My guests on this episode of the Beloved Community are passionate, engaging, lovers of life and justice. They are both artists. They present their art to transform the world. Makana hails from the isle of O‘ahu, Makana is an internationally acclaimed slack-key guitarist, singer, composer, philosopher, activist, and one of Hawaii’s cultural ambassadors to the world. He is recognized as one of the top guitarists in the United States by Guitar Player magazine. He is going to be at the Alberta Rose ...
Sep 09, 2017•56 min
It is now 16 years after the events of September 11th, 2001 that have changed the world. I am in the midst of a series of interviews with 9/11 skeptics and scholars. These are sober scientists who refuse to be bullied and who present their case with analysis of the evidence. I have spoken already with psychotherapist, Frances Shure, who is writing a series of articles entitled, “Why Do Good People Become Silent or Worse About 9/11.” I have also spoken with David Ray Griffin, sometimes called the...
Sep 09, 2017•53 min
Did Jesus fulfill prophecy? The gospels certainly wanted early Christians to think that. That argument is made today in many evangelical circles. But does it hold water? Religious scholar, Robert J. Miller, says that it is time for Christians to retire the argument from prophecy. He shows how the gospel writers manipulated prophecies by taking them out of context, changing them, inventing them, and even creating fictional narratives about Jesus based on them to show that Jesus fulfilled prophecy...
Sep 02, 2017•53 min
Philosopher, David Ray Griffin, just published his 12th book on 9/11 Skepticism, Bush and Cheney: How They Ruined America and the World. In this book he writes about the effects of 9/11 (toppling of governments--Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria--, the shredding of the constitution, murder by drone, increased militarism and surveillance, Islamophobia, and the neocon threat to human survival, to name a few). Griffin calls on journalists and the public to stop hiding behind fear of being cal...
Aug 25, 2017•57 min
Danielle Dulsky is an artist, teacher, and writer. A longtime activist for wild woman spirituality and the divine feminines return, she leads womens circles, Witchcraft workshops, energy healing trainings, and basic and advanced yoga teacher trainings.Her website is www.danielledulsky.com.She is on tour sharing her book, Woman Most Wild: Three Keys to Liberating the Witch Within.
Aug 18, 2017•53 min
Frances Shure is a Licensed Professional Counselor who is now retired from her private practice and from her position as adjunct instructor at Naropa University at Boulder, Colorado.In her 20 years as a psychotherapist, she focused on "depth psychology," which involves both the psychodynamic and transpersonal aspects of psychological healing.Frances Shure co-founded Colorado 9/11 Truth in 2004 and is a member of the 9/11 Consensus Panel as well as the Medical Professionals for 9/11 Truth. She wa...
Aug 11, 2017•56 min
North American culture is in transition in many ways, and religion is one of those areas that is in transition, especially away from organized religion to other avenues. As such these various avenues are resources for resistance to oppression and for positive activism in our world. Both of today's guests live in the Portland Metro and represent the transition that is taking place. Karen Garst says that "Organized religion is a cultural barrier to full equality for men and women." She is the auth...
Aug 11, 2017•56 min
During one year, 1967, it seemed possible that the world could be transformed by peace, love, and meditation. The assassinations, violence, and polarization of 1968 hadn’t happened, and the hippies were exploring spirituality and social justice. Danny Goldberg takes us back to 1967, to the music, the acid, Jefferson Airplane, Allen Ginsburg, Black Power, and Muhammad Ali. He is the author of How the Left Lost Teen Spirit and Bumping into Geniuses: MY Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business. Danny...
Aug 05, 2017•2 hr
Sean Kerrigan, author of "Bureaucratic Insanity: The American Bureaucrat’s Descent into Madness," says that civilization is about the concentration of power. We are at a point now in which bureaucracy has stripped our lives of meaning. We will talk about bureaucracy, collapse, and finding ways to resist. I also speak with Daina Ramey Berry, associate professor of history and African and African Diaspora Studies, at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of "The Price for Their Poun...
