abuse, Betrayal, and Resistance in the Evangelical Church.

“People of all backgrounds and religious and cultural persuasions are working together to help build the common good through policy and politics…because we can all come together. And when we collaborate, we have the power to decide the future we will inhabit.”

- Mary J. Novak, Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, the first lay leader and the sixth woman to hold this role. With a background in organizing, activism, law, education, chaplaincy, and restorative justice, she introduced a shared leadership model to advance NETWORK's mission. Under her guidance, the organization is building stronger partnerships for the common good and positioning itself for future growth in pursuing justice. NETWORK organizes the incredible Nuns on the Bus & Friends Tour, traveling across the country starting September 29th to directly advocate for and pursue social justice through the lens of Catholic social teaching.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, all three join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the critical role interfaith collaboration plays in addressing societal challenges. Together, they explore how political activism, local faith leaders, and grassroots movements shape communities in Southwest Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota, all within the broader context of America’s evolving cultural and spiritual landscape. Together, they represent the strength and diversity of interfaith efforts around the country.

 "Understand the ramifications of the issues that you're facing. Understand that your vote counts. And, yes, you can be frustrated. And, yes, you don't have to like everybody or everything that someone else does, but you have to be informed, make a decision, and commit.”

- Rev. Anne Flynn, a deacon in the Episcopal Church and a leader of Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania.

“When folks come together, work together, communicate, and share messaging, you can have success even in places where it can get pretty dark at times.”

- Ross Keys, a seasoned activist and organizer who currently leads Interfaith Alliance of North Dakota.

“In this very conservative environment where I live, there is so much enthusiasm for our work. Our numbers keep growing. This is a huge beacon of hope among all the Christian nationalist and other views that are out there–that people are responding to our message.”

- Rev. Dr. Sharon Harris Ewing, board president of Interfaith Alliance of Southwest Florida. She brings her rich experience as both an ordained minister and a longtime educator.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Robby joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to explore how political and religious landscapes are continuously altered by the growing cultural diversity within American society, driven by the rise of interfaith and interracial families, and the many who identify as religiously unaffiliated.

“We had Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, who are mixed-race candidates. And that's also a reality in most of America. And I think this kind of blending of racial and religious identities…this is the way that most Americans are actually navigating their lives. It doesn't look like the hierarchical, patriarchal, homogeneous, white picket fence… neighborhood where all the people look like them, and all the people their kids go to school with look like them. That's not the reality that most Americans are living with today, whatever mythology is out there. So I think that we're just seeing it come in more public, symbolic ways that we're seeing at the top of these tickets, even on the Republican side.”

- Dr. Robert P. Jones, president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and a prominent author whose recent book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future, became a New York Times bestseller and has just been released in paperback with a new and compelling afterword. His previous works include White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, which won a 2021 American Book Award, and The End of White Christian America, which was honored with the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Robby's writing is regularly found in The Atlantic, TIME, and Religion News Service and is frequently featured in major media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and The New York Times. Robby also writes a weekly newsletter focused on confronting and healing from the legacy of White supremacy in American Christianity, found at www.whitetoolong.net.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Randall joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to explore the evolution of evangelicalism, particularly how early evangelicals championed social reform, contrasting with the modern political alignment of those influenced by the far right.

“I think religion certainly contributes to democracy. And some people have misinterpreted what I said, including my dogged defense of the First Amendment, which I believe is America's best idea. But people have misinterpreted me to say that voices of faith should not be part of our political discourse. And I couldn't disagree more strongly. I think people have every right to bring their religious or faith commitments into the arena of public discourse, and I think public discourse will be impoverished without those voices… I have every right to express my religiously informed convictions in the arena of public discourse. But I also have an obligation to listen to others, as well.”

- Dr. Randall Balmer, prize-winning historian and Emmy Award nominee. He holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth College, the institution's oldest endowed professorship. Randall's latest book is Saving Faith: How American Christianity Can Reclaim Its Prophetic Voice.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Brenda joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the resurgent threat of censorship and extreme religious influence in America. Over a century after the 1925 trial, her book – recently featured on the front page of the NY Times Book Review – recounts a fascinating story mirrored by recent attempts to mandate Christian curriculum and indoctrination in public schools.

"We know that books are being banned in libraries, and in schools themselves, by school boards that take upon themselves the idea of what children should read and they legislate that. There's also censorship more widely about what people can do in their private lives: who they can love, for example; whether or not women have rights to their own bodies. This is the kind of legislation and these are the kinds of issues that are still with us. And sometimes, they form in different ways. I'm not sure a woman's right to choose was on the boards at that particular time. Women had only just gotten the right to vote. But in point of fact, women were very much part of what was going on. Because suddenly in 1925, as now, the world seemed to be changing, and the question of who decides what the direction of the country should be was really what's at stake.”

- Brenda Wineapple, distinguished author of seven books who is widely celebrated as a literary artist. The New York Times named her book The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson one of the ten best nonfiction works of 2019, while Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848 to 1877 was recognized as a best book of the year by The New York Times and other publications in 2013. Brenda's literary works have been honored with numerous awards, including the Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Pushcart Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. She has also received three National Endowment Fellowships, including its Public Scholarship Award.

To expand our reach, The State of Belief is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to The State of Belief today at https://www.stateofbelief.com/subscribe.

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On this week’s State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance's weekly radio program and podcast, we’re excited to share audio from a wide range of conversations and speakers that Paul met up with in Chicago. In the first portion of the program, you'll hear Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, the venerable academic, author and minister who spoke alongside Paul at a panel discussion about the boundaries between religion and government.

Next up, it's Paul’s conversations with two dynamic Members of Congress – Civil rights attorney Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, and Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont, the first openly LGBTQ person and the first woman to represent her state in the House of Representatives.

Journalist and writer Katherine Stewart, author of the essential book The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, spoke with Paul about the strategies Christian nationalists are poised to deploy in the 2024 election season.

In the final portion of this special episode, you'll hear exclusive excerpts from “Promise 2025” – a meet-up of faith leaders attending the DNC, organized inpart by Interfaith Alliance and reported on in USA Today. At the event, leaders from across the religious spectrum joined together to claim religious diversity as an asset to the future of our democracy, and to discuss ways to organize the faith and interfaith community to support fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power. The excerpts include some thoughts from Paul, as well as Rev. Frederick Davie, Union Theological Seminary; Rev. Jen Butler, Faith Forward; Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Bend the Arc; and Rev. Doug Pagitt, Vote Common Good.

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To start off his tenure, he joined host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance's weekly radio program and podcast, to discuss the threat of the Christian nationalist right’s vision for America’s future – and how so many Christians and other Americans of diverse faiths and beliefs are collaborating to advance a compelling, competing vision of true religious freedom and mutual respect.

“If authoritarianism comes to the United States, it will be done in the name of Christianity and restoring God to the public and putting God back in our schools. And it will be a Christian theocracy that is advanced. And you see that in Project 2025. A year ago, I was the first person to go through this 900-page document and identify the different theocratic elements of it. They talk about how they are going to put forth a religious definition of marriage… They talk about portraying the left as trying to advance a religion that would attack Christianity. And so throughout Project 2025, you see explicit and implicit appeals to Christian nationalism.”

- Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, who joins Interfaith Alliance with more than a decade of experience working with faith communities on some of the most important social justice issues of our time: religious freedom, democracy, LGBTQ rights, reproductive freedom, immigration, anti-Muslim bigotry, and more. He most recently worked at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, with an emphasis on its Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. Prior to BJC, he held positions at the Center for American Progress, ReThink Media, and the National Immigration Forum. An ordained Baptist deacon, he is the author of Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity (Broadleaf Books, 2020). In 2019, the Center for American Progress (CAP) named him one of its annual list of Faith Leaders to Watch.

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Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by two brilliant commentators who share fascinating thoughts about Kamala Harris’s choice of running mate, as well as Donald Trump's pick, and some of the implications for different faith communities.

“I think this country – we’re hungry for multiple iterations and emanations and embodiments of Christianity as well. So it's not just other faith traditions, but what are we going to learn from the Walzes’ commitment to their Christian faith and their understanding of what helped produce a state that has one of the highest per capita refugee and asylum seeker population in the United States?”

 - Dr. Najeeba Syeed, a prominent interfaith leader in Minneapolis, speaking about the Lutheranism of Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz, the Democratic VP nominee, and how he embodies part of Minnesota’s history as a welcoming multifaith state.

“I think a lot of American Jews were feeling really ambivalent about this possible candidacy. On the one hand, naturally, there's a lot of pride…On the other hand, there's a lot of fear and dread.”

 - Rabbi Jay Michaelson, a contributing columnist for the Forward, on his mixed feelings about Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor Josh Shapiro ultimately not joining the ticket. He's also got plenty to say about the diverse family of Republican VP nominee JD Vance.

At Interfaith Alliance, we’re proud that The State of Belief is one of the only national podcasts regularly diving in to key debates about the intersection of religion, politics and democracy. Later this month, Paul will be in Chicago covering the Democratic National Convention. And soon, you'll hear all about the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends Tour with NETWORK Lobby Executive Director Mary Novak, the ongoing impact of Christian nationalism with Religion Historian Randall Balmer, and many other essential voices bringing clarity and inspiration to a tumultous election year.

One thing that you could do today that would really help support The State of Belief would be to subscribe to receive it through your favorite podcasting platform. A strong subscriber base on the platforms helps with the algorithms to make sure that our important conversations reach more people. Visit stateofbelief.com/subscribe.

Thank you for being part of the conversation!

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“I think in this election, on issues related to religion, one of the fundamental divides is between people who are, directly or indirectly - sometimes they're called Christian nationalists, but they don't all have to be called Christian nationalists - but who really do seem to want to argue that the Christian faith is foundational to everything in the American republic, and they have the idea that we are, in some deep sense, a Christian nation. It's obviously true that Christianity was central to the thinking of many of the founders, but the founders were very conscious of not creating a religiously-based republic. The First Amendment was a pretty radical idea for its time, and it's still a powerful idea in the world.”

 - E.J. Dionne is a longtime Washington Post political columnist. He is also Distinguished University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University's McCort School of Public Policy, a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, and a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio and MSNBC. His latest book is 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting, co-authored with Miles Rapoport.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Waj joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the threat of right-wing extremism, misinformation, and the future of democracy in America.

“Project 2025 is the blueprint for authoritarian rule. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that. It is, in a pop culture analogy that I can use, a Bond villain in the first ten minutes of a Bond movie, finding James Bond, tapping on the shoulder, and saying, 'Hey, do you want to read my evil supervillain plot to take over the world? I have a slide show. You have five minutes?' This is what the Republicans have done… It is a blueprint for right-wing minoritarian rule. It is a blueprint for White Christian nationalism. It is a blueprint for power and a Trump dictatorship. And as we know, Trump said he will be dictator for a day. And what we know is dictators aren't just dictators for a day. They're dictators for life.”

- Wajahat Ali, Daily Beast columnist, writer, commentator, and keen observer of politics. His first book is Go Back to Where You Came From and Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become an American. Waj has a Substack titled “The Left Hook” and co-hosts the Democracy-ish Podcast. As a child of immigrants, he's an invaluable contributor to the conversation around patriotism, diversity, and democracy. Waj believes in sharing universal narratives through a culturally specific lens to entertain, educate, and bridge global divisions.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Amy joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss antisemitic actions and tropes, and how they pose a grave threat to broader multi-faith liberal democracy.

“We know that we're not alone in this, and we know that so many communities in the region and here in the United States are still very much sitting in that pain and that trauma because of the ongoing war; the ongoing, hostages that are being held; that the loss of innocent Palestinian lives; the horrific toll on Israel and the Israeli people. And again, the waves of hate here at home that we're continuing to grapple with. And we have no choice in this moment but to think about what this all means - not just to this question of allyship and helping people understand what it means to show up as an ally right now, which has been such a huge part of our work at JCPA - but also to not shy away from those hard and challenging conversations, even as some of the loudest voices tell us that the pain and the grief we're feeling mean we should just put up walls and walk away.”

- Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national convener of Jewish coalitions working across communities to build a just and inclusive American democracy. Amy is the former executive director of Integrity First for America, which won its groundbreaking lawsuit against neo-Nazis, White supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the Charlottesville violence. An expert on extremism and building effective partnerships for good, Amy has worked for a number of federal, state, and local officials, as well as campaigns and advocacy organizations.

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“Now the mainstream press is starting to pick up and report Project 2025. But they're still looking at it in traditional Washington terms, and not noticing what that project is, is really an attempt to merge Reaganism and Trumpism. But not so much to merge them, but to fully fold in the last vestiges of the right-wing Reaganite Republican Party into a full fascist Trumpist movement. And in that service, in terms of Christian nationalism, they lay out four pillars. [...] one is God and the family. Putting the family at the center of things. And it's astonishing and sad that in the United States, now, the word “family” has been claimed by the right. Everybody has one, but the right seems to think they own that word.”

-Jeff Sharlet, best-selling author of eight books, including The Family and C Street, which focus on the Christian nationalist forces deeply embedded in the halls of American power. His latest book, The Undertow: Scenes from A Slow Civil War, surveys the national landscape in the aftermath of Joe Biden's ascent to the White House. Jeff is Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College. You can follow his writing on Substack.

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In this episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance's weekly podcast and radio program, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush interviews Rev. Thomas L. Bowen, White House Senior Advisor for Faith Engagement. As the nation celebrates the Fourth of July, the conversation ranges to Juneteenth, an important holiday celebrating freedom and the end of enslavement in this country.

Thomas discusses his upbringing in Elyria, Ohio, and the mentors who shaped his path, including Mary Wright Edelman and Gardner Taylor. The conversation explores the significance of religious freedom, interfaith unity, and the historical importance of Juneteenth. He highlights President Biden's commitment to social justice, influenced by his Catholic faith, and the role of faith in fostering community and resilience. The episode underscores the intersection of faith, social justice, and public engagement in promoting unity and understanding in a divisive and dangerous time.

"We're not only a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of refugees. I think we need to examine that and look at that, because when you put that image in your mind, you see that people are leaving something. People are coming here for something. There's something that makes them leave their family and come. And I think that we need to look at that. These these are stories. These are our history as a nation. This is a problem we get in: we don't know our history, and we don't know our story. I mean, there's a certain aspects of it, but we're not just a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of refugees.

- Rev. Thomas Bowen, White House Senior Advisor for Faith Engagement. He earned the nickname "DC's Pastor" during his service in the Washington Mayor's Office. An ordained Baptist minister, Thomas is the Earl L. Harrison Minister of Social Justice at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., where he has served since 2002.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, host Rev. Paul Raushenbush is joined by SPLC Executive Director Margaret Huang and Intelligence Project Interim Director Rachel Carroll Rivas to discuss the organization's latest annual Report on Hate and Extremism.

We are certainly at a moment of great threat, of great risk, but also at a real moment of reckoning, because [the rise in hate crimes] is happening, in large part, as we build up to elections, now, in 2024. And these groups have made very clear that their goal is to attack democracy itself, to try to stop people from believing in the institutions of government and in democracy. And they're hoping that that activism from last year and the year 2024 will really frighten and discourage a lot of people from joining in our elections process.

- Margaret L. Huang, a human rights and racial justice advocate who has led the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2020 as president and executive director. Throughout her career, Margaret has championed social justice and human dignity, advocating against discrimination and oppression. Before joining the SPLC, she served as the executive director of Amnesty International USA.

​​I've been in this work for a long time. We used to say that the work was kind of centered around “name and shame” - and that's not a really great strategy, particularly for me as a human rights believer. I think the better strategy is: how do we use this research to actually do good things? Friend of mine, Scott Nakagawa, calls it, “block and build.” And so I feel like a lot of times that's my role in this work: okay, block: make the space for my incredible colleagues and people in this movement, our partners, to be able to do this powerful work.

- Rachel Carroll Rivas is the Interim Director of the Intelligence Project at the SPLC. She has been working to expose the anti-democratic, far-right forces and organize communities to respond to hate activities for the last 20 years. Rachel has supported rural community organizing and research across the Western U.S., training hundreds of advocates, academics, and community leaders in cross-issue movement building and using research analysis of the hard right to inform strategy.

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Rev. T.J. Fitzgerald and Smriti Krishnan are both working to build cross-faith partnerships to preserve access to reproductive health care, especially in hostile states. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, they join host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss cross-faith collaborations and partnerships to advance human rights, specifically reproductive rights and the health care decision-making process.

“Restricting anyone's right to share that information with someone is unconscionable. It's irreligious, in my opinion. It is not at the heart of Christianity. It is not at the heart of Islam. It is not at the heart of Hinduism, and it's not at the heart of any of the great faiths of the world, certainly not of Judaism. [...] And it's called Truth Pregnancy Resource Center because Sojourner Truth said the truth is powerful and prevails. And we believe that sharing the truth with people and trusting people to do what they need to do for their family and their own health is central to what it means to be human, what it means to be a person of faith in this world.“

- Rev. T.J. Fitzgerald is the Minister of Care and Community Engagement at First Unitarian Church of Dallas, with a Master of Divinity from Yale. T.J. also has a law degree and practiced law before pursuing ministry. With this background, he is well-equipped to stand at the intersection of faithful beliefs and partisan legal challenges to the fundamental values held by many in his home state of Texas around reproductive freedom.

“So how do we make decisions? We make decisions by turning to the people we trust. We might talk to our parents. We might talk to our friends. We might consult our spouse. We might consult our children, other close relatives, and we might also consult our faith leader. So when that faith leader has a particular text or a particular faith background that allows that individual to provide guidance to a person seeking reproductive health care, including abortion access, we can really see how much of a strong role that faith plays in that decision-making process."

- Smriti Krishnan, attorney and graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. She has served as a law fellow at the US Senate and a legislative assistant in the House. She currently is Legislative Counsel at the National Council of Jewish Women, where reproductive justice is both a matter of religious freedom and a fundamental human right. Smriti works on an interfaith basis to emphasize the narrative that people of faith do believe in abortion access and, more broadly, reproductive healthcare access. With a Hindu background and two immigrant parents, she prized the perspective instilled in her to consider the similarities that various faith traditions had: empathy, kindness, compassion, doing good for others, service, and education.

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For this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, host Rev. Paul Raushenbush is joined by Rev. Abram to discuss his work bridging the LGBT community and the Black Church. He sees the growth of Christian nationalism having a direct impact on anti-LGBT bigotry and other forms of divisiveness.

"I think the important thing to name and note is that you don't have to be White to practice White Christian nationalism... And it's the theology of otherization that fundamentally undergirds Christian nationalism, where there are quite clear and crystallize ideas of whose stories matter, whose lives matter, what communities matter. And if you fall outside of that narrow window - and it is narrow, let me be very clear - then you are a target. But the insidious thing about Christian nationalism is that it will use anyone willing to proclaim and project that ideology. And so you can be Black, you can be queer, you can be trans, you can be Hispanic, you can be White… I mean, anyone who's willing to preach that message, they will be elevated in Christian nationalist circles."

- Rev. Don Abram, queer public theologian and social innovator operating at the intersections of gender, sexuality, faith, and social change. He holds an M.Div from Harvard Divinity School and answered the call to ministry at age 14. He has combined his rigorous theological training and a heart for justice to deconstruct homophobic and transphobic theologies from the perspective of Black liberation theology.

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“We as people of faith have that responsibility to reclaim that faith voice. To say that this is not in my values, to say that we affirm trans and queer people, to try to protect the youth in particular that are, I think, being affected by this, and to engage in a way that gets involved in the process, the legislative processes that are happening.”

- Rev. Kimble Sorrells is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and is dedicated to integrating spirituality with social activism. Kimble is a trans-identifying pastor seeking to support transgender people's well-being through increasing access to wellness and resilience skills, while also organizing to counter anti-transgender legislation and other oppressive forces. In addition to a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, they hold a certification in cognitively based compassion training and is a registered yoga teacher. Kimble is also a member of Interfaith Alliance’s new Interfaith Leadership Network.

“I think part of this is realizing that LGBTQ Jews have always existed and been a part of our history, of our stories, of our culture. it's not a new phenomenon,” they said. “And maybe we just have this new language to talk about ourselves and to talk about our experiences. But LGBTQ Jews have always been our people. and so it's only going to become more and more important to make sure our spaces are inclusive.”

- Lanie Cohen, community mobilization manager at Keshet, an organization dedicated to LGBTQ equality in Jewish life. Lanie has a rich background in social justice and community building, from facilitating gender violence prevention trainings, to contributing to the passage of progressive policies such as the Reproductive Health Equity Act. She's a part of the Faith for Pride Coalition which includes Interfaith Alliance, Keshet, SPLC, Pride Peacebuilders, and other leading organizations working for the dignity and inclusion of everyone.

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For this week's episode of State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes Dr. Daisy Khan to discuss fighting the “good fight,” uniting people from different religious backgrounds, and her recently published book 30 Rights of Muslim Women: A Trusted Guide.

“When there is a person that I completely disagree with and I don't agree with anything that they say or do, and we know there are people out there that we think of them that way - I can look at that divine breath in them and just say, okay, this person has that quality and the potential to transform. So my job is to transform them, to try and get them to see another point of view.”

- Daisy Khan, speaker, author, activist, commentator, and the founder of Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE). WISE is the largest global network of Muslim women committed to peace-building, gender equality, and human dignity. Her other books include Wise Up: Knowledge Ends Extremism and Born with Wings: The Spiritual Journey of a Modern Muslim Woman.

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In this week's episode of The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Raushenbush is joined by Rev. Dr. Brian Kaylor to explore the findings in Brian's new book, Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism, co-authored with Rev. Beau Underwood.

“Jesus doesn't love America more than any other nation. We're not specially blessed. Our soldiers are not God’s soldiers, right? We are called to be in communion with the believers, whether they're on this side of the border or on the other side of the border. And that's supposed to be our first allegiance. I mean, Jesus said very clearly, ‘You cannot serve two masters.’ And Christian nationalism challenges that assumption at best, and at worst puts the American kingdom as the true master - because we know that they will come into conflict. We know you will pick one kingdom over the other. So we're very concerned about the heresy of Christian nationalism.”

- Dr. Brian Kaylor, award-winning author and journalist. He serves as the president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way and hosts the Baptist Without an Adjective podcast. Other books include Sacramental Politics: Religious Worship as Political Action, and For God's Sake, Shut Up!

We wrap up this episode with some highlights from two years of Paul asking guests: "What gives you hope right now?" Hear inspiring thoughts from Rainn Wilson, Dr. AnneMarie Mingo, Rev. Susan Sparks and Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr.

To expand our reach, The State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to The State of Belief today at https://www.stateofbelief.com/subscribe.

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Eric and Paul discuss a new short documentary featuring Eric's experiences of community and conflict, titled, We've Been Here Before: What the Punk Scene Can Teach Us About White Supremacy Today from Emmy Award-winning director Jacob Kornbluth.

“The one thing that I know about the White nationalist movement is that it wants to divide us, and it will do anything it can to divide communities. Because divided communities mean that we cannot build the power and the aspiration to stand against this kind of White nationalist onslaught on democracy. But I know a second thing, too. The second thing is, is that the White nationalist movement individually wants us to feel isolated, alienated and scared [...] that's what the White nationalist movement is doing now. The work that I do, whether it's We've Been Here Before or Race Forward or a host of other projects, is about finding ways for people to not be alienated.”

- Eric Ward, civil rights strategist and executive vice president at Race Forward. Eric has held prominent positions at organizations such as Western States Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Ford Foundation. He has deep expertise on hate movements and attacks on democracy and is an influential strategist for defending human rights and values and bridging connections to effective policy change.

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"Hope is a great psychological benefit. But like any good thing, it can become pathological, it can become unhelpful. And, when we face our current situation in all its complexity, I think what we need is a different kind of hope, a deeper hope."

-Brian McLaren, author, speaker, activist, and public theologian.