Jul 29, 2017•53 min
Were the early Christians communists? Roman Montero makes the case that they were and backs it up with his book "All Things In Common: The Economic Practices of the Early Christians." Roman A. Montero spends a lot of time studying early Chrstianity, Koine Greek, early Christian texts, and the historical context of second temple Judaism
Jul 21, 2017•53 min
The Walking Dead. The Night of the Living Dead. Sean of the Dead. Z Nation. We can't seem to get enough of the zombies. So what is that about? Greg Garrett is Professor of English at Baylor University, where he teaches classes in fiction and screenwriting, literature, film and popular culture, and theology. The author or coauthor of twenty books on fiction, nonfiction, and memoir, Garrett (according to the BBC) is one of Americas leading voices on religion and culture. Professor Garrett says tha...
Jul 14, 2017•53 min
This is an encore podcast of my conversation with Matthew Fox that I previously released in November 2016. Matthew Fox. Silenced by the Vatican for his views, left the Catholic priesthood in the early 1980s. Matthew Fox is a theologian and activist who has written over 30 books. He has introduced millions of people to Creation Spirituality. His latest book, published in 2016 is called "A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey." According to Fox, Merton was assassinated by the ...
Jul 08, 2017•53 min
Politicians like to misquote Jesus to slash programs for the poor. Republican congressman, Roger Marshall of Kansas misused a quote from Jesus to support his program to reduce healthcare benefits for the poor. This is from the article on Stat from March 3rd, 2017: “Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us,’” he said. “There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.” Did Jesus really say, “The poor will always be with us?” Wha...
Jun 29, 2017•53 min
The good citizen defends his castle. Punks, thieves, thugs, and rapists don’t stand a chance against a 44 Magnum in the hands of the good guy who stands his ground. That is the myth. The reality is that America’s love affair with guns and lethal self-defense has not made America safer, just more violent and more afraid. Harvard Professor Caroline Light explores the development of the American right to self-defense and reveals how the original “duty to retreat” from threat was transformed into a ...
Jun 22, 2017•53 min
Drew Bekius was a true believer. He prayed the “sinner’s prayer” when he was three and was immersed in evangelical Christianity, starting an award-winning ministry in his high school. He became a minister and a leader and he was skilled at the job. But a few years ago, the edifice began to crack. He realized he no longer could believe the things he needed to believe in order to be a minister. Now he no longer holds belief in God or Jesus or the church. He is now a humanist coach and is the presi...
Jun 16, 2017•53 min
The Nag Hammadi library discovered in 1945 has provided a number of alternative Christian texts. They were not included in the Bible. Dr. Celene Lillie discusses three of these texts in her book, The Rape of Eve: The Transformation of Roman ideology in Three Early Christian Retellings of Genesis. In each of these texts, “On the Origin of the World,” “The Reality of the Rulers,” and “The Secret Revelation of John,” Eve is portrayed as having been humiliated by the cosmic powers but experiences re...
Jun 09, 2017•53 min
Justin Dillon is a former musician turned filmmaker and social entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Made in A Free World, a platform that brings together consumers, organizations, and businesses to dismantle the 150 billion dollar business of human trafficking. His latest book is titled A Selfish Plan to Change the World: Finding Big Purpose in Big Problems. His message to all of us, Find Your Riot.
Jun 02, 2017•53 min
The United States with five percent of the world’s population incarcerates 25% of the world’s prisoners. Mass incarceration in the United States is well-known. Today’s guest points out something not as well known. Overcrowded and underfunded prisons now outsource educational and mental health services to religious groups. These religious organizations are overwhelmingly run by nondenominational protestant Christians who see prisoners as captive audiences for their message. Is there a problem her...
May 26, 2017•53 min
Contemporary American Society is saturated with fear, fear that is out of proportion to the actual threats we face. That is how Michael Kinnamon, a widely respected leader and scholar in the ecumenical movement begins his book, The Witness of Religion In An Age of Fear. Why are we so afraid? Of what are we afraid? How can we respond with courage? I also speak with one of the 100 most spiritually influential people alive today, according to Mind, Body, Spirit magazine. Steve Taylor is a spiritual...
May 19, 2017•53 min
What if we brought mindfulness to schools and Buddhism to economics? Clair Brown teaches at Cal Berkely and is the author of Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science. Caverly Morgan is the founder of "Peace in Schools," the first for credit high school mindfulness course in the nation. What if we brought mindfulness to schools and Buddhism to economics? We just might make a more compassionate world. :00-26:00 Caverly Morgan Interview 26:30-53:00 Clair Brown Interview...