Paul also welcomes Interfaith Alliance Senior Director of Field and Organizing Maureen O'Leary and Pride Peacebuilders co-founder Frankie Leigh to discuss this year's Faith for Pride initiative, which focuses on safety for attendees and tracking incidents of threats and violence, as well as expert training on conflict de-escalation.

"All of the times that I have successfully de-escalated someone who is angry or agitated has been because I've been willing to listen to them."

-Frankie Leigh, Pride Peacebuilders co-founder and Utah Tech University instructor

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Paul's with Adam Friedman, Interfaith Alliance organizing and elections strategist, getting into opportunities for all Americans to actively participate in safeguarding the election, from volunteering at polling sites to engaging in educational initiatives against Christian nationalism. The conversation also delves into the importance of supporting LGBTQ inclusion, reproductive freedom, and combating censorship in education. Adam and Paul call on individuals of all faiths and beliefs to use their voices, offering hope and actionable steps through resources from Interfaith Alliance like an election year issue primer and a Speakers Bureau program. The episode is a rallying cry for unity and action in a time of significant challenges to democratic values.

“As a young person right now, there's certainly fear; but I think it is really important to recognize this message of hope more broadly. We see the polarization; people feel the stakes of the moment. And, ultimately, it's important to remember that people across the country feel the stakes, right? Even by acknowledging the statistic that folks are worried for our democracy asserts that while it's divided by politics, people care about our democracy. People want to live in a country where they feel like their voice is heard. And by holding that, we can acknowledge our shared humanity and the common place in which we are coming from, even if we might disagree on the issues that divide us.”

-Adam Friedman, advocate and organizer, and a member of the Interfaith Alliance staff, serving as their organizing and elections strategist.

Paul also welcomes Aubin Peterson, co-founder of Another Story, about how faith has informed her LGBTQ advocacy.

“You know, someone's got to speak up, and call it courage or stupidity, it is me. I wear the cloak proudly, whatever it is. But if not me, who is it going to be? And hopefully, you encourage others to do the same. But when I see the kids, around our church or in the community or at Baylor [University], I'm there for them.”

-Aubin Peterson, co-founder, with her husband Mark, of Another Story, a monthly gathering in the Dallas area that creates a space for dialogue on sexual orientation and gender identity, where traditional biblical perspectives on these issues can be questioned and discussed.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by activist and theologian Jim Wallis to discuss the importance of using faith as a guide for seeking truth, and the promise of a multiracial democracy.

"We could become the first genuine multiracial democracy in the world. It's a wonderful opportunity we have, but it will be answering this question, the one you raised: who is my neighbor? It will be treating people who are different than me as my neighbor. And the title of that chapter is: "Your Neighbor Probably Doesn't Live in Your Neighborhood. "So how do we reach out to those who are different than us, treat them like a neighbor? And that's exactly what Jesus did in this wonderful Good Samaritan parable. So the Good Samaritan could help lead us to a multiracial democracy.”

-Jim Wallis, theologian, writer, teacher, political activist, and the founder of Sojourners Community and Magazine. Today he chairs the Georgetown University Center for Faith and Justice and the inaugural Archbishop Desmond Tutu Chair in Faith and Justice at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy. His latest book is titled, The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy.

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Infringing on people’s rights to make personal decisions based on their own moral beliefs is one way that religious extremists are seeking to chip away at our democracy and impose their Christian nationalist agenda. One way to push back is to stand together for the values most Americans actually hold.

This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush speaks with Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward to unpack the EMTALA and mifepristone cases and their impact on democracy. Paul also speaks with the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis of Middle Church about the upcoming Freedom Rising Conference, which will convene community leaders, organizers, and educators to determine how the interfaith movement can work together to save democracy in this pivotal moment.

“These are attacks on our democracy, plain and simple. They’re attacks on everything about the way of our life in America, about the ability to hold our freedoms, about the ability to raise our families, about the ability to be in communities with people. And so I think we need to see that for what it is. And one thing that people can do is just to make sure that they are engaged in their local communities, that they are registered to vote, that they are encouraging people to vote.”

- Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. An attorney, activist, and organizer, she is also a member of the board of Interfaith Alliance.

“Whether our political party is Democrat or Republican or Independent, we know that our democracy is eroding, and if we want to stop the failure of democracy and the destruction of Mother Earth, we remember that God is for the healing of all the people and for the protection of the planet. And we, we are co-creators with God. We are co-stewards with God. We have a responsibility to load in at this time so that love can win in November. And that's what we're organizing for.”

- The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, longtime senior pastor at Middle Church in New York City. Author of the book Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Frocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World. Jacqui is an activist, preacher, writer, and teacher. She also hosts the Love, Period podcast.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Dr. Royal G. Cravens III to explore the history of LGBTQ+ inclusion within faith communities. They discuss how faith and LGBTQ+ communities can empower each other to engage in positive political action and dismantle the barriers that often separate faith and acceptance.

"I think the one thing that's so important for me to say now is that the idea that one person can't be both LGBTQ+ and religious, that's a false construction. It's a political construction, largely. It's something that was created to fuel political division. And so I think it's really important if you can understand that, then it makes sense that LGBTQ+ people are deeply influenced by faith; that faith, how we're socialized into it, because it's part of the world that we live in, especially in American politics, that it makes sense that it would influence how LGBTQ+ people engage.”

-R. G. Cravens III, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center. R.G.’s recent book is titled: Yes, Gawd! How Faith Shapes LGBT Identity and Politics in the United States. The author of several important recent SPLC reports, including CAPTAIN, which stands for Combating Anti-LGBTQ Pseudoscience Through Accessible Informative Narratives. he is the previous recipient of the Bailey and Cynthia Weber Award from the American Political Science Association and has held fellowships with the Social Science Research Council and Public Religion Research Institute.

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“We can, at whatever level of society we happen to be at, we can be diligent and say, this demonization and dehumanization stops with me. I'm going to be the person who lives by the standard - and behavior that we walk past is behavior we condone. And so we need to call it out when we see it.”

- Fred Garcia, founder and president of the crisis management firm Logos Consulting Group, and executive director of the Logos Institute for Crisis Management and Executive Leadership. A coach, counselor, teacher, and public speaker, Fred's books include Words on Fire: The Power of Incendiary Language and How to Confront It. He's on the faculty at New York University and Columbia University and is a past chair and long-time member of the board of directors of Interfaith Alliance.

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“But the parts about the fighting with and for my faith tradition, so the part about Christianity, is really important to me because it acknowledges that I have come through this tradition. I love it, many things that I have experienced as a part of it, but I also see its toxicity. And so there's the honesty about the tensions of saying, I have a deep spirituality and I have an incredibly complicated relationship with organized religion, and so how do I do that work? And how do I follow Jesus' command to love the least and love my enemies who may be oppressing the least?”

- John Pavlovitz, an ordained pastor, writer, and activist from North Carolina. He is the best-selling author of numerous books including If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk and A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community. His new book, coming April 2, 2024, is titled Worth Fighting For: Finding Courage and Compassion When Cruelty is Trending.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by the authors to delve into the authors’ lived experiences and unveiling the intricate intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class, and religion. They discuss what can be done to offer a hopeful pathway to a reimagined church committed to healing and justice.

 As I think more theologically every day, I'm thinking that our image, our metaphors, our understanding, our language, our words about God actually really, really has a deep impact on our actions, our thinking, our modes of behavior...If we continue to use this language in the church, it really allows abuse, allows domination, allows colonialism, allows subjugation, allows genocide, all these things, they are intersecting forms and acts of violence perpetrated against other people.

- Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim, professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana, and an ordained Presbyterian minister. She's the author or editor of more than 20 books, including Hope in Disarray: Piecing Our Lives Together in Faith and Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World.

Grace and I went into this book as survivors ourselves, and so we want survivors to know that we are speaking as people who understand what they've gone through and what they continue to go through. And while the book has a lot of difficult material, and we're going to talk about that, but we also ended on a note of joy. And so we want survivors also to know that we're going to get to the joy as we talk about it.

- Dr. Susan M. Shaw, professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University. Her books include Reflective Faith: A Theological Toolbox for Women, and God Speaks to Us, Too: Southern Baptist Women on Church, Home, and Society. An ordained Baptist minister, Susan makes her congregational home in the United Church of Christ.

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"Unfortunately, we still see that today, where many of the women who are the strategists, the architects, those who are making it happen, are ignored. But one of the things that I've always appreciated that the women that I studied didn't get caught up in, was the fact that they were ignored. They still did the work anyway."

- Dr. Anne Marie Mingo, associate professor of ethics, culture, and moral leadership, and director of the Metro Urban Institute at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. An ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, AnneMarie is the founder of Sister Scholars, an organization that supports Black women pursuing doctorate degrees. The compelling conversation raises up the everydayness of activists who never make headlines, but who ensure the words of prominent leaders are followed up with action.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Dr. Jemar Tisby to dissect and discuss the complexities of racism in white evangelicism and the crucial role of cross-cultural relationships in achieving racial justice.

“I think this is really the beating heart of racial justice is that at the end of the day, it's all about people. It's all about love of neighbor. And so for white people, relationships means actually having meaningful relationships across racial and ethnic lines, which takes an incredible amount of intentionality because of the intentionality that went into segregating people from one another, white people from other people. For Black people and people of color, I think relationships mean solidarity with other people of color, forming coalitions. We're stronger together than apart.”

- Dr. Jemar Tisby, professor of history at Simmons College in Louisville, Kentucky. He is also a best-selling author, national speaker, and public historian. Dr. Tisby is the author of three books: The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism, How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Towards Racial Justice, and coming in September, The Spirit of Justice: Stories of Faith, Race and Resistance. He also hosts the Pass the Mic podcast.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush speaks with Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA and keynote speaker at the symposium, and Prof. Najeeba Syeed, executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg University, about the importance of interfaith solidarity in building a stronger, inclusive society and resilient democracy.

“There has to be a conversation about: what do we do when there is a community, an individual in our community, there's some dynamic where someone is being targeted for hate? What and how do we engage that interfaith space around that reality, that lived reality?”

-Dr. Najeeba Syeed, executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. For more than two decades, Najeeba has been a professor and practitioner in the fields of conflict resolution, mediation, and interfaith studies. An award-winning educator, she has taught extensively on interreligious education and restorative justice.

“When you give people of radically different perspectives, the opportunity to hear each other in a constructive space, you realize that we very much overestimate the capacity of our differences to rip us apart, and we very much underestimate our capacity to actually see the commonality.”

- Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA, a ​​student movement creating spaces for constructive political discussions on campuses across the country. He hosts The Hopeful Majority podcast and was included on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in 2022.

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 “I think one of the thematic throughlines of the book is understanding the ways in which our faith identities have become wrapped up in, almost inextricable from, our political identities and our kind of cultural, social identities and our national identity and understanding how that has happened and how it's progressed. Some of it has happened very subconsciously, I think. In other ways, there's been a conscious, concerted, very well-organized, well-funded effort to effectively merge the evangelical church with the Republican Party.”

- Tim Alberta, staff writer for The Atlantic and the best-selling author of the new book, The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. It is a fitting follow-up to his other best-seller, American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump. In his new work, Tim weaves together the expert observations of a skilled journalist with the insights of an American who grew up as a practicing Christian and the son of an evangelical pastor.

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“I think the first thing people can do is to not say ‘vote,’ but to actually participate. What I mean by that is that it's important to vote. It's important to get people registered to vote. But if you think voting is the only thing that's going to do it, you are sorely mistaken.” - Dr. Anthea Butler, a leading scholar of African American religion and history, nationalism, race, politics, and popular culture. The author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, Dr. Butler sounds a warning in “God & Country” about the direction Christian nationalism is taking this country - and how hard it may be to ever come back. Dr. Butler is the Geraldine R. Siegel Professor in American Social Thought and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

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“I didn't really even know about the term ‘Christian nationalism.’ What I did know was that there was a movement, a political movement, designed to do whatever it took to get certain ideas and certain policies across, and I knew it was very powerful in the Christian community – but I didn't know the term Christian nationalism. I knew there was a strong political movement; I didn't realize how strong and how organized it was.” - Rob Reiner, Emmy award-winning actor and director; producer of “God & Country.”“I think the first challenge for the film is just for people to understand what Christian nationalism is, what those terms mean, because at first glance, they both sound like very nice things to be: to be a real patriot, you know, to believe in your country and to believe in your faith. Those don't seem like bad things. So the first goal of the film really has to be to define it.” - Dan Partland, Emmy award-winning director of “God & Country.” His other films include “#UNFIT. The Psychology of Donald Trump.”

 “God & Country” opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, February 16, 2024.

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“What we need to do is to understand our power. And so what I do is I offer a pragmatic reading of the prophetic, of the heroic, and of the democratic. I argue that the prophetic is located in each of us, and it's located in our ability to exercise our imaginations: to see beyond the constraints of now, and to imagine what's possible, to engage in that dramatic rehearsal in pursuit of the good. And so these lectures are really about disrupting this idea that we can outsource our responsibility for democracy to others. That if we're going to save this fragile experiment in this moment, we're going to have to do it.”

Dr. Glaude is a leading American scholar, a popular commentator, and the best-selling author of books including Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, and Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Time, winner of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Book Prize. He is James S. McDonald Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University, and former chair of the Department of African American Studies there, as well as the former president of the American Academy of Religion. His next book, due out April 16, 2024, is titled We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For.

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Amidst the ongoing devastating violence in the Middle East, fostering understanding and unity among diverse religious communities takes on added significance. By embracing interfaith dialogue and collaboration, we can contribute to breaking down barriers and building empathy. This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Rabbi Abby Jacobson and Imam Imad Enchassi join host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss recognizing the shared humanity among different religious groups as not only a gesture of solidarity but also a step toward finding common ground in the fight for justice.

Rabbi Abby Jacobson is the rabbi at Emanuel Synagogue in Oklahoma City. She's the former president and a long-time board member of Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma.

“I refuse to allow us to be pitted against each other, because there is not a daily quota of compassion, because everybody's children need to be safe, and everybody needs to be happy sleeping in their own beds,” said Rabbi Jacobson. “It is not only possible, but I think mandatory to be pro-Palestinian health, human rights, dignity, sovereignty, and everything else, and at the same time also be pro-Israel. Those two shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. And we’re all just talking about what human beings need. We would be having fewer arguments, and there, I believe, would be less anger and hurt if we were not being further divided by a narrative of us versus them, because I don't think we should have to compete for compassion or news time, because everybody's children are important.”

Dr. Imad Enchassi is the chairman of Islamic Studies, chaplain, and professor at Oklahoma City University. He serves as Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City.

“What gives me hope is the simple fact that throughout conflict and war, there's this human being, this is a spirit of humanity that is shining upon all of us,” said Imam Enchassi. “When I lose family in Gaza and the local rabbis and the local Jewish community send me condolences and send me a fruit basket and give me condolences, I have hope in humanity. I have hope in humanity when I see different countries coming together to bring humanitarian aid. I have hope in humanity when people are weeping, on one side of the world, for other people on the other side of the world, perhaps they have nothing in common except their humanity. There's always that human that's going to shine, and there's always that human that's going to prevail. And for that I have hope.”

Hear from Rabbi Jacobson and Imam Enchassi on this and much more in this week’s episode.

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“What I'm trying to do with this book is essentially say, in this time of the loneliness epidemic, social alienation, isolation, so much human cruelty, polarization, ideological extremism: can we see one another and say ‘amen’ to each other's experience, including not just in church and in synagogue and in the mosque, but when we see somebody who's weeping on the subway, can we go over and say, ‘hey, I see that you're not okay right now. Can I ask you, what happened to you? What's happening in your heart? Do you want to share?’” - Rabbi Sharon Brous

Rabbi Brous is a leading voice in reanimating religious life in America. She’s the founding and senior rabbi at IKAR, a Jewish congregation in Los Angeles dedicated to invigorating Jewish practice and inspiring people of faith to reclaim a soulful, justice-driven voice, and senior fellow at Auburn Seminary. Rabbi Brous recently published a new book, The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend our Broken Hearts and World, which brings together Jewish wisdom and contemporary science to celebrate the fundamental human need for connection, and show how meeting this need can give us hope in a fragmented, isolated age.

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“We have to step back and ask: what made our American universities great in the first place? What made American universities better than most other higher education institutions around the globe? Where freedom of speech, the First Amendment, and this broad spectrum of ideas civilly and constructively engage - and clash. But again, not in a violent or toxic way. We have to sort of strengthen those foundational pillars and ideals.” - Imam Abdullah Antepli, Associate Professor of the Practice of Interfaith Relations at the Duke University Divinity School and the Sanford School of Public Policy. Abdullah is a globally acknowledged scholar and leader of cross-religious and cross-cultural dialogue in American higher education and the not-for-profit world.

“We have a diverse nation. And there wasn’t nearly as much diversity at the time of the founding, but there was some. And you have to look at what the Founders did together when they crafted the Constitution. You have all these Founders from states with establishments and established religions, but what did they do? They didn’t establish a religion. They didn’t have a religious test. I mean, they did everything differently than what they had in their state. So what they did together and came together to do is what we should follow as our example, not what they did in their states.” - Warren Throckmorton, co-author, Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims About Our Third President and host of the new podcast “Telling Jefferson Lies.” 

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 “I've read recently that the old governor of Arkansas said, if Trump doesn't win the next election, all elections will be settled with bullets rather than ballots. I don't believe that. I still spend all the time in the community. I only meet good people across the political spectrum. I'm friends with many, many conservative Republicans in the House who I don't agree with how they would approach immigration or guns or abortion, but they're still good people. You know, they love their families. They wouldn't lie to me or try to hurt me. They have different ideas about how to make the world a better place. But I still have a deep faith that our country's best days lie ahead.” - Rep. Beyer shares why witnessing the January 6 insurrection didn't shake his hope for American democracy.

Representative Don Beyer (VA-8) has served in Congress since 2015. He is a leader in the fight against hate and bias, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, and is a leader on issues regarding religious freedom, having introduced the Freedom of Religion Act in 2016. Additionally, his leadership on the Jabara Heyer NO HATE Act of 2021 created critical resources for the Department of Justice to support local law enforcement in fighting hate crimes. Rep. Beyer is the senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, and is a member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which importantly works to keep religion out of government.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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"We have to move spirituality from the church and the yoga class and move it into the world where we're using spiritual tools to relieve the suffering of others, to increase compassion and build community." – Rainn Wilson

The last guest on The State of Belief this year is Emmy-award nominated actor, producer and author Rainn Wilson. Known to millions as Dwight on the hit series The Office, Rainn has gone on to roles in a long list of movies – but more relevant for us is the work he’s done in promoting open-hearted dialogue about what it means to be human, both with his media company and best-selling books like Soul Pancake: Chew on Life's Big Questions, and Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Rainn also has a series on Peacock called The Geography of Bliss, and will soon be starting a podcast based on the ideas explored in Soul Boom.

Paul thinks that few people in America have done more for spirituality in our country than Rainn has, and the conversation ranges from how Rainn’s Baha’i faith informs his work, to his years as an Atheist, to how we need more Star Trek expressions of religion to complement our tendency toward Kung Fu expressions of religion, to where he finds hope for today.

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"It's all about just finding common ground, which is something we so desperately need. And humor helps us do that. Because if we laugh together, you and I share something right then - because we both understand the premise of the joke." - Rev. Susan Sparks, preacher, lawyer, and stand-up comedian. Susan is Senior Pastor at Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City, and the best-selling author of books like Laugh Your Way to Grace and Miracle On 31st Street.

Also, Paul shares some personal thoughts for the holiday season.

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We also hear from two award-winning religion journalists, Adelle Banks and Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service. Each brings their top five religion news stories from the past year, as well as thoughts on the themes most likely to make headlines in 2024.

“Our vision is that freedom of religion and belief is a mainstream human right…The idea that religious rights can trump, for example, the rights of women, of LGBT folks, etc. If we can push forward the human rights of all, including religion and belief minorities and others, that really will benefit everybody.” – Gary McLelland, Chief Executive at Humanist International.

“One of the things that gives me a lot of hope is the spectrum of people and groups who are joining arms to try to protect the country against Christian nationalism. And it's as much people of faith who are doing it as humanists and atheists.” - Nicole Carr, Interim Executive Director, American Humanist Association.

“Clergy have to deal with people divided, not just about the direction of their denomination of their faith group, but just all of these cultural issues. And it's like it's an added job description for these clergy that they have to try to help people through.” - Adelle Banks, Religion News Service Project Editor and National Reporter.

“Folks espousing forms of Christian nationalism are either yelling at school boards or being elected to school boards. And we're seeing various different groups revving up for this 2024 election in ways that kind of have sparked elements of Christian nationalism, various churches and candidates.” - Jack Jenkins, author and Religion News Service National Reporter; author, American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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“We believe that all citizens have the right and responsibility to advocate for in government, to the government – so you have the right and responsibility regardless of faith - we’re equal citizens. The problem is when you’re doing so in order to enact and privilege one particular faith in ways that are going to harm others and in ways that are at odds with that principle of equal citizenship and equal rights to bring your religion to the public square.” – Holly Hollman, General Counsel and Associate Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Holly is a leading expert on Church-State issues and how Congress, the courts, and administrative agencies address them. She is also the co-host of BJC’s Respecting Religion podcast series.

“We are in a very polarized time, and people are very reactionary. And we need to remember our common bonds so that we can fight back against our common enemy - which, as we’ve discussed, is coming from this Christian nationalist playbook. So it’s just so important during this time for people of faith to come together and find common ground so that we can mobilize and speak out with a unified voice.” – Darcy Hirsh, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at Interfaith Alliance. Darcy is an attorney and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. She is at the forefront of Interfaith Alliance’s work on Capitol Hill to combat Christian nationalism and the political leaders driven by its agenda.

Paul also responded to Speaker Johnson's Moses moment with some comments in an Instagram video. You can watch that reel here.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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“I think that voters in this country see abortion as part of a larger agenda in the Republican Party to take away personal freedoms. We see them taking on the issue of books and libraries. We see them taking on the issues of LGBTQ, especially transgender members of our society.” - Greg Lebel, political management expert and director emeritus of George Washington University’s Native American Political Leadership Program and Semester in Washington Politics Program.

“Ever since I’ve been in Naples, I have wanted to have some kind of interfaith group and network. I’ve been a part of that in other places, not exactly the same, but what keeps me going is the feeling that it is so important that we come together across faith traditions.” - Rev. Dr. Sharon Harris Ewing, a Naples resident since 2016, a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister and a former educational psychologist with Roberts Wesleyan College.

“Treat your fellow person as you would want to be treated yourself: that is the whole Torah. There is nothing else. And that resonates with me all the time.” - Dr. Lisa Freund, who serves on the Jewish Community Relations Council and has a doctorate in special education and literacy.

“What gives me hope is when I stand back at the end of some of our events and watch what’s going on in the room after the event, and the people who are continuing to have conversations, people of different backgrounds and different colors and just making connections - and all of a sudden feeling like there’s people they can talk to and people that they can work with.” - Rev. Tony Fisher, a Unitarian Universalist minister who has served for over ten years at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples.

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"I think without gratitude, you end up focusing only on the negative, you end up focusing only on places where your life is lacking, and you tend to compare yourself with other people's lives. "– Fr. James Martin, S.J., New York Times best-selling author and editor-at-large at America Magazine. Father Jim also serves as editor of Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic resource. He was appointed to the Catholic Church Secretariat of Communication by Pope Francis and recently returned from Rome, where he attended the Church Synod. His latest book is titled Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle.

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“A six-year-old Jewish boy placed a menorah in his window for Hanukkah. A brick was thrown through the window and it landed on his bed; and people knew that things were becoming more dangerous. What can we do? And they said, they can't possibly attack every Jewish home if we're all Jewish, so let's all put menorahs in our windows. And that year, 10,000 people put menorahs in their windows for Hanukkah. And the white supremacist organizing stopped.” - Patrice O'Neill, founder and co-director of Not in Our Town, a movement of people across the country working to build safe, inclusive communities. A filmmaker and CEO of the nonprofit strategic media company The Working Group, she works to galvanize community action against hate through film.