May 12, 2017•53 min
When we hear the word theology, we may think we are going to engage in esoteric reflections about divinity and the afterlife. But theology at its best is not about God or gods, but about life and its meaning and the myths that drive us. Arthur Dewey is professor of theology at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He is a scholar of the historical Jesus and a Fellow of Westar Institute, popularly known as the Jesus Seminar. He says that “ “Theology is resonant. At its best, it lends rhythm and rhyme ...
May 06, 2017•2 hr 55 min
What is moral? How has morality changed and how does that effect how we make decisions and evaluate the decisions of others in politics, business, and sex? In Behaving Badly: The New Morality in Politics, Sex and Business. Eden Collinsworth embarks on a personal journey to discover morality in a new globalized culture. Eden Collinsworth is a former media executive and business consultant. She was formerly of Arbor House Publishing Company founder of the LA based monthly magazine Buzz before beco...
Apr 30, 2017•53 min
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was one of the leaders of the civil rights movement along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy. But he was in many ways unsung. Middle Georgia State University Professor Andrew Manis talks about the legacy of Fred Shuttlesworth. In 1999, he wrote A Fire You Can’t Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham’s Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. This book is in the process of being made into a film. I also speak with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. He is a Georgetown Universit...
Apr 21, 2017•53 min
Mary Astor’s biggest role was Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Brigid was the love interest of Sam Spade played by Humphrey Bogart in the film, the Maltese Falcon. But Mary Astor is most famous for what happened off screen and was recorded in her diary. Caricaturist Edward Sorel brings her story to life in the book he wrote and illustrated, Mary Astor’s Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936. I also speak with a young minister, who at the age of 37 was diagnosed with a form of cancer usually ...
Apr 14, 2017•53 min
Stephen Gray is the author of Cannabis and Spirituality: An Explorer’s Guide to an Ancient Plant Spirit Ally. On October 1st, 2015, Oregon joined Washington and Colorado as the third state to legalize recreational use of cannabis. Now that it is easy as going to one of the many cannabis shops in the state and choosing from a wide selection of strains, many who perhaps haven’t used cannabis since college or are curious and using it for the first time may have many questions about the plant. Many ...
Apr 09, 2017•53 min
On February 9th 2017 in Northeast Portland, a 17 year old child, Quanice Derrick Hayes was shot three times, twice in the chest and once through the head at point blank range. He was shot and killed by Portland Police Officer Andrew Hearst. The family of Quanice Hayes is calling on Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler who also serves as police commissioner to instruct the district attorney to seek an indictment for Officer Hearst. The mother of Quanice Hayes, Venus Hayes, and the lead organizer of “Don’t ...
Mar 31, 2017•53 min
The theme of this episode is transitions and transformations. Here are two people who see changes on the ground and are helping direct them toward a more flourishing outcome. My first guest ever on this program, when it was called Religion For Life, is Anthony Flaccavento. He returns to discuss his book, "Building A Healthy Economy From the Bottom Up: Harnessing Real-World Experience for Transformative Change." In 1995 he founded Appalachian Sustainable Development and is now the president of SC...
Mar 26, 2017•50 min
Progressive Spirit is now one hour! (Technically 54 minutes to accommodate top of the hour news). Ask your local public radio station to carry Progressive Spirit! I am thrilled to have my conversation with Gretta Vosper be the first show in the now expanded Progressive Spirit! Gretta Vosper is an atheist minister in the United Church of Canada. She is the author of 'With or Without God: Why The Way We Live is More Important Than What We Believe'' and 'Amen: What Prayer Can Mean In A World Beyond...
Mar 20, 2017•54 min
Dr. Brett Webb-Mitchell is a pilgrim, speaker, writer, teacher, ordained Presbyterian pastor, parent, partner, and pet lover. In 1999 he came out as a gay man and it was a pilgrimage that enabled him to be honest with himself. Currently, Brett is a pastor serving St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Portland, Oregon, having been on the faculty of Duke University and North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of ten books and three on pilgrimage. His latest is Prac...
Mar 12, 2017•27 min
Deshna Ubeda is the director of Progressive Christianity Dot Org. She is directing The Embrace Festival, May, 4, 5, and 6 in Portland. Similar to Burning Man, Beloved, and Wild Goose, the Embrace Festival will feature presentations, art, music, dance, community and food for the purpose of building sacred community and inspiring social transformation. Here is its vision: In May 2017, people from all over the world will gather in Portland, Oregon to share knowledge and wisdom, learn from each othe...
Mar 12, 2017•55 min