Pardeep Singh Kaleka is the author of Gifts of Our Wounds: A Sikh and a Former White Supremacist Find Forgiveness After Hate. A tireless anti-hate and interfaith leader, he is the son of Satwant Singh Kaleka, the leader of the Oak Creek Gurdwara who was murdered, along with five others, at the Sikh temple in 2012. The tragedy of Oak Creek and its aftermath are examined in the 2013 Not in Our Town documentary Waking in Oak Creek, which is just one of the projects projects Patrice and Pardeep discuss with Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of The State of Belief, this week. NIOT films are available for free viewing on their website, along with educational materials for classroom and congregational use.

“This is really the one movement we should have been dealing with from the beginning of the beginnings, because religion is the movement that touches all the movements.” - Mario Cader-Frech, a pioneering social impact media strategist who has worked for over 20 years in roles including senior vice president of public affairs and social responsibility at Viacom International. Mario is now a student at Harvard Divinity School and a media and entertainment fellow at Harvard Religion and Public Life, where he developed an organization dedicated to bringing religious literacy to Hollywood called DeeperDive.org.

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“If you trace Diwali back to its roots, it is often referred to as the Hindu festival of lights. And the light factor has both physical connotation in terms of lighting candles, as well as the more spiritual factor of a victory of light over darkness, good over evil.” - Sushma Dwivedi. Sushma is a Hindu pundit and a marriage equality pioneer. She is also the President of Ghetto Gastro, a culinary collective with a racial and social justice lens. Sushma and Paul talk Diwali, community-building, and building a life that reflects one’s deepest values.

“I think we live in a time, in general, where there's a real degradation of an understanding of love. I've often wrestled with the saying of the Buddha, which was echoed, of course, in slightly different language formed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When the Buddha said: ‘Hatred will never cease by hatred. Hatred will only cease by love. This is an eternal law.’ It's wrestling! You come to some situation, you think here? Here, too?” - Sharon Salzberg. A central figure in meditation and a New York Times bestselling author who brings Buddhist wisdom to contemporary challenges, Sharon co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and is the author of numerous important books, most recently Real Life: The Journey From Isolation to Openness and Freedom and Finding Your Way: Meditations, Thoughts, and Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life. Sharon is back with us to talk about how her practice is helping her through the threats of the moment we live in, as well as the teachings that have sustained her through the decades.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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“This is a question I never thought I'd really write as a social scientist, but here's the question that we asked people, do they agree or disagree: ‘The government, media, and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation.’” - Dr. Robert P. Jones, President and Founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of the New York Times best-selling book The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future. PRRI recently released its 2023 American Values Survey, examining the intersection of religion, culture, and politics.

“Reagan’s biggest success, or one of his biggest successes, was mainstreaming this evangelical vision to the larger public. Now, when he said Shining City on a Hill, that meant one thing to religious conservatives. To many secular people, it was a harmless phrase. And in that way, the media helped circulate the message.” – Dr. Diane Winston, Associate Professor of Journalism and the Knight Chair of Media and Religion at the University of Southern California, and author of Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision. The book examines how religion and media affect how we think about our leaders and ourselves as individuals and as citizens of the United States.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at  http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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“I think that we need more politicians reading books, and fewer politicians banning books. The censorship of books, censorship of curricula, censorship of teachers, censorship of ideas and free speech and free discourse are always an exercise of power. They're nothing that leads to the moral or spiritual improvement of society.” - Rep. Jamie Raskin. Congressman Raskin, a former professor of constitutional law, represents Maryland's 8th Congressional District.

“We cannot have freedom of religion without freedom of speech. We cannot have freedom of religion without defending the right to read.” - Tracie D. Hall, former executive director of the American Library Association. With a background ranging from librarian to working at the Joyce Foundation and with the City of Chicago, Tracie has seen the power of words, literacy, and books from many angles, and is deeply concerned about how book bans threaten both free speech, and freedom of religion.

“There's a direct correlation between allowing individuals, especially young kids, to have the knowledge, to have access to the knowledge and the different perspectives, to shape our narrative and to really understand who communities are, who and how they came into this country, how we live, how we contribute to society, and to, again, fight that ignorance and bring down some of these statistics that we're seeing.” - Anisha Singh, executive director of the Sikh Coalition. Anisha is a powerhouse leader, organizer, and activist who has led impactful campaigns at the Center for American Progress and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 

“Censorship is about the status quo. It's about free expression. It's about what is acceptable and what is not. Who dictates the narrative? Who controls what the status quo is? And right now, that status quo is one that is very restricted, that is keeping many people marginalized because of identity, because of faith, because of these inherent characteristics that we have as humans that certain people just simply disagree with.” - Cameron Samuels, executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT). A student activist from Texas, Cameron has been at the forefront of the youth movement to combat book bans.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

photo: Ralph Alswang

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“There's a real risk in this kind of pain, which is that we harden our hearts, just like Pharaoh in Egypt. And we harden our hearts to the suffering of the other people on the other side of this border. And no matter what we believe in terms of politics, I don't want to harden my heart to the suffering of others." - Rabbi Dr. Jay Michelson, commentator for CNN and a columnist for Rolling Stone. Jay is a meditation teacher and the author of ten books, including The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path, and is affiliated professor at Chicago Theological Seminary.

“It's a collective human failing that we can have so many people murdered and in such precarious situations. It's not a moment to be polarized. That's deeply painful for me, just from my own religious ethics. Human life is human life; human dignity is human dignity. It's not dependent on somebody's ethnicity or creed.” - Dr. Celene Ibrahim, religious studies scholar with a focus on Islamic intellectual history and applied ethics. Celene is a member of the advisory council at the Miller Center for Interreligious Leadership at Hebrew College, and an affiliate faculty member at the Boston Islamic Seminary.

“Everyone on both sides of this conflict is human. Now, that does not mean that we don't have to restrain and condemn really bad human behavior; but it's human behavior, and that these are human beings that are being killed and maimed and tortured, and who suffered. And in my tradition, human beings are made in the image of God, full stop.” - Rev. Fred Davie, strategic advisor at Union Seminary and former member of the Obama administration’s Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Fred is currently vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and senior advisor for racial equity at Interfaith America.

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Christian ethicist Dr. David P. Gushee has weighed in on some of the most pressing issues of our day, including the evolving nature of American evangelical Christianity. His titles include, Changing Our Mind, a groundbreaking call for LGBTQ+ inclusion in society and the Church, which is now in its third edition; A Letter to My Anxious Christian Friends; and Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelicalism. Just this month, David has published Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies, putting him once again on the front lines of Christian ethics and American Democracy. David will sit down with Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of The State of Belief, to discuss his latest work and more.

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All eyes have been on Congress as some members worked to avert a government shutdown, while a small minority of exploited the impasse by trying to insert anti-LGBTQ+ provisions – “riders” - into the federal budget. In response, Interfaith Alliance and our allies in the faith fight for equality took to Capitol Hill to urge members to vote down these harmful amendments. Darcy Hirsh, Interfaith Alliance’s senior director of policy and advocacy, joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of The State of Belief, to recap these past busy weeks in Washington alongside two of our closest partners: Jon Cohen, director of community mobilization at Keshet, and Allen Morris, policy advisor at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Religious and political extremists have tried hard to make “intersectionality” a dirty word, but it won’t work – because we all know that finding common ground across diverse identities is how we achieve progress. Analucía Lopezrevoredo, the founder and executive director of Jewtina y Co, exemplifies how building powerful coalitions and movements can impact our democracy for the better. She joins Paul to discuss her work building bridges within the Jewish and Latine communities.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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Tracie D. Hall has led the American Library Association since 2020. With a background ranging from librarian to working at the Joyce Foundation and with the City of Chicago, Tracie has seen the power of words, literacy, and books from many angles, and is deeply concerned about how book bans threaten our individual freedoms. She joins Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of The State of Belief, this week to preview Banned Books Week, the national campaign UniteAgainstBookBans.org, and lessons learned from successful initiatives to oppose book bans.

Sabrina Baêta is on the Freedom to Read team for PEN America, an organization working to defend free expression at home and abroad. She has been on the front lines of the group’s campaign to document the rising number of book bans in state after state, helping to raise awareness about why these efforts undermine our public schools and our First Amendment rights. Sabrina joins Paul to discuss PEN America’s new report, Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor, data on religiously-motivated bans, and the impact all of this is having on writers and readers.

Interfaith Alliance is mobilizing faith communities to defend our freedom to read – on October 18, we’re bringing together Congressman Jamie Raskin and leading advocates on Capitol Hill to discuss how we can mobilize in defense of public education and democracy.

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The great American writer James Baldwin passed away 36 years ago. But his seminal works - as well as his unvarnished social commentary - continue to inspire readers and admirers today. And his message of an unlikely but possible true bridging of racial divides in this country is but one of the prophetic calls included in Prof. Greg Garrett's new book, The Gospel According to James Baldwin. A longtime professor at Baylor University, Greg has spent years following Baldwin - metaphorically and physically - to discover some of the reasons he sees his subject as "A prophet of humanity."

Religion News Service is the leading nonprofit, nonsectarian journalistic enterprise in the United States focusing on religion, and the ways faith influences every part of our society and culture. Award-winning journalists Adelle Banks, projects editor and national reporter, and Jack Jenkins, national reporter and author of the book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country, are back on State of Belief to review some stories from the summer some of us may have missed, and preview what they expect will hold the spotlight in the coming few months.

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Rep. James Talarico is a former public school teacher first elected to serve in the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. A Harvard grad, Rep. Talarico has worked to ensure all Texas students have access to a quality education. In his first term, he helped write the most significant reform to the state’s school finance system in 20 years. He went on to pass major legislation to open up millions of dollars for student mental health and character education programs, establish the first-ever cap on Pre-K class sizes to reduce student-to-teacher ratios, and improve the quality and affordability of child care.

Born in Pakistan to a large family, Rep. Salman Bhojani immigrated to the Lone Star State when he was 19 years old. Rep. Bhojani earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas and became a small business owner—purchasing convenience stores across the DFW Metroplex. He's also an attorney and the first Muslim elected to the Texas State house - as well as the first person of color ever elected to represent House District 92. Rep. Bhojani has led the charge for bills protecting the religiously diverse beliefs of all Texans on matters including the observance of holy days and expanding the faiths represented among credentialed marriage celebrants.

To expand our reach, State of Belief  is now being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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Jen founded Faith in Public Life, a leading organization fighting for equity, fueled by faith, 17 years ago. And while the political landscape looks significantly different today, the moral imperative to pursue justice remains just as strong. Now serving as a consultant for institutions seeking to develop faith-based partnerships, she joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance and host of The State of Belief, this week to reflect on her changemaker career thus far; share a very personal, poignant story about the power of disinformation; discuss her book, Who Stole My Bible? Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny; how the progressive religious values that inspired leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. are actually shared by most Americans of faith today; and reveal where she finds hope.

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Dr. Katherine Marshall is Senior Fellow at Georgetown University's Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and leads the center's work on religion and global development. She's also a professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion in the Walsh School of Foreign Service. Katherine serves as executive director of the World's Faith Development Dialogue, and is a member of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She was a World Bank officer from 1971 to 2006 where she led the Faith and Ethics Initiative between 2000 and 2006.

To say that Katherine's five decades of leadership equips her with unique insights is an understatement. From pioneering work to include women's voices, to addressing the sensitive topic of development dollars influencing NGOs, to what's the same and what's different about the challenges faced by communities in far-flung parts of the world, her conversation with Paul offers both food for thought, and inspiration for getting involved.

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Hear State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush in conversation with Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich, who serves as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago; OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership’s lead organizer for women’s initiatives Soraya Deen and OMNIA Institute President Rev. Dr. Shanta D. Premawardhana; Tri-Faith Initiative Executive Director and Co-Founder Wendy Goldberg; Academy Award-nominated director and producer Joshua Seftel, Stranger at the Gate film; and Sukhbir Singh, the main langar organizer and representative of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha in the United Kingdom.

We end this week’s State of Belief with the impassioned words Paul spoke to the Parliament’s plenary session in Chicago.

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Dr. Robert P. Jones, founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, is gearing up to release his newest book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future, on September 5th. In it, he reveals the deep connection between organized religion and the dehumanization of Native Americans and Africans – a dehumanization that was officially sanctioned by the Western Church. Robby and Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of The State of Belief, explore this shocking history and the very real ways it continues to play out in the present day – including rhetoric we’re already hearing ahead of a contentious 2024 election.

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State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by three leaders who are deeply involved in organizing the 2023 convening of the Parliament.

Rev. Stephen Avino serves as the Executive Director of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. On the staff of the parliament since 2012, Stephen has remained deeply committed to the success of the global interfaith movement, serving as a key organizer for the 2015 Parliament Convening in Salt Lake City, the 2018 Parliament Convening in Toronto, and the 2021 Virtual Parliament Convening.

Sara Rahim a young professional with vast interfaith experience who trains others in social impact. A progressive Muslim, Sara is a past plenary speaker in the Parliament’s Inaugural Women's Assembly and has addressed the United Nations representing the Parliament and its mission.

Phyllis Curott has served terms on the Parliament board across over three decades. One of the first public wiccan priestesses in America, Phyllis is chairing this year's program and founded the Parliament women's task force.

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Andrew is co-author of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, and is publishing his latest book, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, on August 15th.

Andrew grew up in an Evangelical environment that was fertile ground for the Christian nationalist agenda, and brings deeply personal insights to this urgent subject. He's associate professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he codirects the Association of Religion Data Archives at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture.

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Representative Jamie Raskin has established himself as one of our country's fiercest advocates for Democracy and against the extremists trying to tear it down. He notably served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and co-founded the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Congressman Raskin joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush this week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, to talk about the state of our democracy.

An author of several books about the interplay between the Supreme Court and democracy, Rep. Raskin speaks with Paul about his own experience of having a book he authored banned in Texas schools.

Across faith and place, we know that the most dangerous thing we could do is sit idly by while our democracy – and our fundamental rights – are under relentless attack. Listen in to hear Rep. Raskin discuss the challenges we face, how he’s navigated profound personal loss, what gives him hope, and how his faith informs his public service.

Paul also speaks with Darcy Hirsh, Interfaith Alliance Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy. They discuss Interfaith Alliance’s support of the Freedom to Vote Act, a pro-democracy bill recently reintroduced by US Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock of Georgia in the Senate, and Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland in the House. Darcy also speaks further about the ways people of faith and conscience can participate in our democracy outside of voting, including volunteering as a poll worker or educating others on the issues they consider most important.

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In this wide-ranging conversation with State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, President of Interfaith Alliance, Derrick explores how the political climate has deteriorated since the Obama presidency, and how the oft-maligned term "Woke" actually represents an essential value. But you'll also hear how contact with ideological opposites and the resilience he's seen in so many people he's served, particularly in African-American communities, give him hope and enthusiasm to keep pushing forward as the 2024 election cycle begins.

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This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, our host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Elizabeth Reiner Platt, director of Columbia Law School's Law, Rights, and Religion Project to discuss this case and how it could lead to a wide range of discrimination.

Before joining Columbia Law School, Liz was a Staff Attorney at MFY Legal Services Mental Health Law Project. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, she was also Carr Center for Reproductive Justice Fellow at A Better Balance.

A year after the court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, Paul and Liz also speak about how, amid an increase in abortion bans across the U.S., religious abortion rights supporters are testing the principle of religious freedom in legal battles. In the past year alone, clergy and members of various faiths have filed lawsuits in eight states asserting that abortion bans and restrictions infringe on their religious beliefs.

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A leading voice in national news for more than a quarter century, Peter Maer served as a White House correspondent with CBS News from 1986 to 2015. He covered presidential politics, major national and international disasters, and was awarded honors including the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award, five Merriman Smith Awards for Presidential Coverage, and the Overseas Press Award. In 2019, Interfaith Alliance honored Peter with its annual Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award. Peter currently serves on the Board of Interfaith Alliance.

Peter and Paul also discuss the approaching 30th anniversary of Interfaith Alliance, the expansion of affiliate organizations across the U.S., and where Paul finds hope amid the pressing challenges our nation faces on a number of fronts.

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Dr. Kevin M. Kruse is Professor of History at Princeton University. He specializes in the political, social, and urban/suburban history of twentieth-century America, with a particular interest in conflicts over race, rights and religion and the making of modern conservatism. His books include One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, and he’s currently posting essential commentary at his Substack titled Campaign Trails.

Lies and scaremongering have triggered fears of LGBT-positive educational materials in Montgomery County, MD public schools – including among some Muslim and other minority families. Paul welcomes Ambereen Khan, host of the popular Interfaith Voices program on National Public Radio and a parent in the Montgomery County school district, for a conversation about the fear campaign as well as how finding common ground at the individual level can spark empathy and defuse an increasingly tense situation.

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The Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams is co-director for movement building at SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity, which brings together organizers, religious leaders, and congregations to advance reproductive justice. On what she calls the one year anti-versary of Dobbs, there is no better guest to reflect on what we lost - and challenge us to navigate the challenges ahead together.

A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy exists to build and support a robust, well-resourced, trans-partisan Jewish coalition working together to strengthen democracy. Executive Director Aaron Dorfman, and Sofi Herscher Andorsky, Vice President for Strategy and Communications, join Paul for an important - and inspiring - conversation about lessons learned in 2020, and how they must be applied in 2024.

State of Belief has a new home and is being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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On this week’s show, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief and president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, will share highlights from our Faith for Pride kickoff event earlier this month. We’ll hear from an inspiring and diverse group of faith leaders, all united in their vision of a more equitable nation:

Rev. Don Abram, M.Div, executive director of Pride in the Pews

Felipe Zurita Quintana, leadership council chair for United Religions Initiative of North America

Sushma Dwivedi, progressive Hindu pundit and founder of the Purple Pundit Project

Ani Zonneveld, founder and president, Muslims for Progressive Values

Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis and proud mom to a trans child

Pastor Bill Knezovich of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Fresno, California, which was recently vandalized for being LGBTQ+ affirming

Tracey Labgold, Florida education & training manager for the Jewish LGBTQ+ organization Keshet and Chair of ADL's National Education Committee

Malachi Garza, organizing director at the Solidaire Network

Rev. Traci Blackmon, executive minister of Justice & Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ

Speakers also discuss the ongoing fight against the flood of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that are advancing in statehouses across the country, emblematic of a dangerous national campaign that Christian nationalists and their allies are waging against our LGBTQ+ siblings - almost always misusing the language of faith to do so.

More than 100 national and local organizations are co-sponsoring this year’s Faith for Pride initiative, including the Anti-Defamation League, Keshet, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Sikh Coalition, United Religions Initiative, and the United Church of Christ. Together, we can organize and mobilize against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and hateful rhetoric that threaten the lives of LGBTQ+ people.

State of Belief has a new home and is being distributed via the Religion News Service family of podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the next generation of State of Belief today via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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We owe so much of what State of Belief is today to the founder of the show, the Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, who from the very beginning brought his wisdom, spiritual depth, and love of people to every show. Our friend Welton died this week in his home in Louisiana. He was a giant in the interfaith world, as well as a beloved local Baptist pastor, and there is no replacing him. Our goal is to honor his legacy and continue his great work through the ongoing mission of Interfaith Alliance and State of Belief.

It is perhaps fitting, then, that today Interfaith Alliance is proud to launch a new partnership with Religion News Service, the go-to source of global news on religion, to distribute State of Belief. We join the growing family of podcasts available through RNS, including Saved by the City and Martini Judaism. By teaming up with Religion News Service, we have an exciting opportunity to reach new listeners across the nation.

We’re thrilled to welcome a very special inaugural guest to kick off our exciting collaboration on June 10, 2023: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, president of Repairers of the Breach, and professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. Bishop Barber is a leading prophetic voice for social and economic justice in this country. A powerful public speaker, legendary organizer, teacher and author, he’s a very sought after interview guest – and we're thrilled to have him with us on this week’s show talking about his work, and his insights for what’s needed from American public religion at such a time as this.

We’ll be sharing more updates about our new partnership in the weeks ahead. We hope you’ll join us on this new journey. Subscribe right now at via Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or at http://www.stateofbelief.com/newpodcast.

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Dr. Ryan Burge is assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and the co-founder of Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience. His Substack is Graphs About Religion. The expanded, second edition of his important book, The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They are Going has just been released.

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michelson is a CNN commentator and columnist for Rolling Stone. Previously, he was the Supreme Court columnist at The Daily Beast. Jay is the author of ten books, including the best-selling, God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality, and is an affiliated professor at Chicago Theological Seminary. Jay holds a PhD in Jewish thought from Hebrew University, a JD from Yale Law School, and a non-denominational rabbinic ordination.

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Bishop Mariann Budde leads the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., having become the first woman to hold the position in 2011. Prior to filling that role, she served as a parish priest for 18 years and spent much of that time championing social justice causes. She is also the chair and president of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation and author of several books including Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love and her latest, How We Learn To Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith.

Darcy Hirsh is Interfaith Alliance’s new senior director of policy and advocacy. Prior to joining Interfaith Alliance, Darcy served as associate vice president for public affairs and government relations at The Jewish Federations of North America, where she directed national legislative strategy on behalf of 146 federations and 300 independent communities throughout the U.S. She has a wealth of experience leading grassroots engagement and interfaith coalition efforts, and will speak with Paul about Interfaith Alliance’s new resource for fighting antisemitism as the White House announces its comprehensive strategy, and her vision for the organization moving into the 2024 election.

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More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew is the gripping story of meeting your mother in a mental institution, and confronting a deeply racist half of your family. The author is John Blake, an award-winning CNN journalist who covers race, religion, and politics. John joins State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to talk about this deeply personal memoir, and to share the hard-won lessons that cultivating difficult relationships is the only true way to lasting healing across lines of division.

June, Pride Month, is just around the corner, and that means it’s almost time for Faith for Pride, a national campaign to push back against anti-LGBTQ+ extremism and support the beloved LGBTQ+ members of our communities. Interfaith Alliance and a broad coalition of organizations is leading this effort, and Maureen O’Leary, director of field and organizing at the Alliance, brings a preview of what’s in store – and an invitation for congregations and communities to get involved.

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Dr. Bradley Onishi is the host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast, the most popular religion and politics podcast on Apple Podcasts. His latest book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next, hit the shelves in January and uses vignettes from his past life as an Evangelical Christian leader to unpack the religious history that led to the January 6th insurrection. A scholar of religion, Brad teaches about and researches Christian nationalism, the history of evangelicalism, race and racism in American religion, and more.

Dr. Isaac Sharp is Director of Certificate Programming and Visiting Assistant Professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Isaac’s current research focuses on the theology, ethics, and history of American evangelicalism. In April, he published a new book, The Other Evangelicals: A Story of Liberal, Black, Progressive, Feminist, and Gay Christians and the Movement That Pushed Them Out, which debuted on Amazon at number one for books on sociology and religion. The book is a must-read for any reader seeking a deep dive into a more inclusive history of religion in America.

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In addition to his work with Race Forward and the Proteus Fund, Eric Ward has held prominent positions at the Western States Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Ford Foundation, and is an internationally-recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate-fueled violence, and preserving inclusive democracy. He was the recipient of the 2021 Civil Courage Prize – the first time in the award’s history that an American has won the prize, underlining the dangerous proliferation of hate crimes and political violence by authoritarian and extremist movements in the United States.

A fascinating leader who has also nurtured a role in punk music, performing as Bulldog Shadow, Eric has fascinating stories of courage and community-building – and a deep understanding of what it takes to come together across differing agendas and identities, something he compellingly argues is desperately needed in our nation today. Be sure to read Eric’s powerful article, “You’re My Inspiration”: How I Came to Understand Racism in America—and What We Can Do About It.

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Anisha Singh is a powerhouse leader, organizer, and activist. As an attorney, she led impactful campaigns while serving as a senior director at the Center for American Progress. She later led the Courts and Democracy Program at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Today, she serves as Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States entering its third decade of work on behalf of the Sikh community.

Jon Ward is Chief National Correspondent at Yahoo News, hosts the Long Game podcast, and is the author of Camelot’s End: Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight that Broke the Democratic Party. In his new book, Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Failed a Generation, Jon shares his experiences and insights from growing up in the insular world of Evangelical Christianity.

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Dora Muhammad is associate director for faith engagement at Planned Parenthood, the largest single provider of reproductive health services across the country. She joins Paul to discuss the abortion pill case before Supreme Court, the fight for reproductive freedom following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and how across both faith and place, Americans overwhelmingly support access to abortion as a matter of religious freedom.

Barry Nelson is the interim executive director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, a statewide, membership-based organization established to increase the visibility of human rights needs across the state. During North Dakota’s current legislative session, a record 21 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced. Alongside Rev. Joe Larson, the first openly gay Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor in the state of North Dakota, these two members of the Board of Interfaith Alliance of North Dakota join Paul to discuss this onslaught of attacks and how they’re fighting back.

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The DeSantis administration in Florida seems to be in a race with the state legislature to impose as many narrow, exclusionary policies and laws as possible. Erasing racist history, banning books, outlawing “Woke” rhetoric as if it were some kind of nefarious agenda… The list is long, and the impact is daunting. Matt Hartley is a former board member and chair of the Interfaith Center of Northeast Florida and serves as the director of the Interfaith Center at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, to examine the impact all this is having in education – and in families – in the state.

Americans United was founded 75 years ago by folks from across different ideological and theological backgrounds. Today, the nonprofit is led by Rachel Laser, who has a long track record of uniting faith-based and secular leaders to make progress on the most important issues of our time. Rachel joins Paul to discuss the organization’s history, its current initiatives including Americans United’s lawsuit challenging Missouri’s draconian abortion bans, and the upcoming Summit for Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C. and online on April 22-24.

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Bishop Budde is a faith leader in the nation’s capital who rarely wades into political conflicts – but felt compelled to do so when, in June of 2020, then-President Trump used force to clear peaceful protesters to facilitate a photo op at St. John’s Episcopal Church, bible in hand. She and Paul spend some time reviewing that seminal moment, and what led the bishop to make the strong statement she did condemning the events of that day.

As religion continues to be subjugated to political agendas, Bishop Budde recalls her journey from activist to parish priest to becoming the first woman Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC – and how that background prepared her for the unique challenges of her ministry. And she shares what gives her hope in this difficult time.

Bishop Mariann Budde is the chair and president of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, and author of several books including Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love and, coming this May, How We Learn To Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith.

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Jonah Pesner has led the Religious Action Center since 2015. An advocate for social justice, interfaith leader, and among the most influential rabbis in America, his work focuses on encouraging Jewish communities to reach across lines of race, class, and faith to achieve social justice. He is dedicated to building bridges to confront antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate, and we’re privileged to have him on the show this week.

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The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, is the brilliant new book from best-selling author Jeff Sharlet that tries to do exactly that. Described in a glowing New York Times review as “an anguished quest to understand the rise of antidemocratic extremism,” The Undertow is a guided road trip across the country, both geographically and psychologically, with Jeff Sharlet – a leading investigator of the political religious right. And this week, Jeff is back on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, to share the stories he collected in an America that seems fractured, frightened, and angry with State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush.

Jeff is the best-selling author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, later a Netflix documentary series, and C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy. While Jeff tells some truly alarming stories in The Undertow, he also offers a substantial – and very hard-won – message of hope that everyone who values our union needs to hear.

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Najeeba is the inaugural El Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director of Interfaith at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, where she also serves as faculty advisor for Augsburg’s Interfaith Scholars. In this role, she partners with campus leaders on initiatives related to interreligious learning and living. Over the past two decades, she has been a professor, expert practitioner, and public speaker in conflict resolution, interfaith studies, mediation, education, deliberative democracy, and social, gender and racial equity. She joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to speak about her background and what the broader interfaith and American community can learn from the teachings of Ramadan.

And Paul shares some impressions from his recent trip to Fresno, California, full of encounters with a broad community of diverse interreligious activists there.

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In addition to her work with the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, Maharat Rori Picker Neiss is a rabbinic fellow at the David Hartman Center, and the loving mom of an 11-year-old son who identifies as Transgender. At JCRC, she works to build bridges between the Jewish community and other faith, ethnic, civic, and political groups. In the activist spirit of his mother, her son began testifying on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the State of Missouri when he was just 8 years old. The National LGBTQ Task Force’s Rev. Nicole Garcia, who identifies as a Queer Transgender Latina and is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Colorado, will join Rori and Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to share how everyday Americans can oppose bigotry in their communities and in the halls of power.

Sarah Levin is founder and principal of Secular Strategies, and a co-chair on the Democratic National Committee’s Interfaith Council. She joins Paul this week to raise up the inspired, and growing, opposition to the Christian nationalist movement in the U.S. Defending a pluralistic democracy for this and future generations will take all of us – and Sarah is expert at coalition-building across communities of identities and beliefs.

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Rev. Jen is the founder and executive director of Faith Matters Network, a Womanist-led organization equipping community organizers, faith leaders, and activists with resources for connection, spiritual sustainability, and accompaniment. She’s also the co-founder of the People’s Supper, an initiative to host shared meals across the U.S. in hopes of building trust and connection among people of different ideologies and perspectives.

She joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host  of State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, to speak about the work of her organizations and where her passion for bringing people together stems from – and about her book, To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss and Radical Hope as well as about Weave: the Social Fabric Project from the Aspen Institute.

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A newly-released report from the Public Religion Research Institute, A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture, provides some disturbing findings about the influence that Christian nationalism continues to hold over our politics. For instance, nearly two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants qualify as either Christian nationalism adherents (29%) or sympathizers (35%). Meanwhile, 10% of all Americans can be categorized as avowed Christian nationalists, and an additional 19% are sympathetic to its ideals. Who better to walk us through these findings than Dr. Robert P. Jones, Founding CEO of PRRI, and Amanda Tyler, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom which launched Christians Against Christian Nationalism to address this pressing issue. They’ll be joining Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to analyze the new data and discuss the long road ahead in combating this dangerous, anti-democratic ideology.

In 2017, Rev. Elizabeth Edman and Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen teamed up for Glitter Ash Wednesday, a way to observe the start of the pre-Easter season of Lent in a visibly inclusive way. The practice has spread every year since then, with more than 150 churches nationwide taking part today. Liz, an activist and political strategist who spent two decades in the struggle to become an openly queer priest in the Episcopal Church, and Marian, an ordained minister and the executive director of Parity, will join Paul ahead of Ash Wednesday, March 22, 2023, to discuss the practice and its relevance in an age of growing institutionalized bigotry against LGBTQI+ identities and lives.

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An activist, public speaker and musician, known by many as the “TikTok Rabbi,” Rabbi Sandra Lawson is the Inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism. Rabbi Sandra lives and works at the intersection of queer, Black, female, and Jewish identities – and speaks powerfully about the dangers of the division and supremacy that are rending our nation. This week, she joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to discuss how, despite such threats, she maintains positivity and a commitment to keeping others empowered by gratitude and hope as well.

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The fight against Christian nationalism is not just a fight for religious freedom. It’s also a fight for a democracy that includes all of us, not just a privileged few. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we will explore how religion can be used as a force for good, and a counter to the Christian right.

More and more, the idea that the American political realm is a place of “spiritual warfare” is making its way into the mainstream. We’re seeing this take hold in Florida especially–Governor DeSantis’s recent ad claiming he was sent by God is just one example. Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, will join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to discuss how Christian nationalism is taking hold in the state, and what we can do about it.

We talk a lot about the dangers of weaponized religion on this show. But organized religion can be–and already is–a tremendous source of strength for many, and a vehicle for justice. Dr. Diana Butler Bass will speak with Paul this week about how those united for justice can tap into faith and religious communities to spark social change.

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Zaki Barzinji is the program director for Aspen Digital, where he oversees a range of projects at the intersection of tech policy, equity, and justice for unrepresented communities. He served in the White House as senior associate director of public engagement and President Obama’s liaison to the Arab-American, Muslim, Sikh and other minority faiths, where he worked to amplify voices and narratives seldom represented at the highest levels of government.

Lauren Krapf serves as the Anti-Defamation League’s counsel for technology policy and advocacy. Her work includes advocacy to support targets of online harassment and hold social media companies accountable for their role in fomenting extremism, hate, and antisemitism and racism. Lauren spearheads ADL’s anti-cyber harassment initiative, Backspace Hate. Prior to joining ADL, Lauren worked as a litigation associate in Los Angeles where she was the co-founder of her firm’s harassment and bias intervention training.

Paul Barrett is the deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He joined the Center in September of 2017 after working for more than three decades as a journalist and author focusing on the intersection of business law and society. At the Center for Business and Human Rights, Paul has focused on producing a series of reports on the role and obligations of the social media industry in a democracy, including the debate over the liability of social media platforms for harmful content and the role of social media companies in the intensifying political polarization in the U.S.

We’ll also dig into the contents of the Big Tech, Hate and Religious Freedom Online report with Interfaith Alliance Advocacy Associate Riya Kohli who was the driving force behind putting this report together. You can download the report at this link: https://bit.ly/3ZZRcgS

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A familiar name to many, Shane Claiborne is the co-founder of Red Letter Christians and a tireless activist for peace, justice, and grace. Among his many projects is the Forge, which brings people in his Philadelphia community together to, literally, forge guns into plowshares (or at least garden tools!)

Shane’s brand new book, Rethinking Life: Embracing the Sacredness of Every Person, hits the shelves on February 7 and explores how to resolve the conflicting ways honoring life shows up in our culture today. This week, he joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to discuss the new book and his efforts for peace, justice and equality.

While it continues to have enormous potential to amplify diverse voices and empower democracy, social media is too often associated with a flood of hate and bigotry poisoning the digital world. On Wednesday, January 25th, Interfaith Alliance is releasing a new report, Big Tech, Hate and Religious Freedom Online; and that same day, it’s hosting an expert panel highlighting the urgent threat digital hate poses to religious freedom.

Project leader Interfaith Alliance Advocacy Associate Riya Kohli joins Paul to preview the report and webinar. The webinar, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time, features Zaki Barzinji of The Aspen Institute, Paul M. Barrett of NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, and Anti-Defamation League’s Lauren Krapf. Sign up to attend here!

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What are the essential teachings of Dr. King? What has been forgotten, either by accident or on purpose? These are some of the important questions we’ll dive into with our first guest, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III. Drawing on his own spiritual background as well as family history with the King family, he’ll join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to apply Dr. King’s beliefs to the turbulent world we live in today.

The founder and senior rabbi of IKAR Jewish community, Rabbi Sharon Brous is among the foremost voices on how the interfaith community can unite to find common ground. While taping last week’s wide-ranging interview with Paul, she shared some wisdom on the legacy of Dr. King that seemed perfect to save… And include on this week’s show!

It’s no secret that faith was at the center of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s advocacy and pursuit of justice. But not all religious leaders lead toward freedom like King did – and as we honor his legacy, it is the perfect opportunity to consider the kind of faith he embodied. This week, Paul revisits a column he authored as Religion Editor at Huffington Post, 7 Ways to Be Sure You’re a Martin Luther King Jr. Kind of Christian.

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Multiple news outlets have named our first guest the most influential rabbi in America. Her TED Talk, titled Reclaiming Religion, has been viewed by 1.4 million people and translated into 23 languages. As we kick off a new year, Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder and senior rabbi of IKAR Jewish community in Los Angeles will join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to share her wisdom on the big spiritual questions ahead of us in 2023.

We can all agree that understanding where we came from is crucial to making sense of the world we live in today. But with so much of our culture and politics influenced by fictions of an American past that never was, we can lose sight of the most crucial lessons history teaches us. Dr. Julian Zelizer, co-editor of the new book Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, will be with Paul to explore this effort to move toward a more reality-based understanding of ourselves as a nation.

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We live in a time of global and technological disruption that, for many of us, make it difficult to be mindful of the present. Sharon Salzberg, a central figure in the field of meditation and a New York Times bestselling author, has spent her career bringing Buddhist wisdom to contemporary challenges to help others connect with the people and values that matter most. Sharon will join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to discuss change, resilience, and her new book, Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World.

A central question of our time is how – across faith and place – we can build inclusive spaces that celebrate every person’s humanity and worth. An influential moral voice for inclusivity and spirituality is Father James Martin, SJ, who has put that ethic into practice throughout his career. Editor-at-large at America Magazine, Father Jim will join Paul to discuss holding on to hope and resisting haters.

We’re always thrilled to welcome back repeat guests on State of Belief, and our next guest first joined us all the way back in 2010! An interfaith activist, humanist leader, author, and educator, Chris Stedman is an essential voice on the biggest challenges facing the multifaith movement for justice and equality. Chris will sit down with Paul discuss the religious freedom landscape heading into the new year.

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It’s been our tradition since the early days of this show to make time to explore how the most impactful religion stories of the year have shaped our culture and our nation across lines of faith and belief. Thankfully for us, the dedicated team at Religion News Service continues to provide invaluable reporting – from the grassroots to the grasstops. Two award-winning RNS national reporters, Jack Jenkins and Adelle M. Banks, join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to recap a very newsy 2022.

And we’ll hear some words for this season from Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister for Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ.

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Interfaith Alliance Director of Policy and Advocacy Katy Joseph returns to the show alongside GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders – GLAD – Senior Attorney Mary Bonauto, who was one of the attorneys who successfully argued the Obergefell case before the Supreme Court, to speak with Paul about the relationship between religious freedom and LGBTQ+ equality, the process it took to get the bill to passage, and what it means now that it is officially signed into law.

The Rev. Traci Blackmon is Associate General Minister for Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ. A deeply spiritual leader who brings faith to bear on issues of social justice and dignity for all people, Traci joins Paul this week to walk through her own and UCC’s advocacy efforts behind the Respect for Marriage Act, the diverse faith coalition in support of the bill, and what lies ahead for social justice activists in the upcoming year.

And we’ll hear the initial reaction to the signing from Father James Martin, editor-at-large at America Magazine and a Jesuit priest widely respected for his ministry walking with LGBTQI+ Catholics and advocating for their dignity in the Church.

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Award-winning author Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is scholar-in-residence at the National Council of Jewish Women. She’s published seven books, and the latest, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, came out earlier this year. Leaning on Jewish wisdom and encompassing universal values, it’s a powerful and practical call to action. Rabbi Danya will join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to share her ambitious vision for what it really takes to move beyond paralyzing harms.

The future of the world is inseparable from the future of its fastest-growing faith. In Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future, author Haroon Moghul (author of How To Be A Muslim, among other books) goes beyond imagining that future, but calling on readers to step up to the work of shaping it. Haroon is an author, public speaker, and occasional Friday preacher, who works to build a vibrant role for faith in shaping a better future.

It’s always a privilege to find shared values and common teachings across diverse faith traditions. And while the tenets of the Sikh religion might be less familiar to many non-Sikhs, The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life reveals a lot of those values through a survey of Sikh beliefs as well as the personal experiences of the author, Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, executive director of the Aspen Institute for Religion and Society.

Paul also gets each guest to recommend three books they found particularly valuable, and shares some titles selected by himself and the Interfaith Alliance staff.

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There’s so much to get out of this encounter! From Joshua’s passionate, active practice of gratitude, based in Jewish teaching and tradition; respectfully learning lessons on gender from his young son (and accepting the label of Rabbi Cisgender Dude Bro for himself); musing on the benefits of freeing many religious practices from dependence on formal faith leaders; to the essential right to seek mental health support for anyone who feels a need in this post-pandemic, trauma-laden time.

You’ll also hear the blessings Rabbi Stanton finds in the allyship Jews are experiencing today across a vast and diverse range of communities despite the surge in antisemitism staining other parts of our society.

Something we’re profoundly thankful for is the committed leaders who joined Interfaith Alliance in Washington, DC to speak out strongly in support of the Respect for Marriage Act. You’ll hear some of their thoughts on this week’s State of Belief (video of these messages and more is available at interfaithalliance.org)

And we hear a prayer for this season from Rev. Nicole Garcia, Faith Work Director at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

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The wave of hatred and discriminaton unleashed across America in the post-9/11 was a dark chapter in our nation’s history that we’ve yet to fully confront. The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), however, has been pushing Congress to reckon with the fallout by advocating for House Resolution 662, which would honor the victims of Islamophobic and anti-immigrant hate crimes over the past decades. Mohammad Hurr Ali, Director of Policy and Government Relations at MPAC, will sit down with Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to debrief their event on Capitol Hill this week that highlighted this important effort.

When the radical majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, they put the country on notice that other fundamental rights could be on the chopping block – including the right to marry who we love. Clergy representing diverse faiths have organized tirelessly in the months since, making the faithful argument for protecting same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law. With the historic Respect for Marriage Act poised to pass in the Senate in the days ahead, Rev. Nicole Garcia, Faith Director at the National LGBT Task Force, will join Paul to discuss why religious freedom and equality are complementary values.

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The wisdom our guests bring to this week’s State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, however, is anything but conventional – and their take on what happened in the midterms, as well as what our leaders need to do next, makes for compelling listening!

In conversation with State of Belief host Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Joshua DuBois brings a wealth of expertise on how and where politics and religion meet. After years leading the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Obama White House, today he’s CEO at two cutting-edge consultancies, Values Partnerships and Gauge.ai, and is one of our country’s top voices on community alliances, issues impacting African Americans, and religion in the public square.

Joshua has a lot to say about the US Senate race in Georgia between Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock and challenger Herschel Walker, and shares insights about how progressive faith communities and voters turned out on Nov. 8th. It’s encouraging to hear him recognize that voters seem ready to turn their backs on the extremism and alternate reality that have permeated our politics in recent years. At the same time, he points out we certainly couldn’t take for granted a peaceful election day.

And don’t miss the cameo appearance from Joshua’s small son, who thought dad might have gotten hungry doing all these interviews and brought him some bread!

Cheryl Contee is another prominent civic and business leader with deep knowledge of messaging as well as of organizing and empowering marginalized persons. She’s CEO of The Impact Seat Foundation as well as founder and Chair of the digital agency Do Big Things.

Recognizing how reproductive rights affect not just women but entire families and communities, Cheryl also shares the additional hurdles that continue to make it harder for women, specifically, to run for elected office. Like Joshua DuBois, she believes real-life solutions to real-life problems clearly motivate voters more than ideological and hyperbolic messages do.

Beyond sharp analysis, Cheryl’s got concrete, cutting-edge ideas on how progressive faith communities can leverage the potential of technology and social media to create real change in an era when people simply no longer trust organizations.

We can’t wait to have you hear it!

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With the battle cry “Our votes are demands,” The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has made contact with over five million eligible voters from economically marginalized backgrounds. Tireless Campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis brings the urgency and rationale of raising up all voices as a moral mandate as she joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, this final weekend before the midterm elections.

Voters of all faiths and none are being urged to take a stand against Christian nationalism at the ballot box. Rev. Doug Pagitt, executive director of Vote Common Good, has been touring the country in a big orange bus warning voters about this dangerous ideology and how to spot it. Just days before Election Day, Doug will catch up with Paul from the road about the stakes of this election and the concerns of the voters he’s been speaking with.

Many of us looked on with horror as Florida authorities arrested numerous people, former felons, for the crime of believing the government officials who told them they were allowed to vote. Cruel stunts like that are just one example of attempts to undermine public confidence – and suppress participation – in the upcoming midterm election in the Sunshine State. Thankfully, the League of Women Voters is on the front lines pushing back, and this week their League of Women Voters of Florida President Cecile Scoon will join us to discuss their important efforts.

And Paul has some parting thoughts to share on in this age of divisiveness, rancor and isolation: we are not alone.

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Our vote remains powerful, but there is undoubtedly a clear and concerted effort underway by the Political Religious Right and their allies to distort the meaning of religious freedom. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we’ll be discussing what to expect on Election Day and just how we got here in the first place.

Faith leaders across the country are using the power of the pulpit and adopting creative ways to get their congregations to vote in the approaching midterm elections. Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, CEO of the Skinner Leadership Institute, has long provided inspiring leadership in congregations across the country as well as in the halls of Congress. She joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, this week to discuss the work she is doing organizing poll chaplains to stand for democracy as part of the initiative Religions United to Save Democracy.

No analysis of this midterm cycle is complete without discussing the influence of faith, both in protection of and at odds with democracy. As Christian nationalists are spreading hate and division, interfaith groups are pushing back in defense of our democratic values. Religion News Service national reporter Jack Jenkins is a leading expert on this dangerous movement as well as the brave faith groups combating it, and he joins Paul to share some of what he’s been reporting on heading into the midterm election and where he thinks we go from here.

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Founded in 2002 grounded in the belief that religious diversity enriches our communities and should serve as a bridge of cooperation, Interfaith America has evolved from a small Chicago-based nonprofit to a premier national interfaith organization. Their work involves inspiring, equipping, and connecting individuals – and especially young people – and institutions to unlock the potential of America’s religious diversity. Eboo Patel, president of Interfaith America, joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, discuss the organization’s 20th anniversary, its important work, Eboo’s latest book, We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy, and his new podcast, Interfaith America with Eboo Patel.

When President Barack Obama turned to religious leaders and experts to staff the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, he called upon Rev. Fred Davie. From the Obama administration to Union Theological Seminary to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, he’s remained an essential voice on how justice and equity are the pillars of building stronger, more inclusive communities. Fred also serves as senior advisor on racial equity at Interfaith America, which is where Paul catches up with him this week to dive into the important role of religion in this year’s midterm elections.

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As the midterms loom and the future of our democracy hangs in the balance, voters will soon be heading to the polls to cast their ballots. Across the country we are seeing candidates running for office on bigoted and anti-democratic platforms – but people of faith and conscience have a crucial role to play in resisting extremist politics. Maureen O’Leary, director of field & organizing at Interfaith Alliance, will join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to discuss the organization’s affiliate program and the urgent need for grassroots mobilization.

Heading into November, each region of the country is facing its own unique challenges. The fight for equality cannot happen in a bubble and will require solidarity between communities across the nation. This week, we’re delighted to have the leaders of three of Interfaith Alliance’s affiliates join Paul to discuss what’s taking place on the ground in their states, how voters are reacting, and their own personal experiences working in interfaith advocacy. You’ll meet Connie Ryan, longtime executive director of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa; Rev. Paul Naamon, President of Interfaith Alliance of Upstate New York; and Rabbi Carl Choper, President of Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania.

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As Interfaith Alliance strengthens these efforts, drawing on three decades of work combating the Religious Right, we’re also excited to welcome our new president and CEO Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush as host of State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast. This week of State of Belief, we’ll explore what Christian nationalism is – and what each of us can do to combat it in our own communities.

Christian nationalism may draw on the symbols and language of Christian religious life, but make no mistake – the “Christian” elements of this ideology are more about identity than religion. Its ultimate goal is power for a particular group of Americans, at the expense of all others. Renowned experts on Christian nationalism Dr. Andrew Whitehead, award-winning author and scholar, and Dr. Sabrina Dent, president of the Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation, will join Paul to discuss this rising movement and the danger it poses not just ahead of the midterms, but for democracy writ large.

The pernicious influence of Christian nationalism can be felt outside the ballot box, and in our everyday lives. One major way the Religious Right is working to build its narrative is by censoring anyone whose worldview dare diverge from theirs. Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code and Marshall Plan for Moms, and Skye Perryman, president and CEO Democracy Forward, will be with Paul to discuss the cultural impact of Christian nationalism and how we can combat it.

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This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio program and podcast, you’ll hear highlights of this briefing, led by Interfaith Alliance President and CEO Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush. Paul was joined by activist Wajahat Ali, author of Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American; Texas voting registration advocate and van lifer Tayhlor Coleman; Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Executive Director Connie Ryan; and Evangelicals for Democracy Executive Director Rev. Dr. Richard Cizik.

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