Progressive Spirit

Keith Frederick is the president of PFLAG Tri-Cities (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).  Joseph Rhymer is the chair of the Tennessee Equality Project Tri-Cities. Both gentlemen are my guests on Religion For Life.  They will speak about the work of these two organizations in the Tri-Cities on behalf of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender persons and their families.  Be assured that religion has a role in all of this as well!

Dr. Laura Hartman, author of The Christian Consumer: Living Faithfully in a Fragile World is my guest on Religion For Life.   Dr. Hartman is a professor of religion at Augustana College and she draws from the Christian tradition in order to provide guidelines for making ethical choices regarding consumption.

Dr. Michael Zimmerman, a biologist, is the founder of the Clergy Letter Project and Evolution Weekend. Over 13 thousand Christian, Jewish, and Unitarian Universalist clergy have signed a letter in support of teaching evolution in public schools. On the Sunday closest to Darwin’s Birthday (February 12th) faith communities all over the United States celebrate Evolution Weekend by honoring science and religion. Dr. Zimmerman speaks candidly about the state of science education and the need for scientific literacy. He writes on the topic of science and religion at the Huffington Post.

Rev. Jacqueline Luck is my guest on Religion For Life.  She is the minister at the Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Gray, Tennessee. Among many projects, Rev. Luck is active with United Religions Initiative and the Green Interfaith Network. She talked with me about the history and commitments of Unitarian Universalism, and practicing a liberal faith in East Tennessee.

Author Sarah Sentilles is my guest on Religion For Life.  In her book, Breaking Up With God:  A Love Story, Dr. Sentilles shares her theological journey and demonstrates why if the church is going to have any relevancy to educated and inquiring minds, it is going to need to challenge its patriarchy and its outdated images of God.   You can find more about her book on my blog, Shuck and Jive. 

International Peacemaker of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Mazen Alsaqa, is my guest on Religion For Life. He is a Christian refugee from Iraq now living in Michigan. In the Fall of 2011 he visited East Tennessee to tell his story of the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. Read about his visit on my blog.  Here are articles about him in the Johnson City Press, the Greeneville Sun, and MSNBC. 

Jennie Young is my guest on Religion For Life.  She is a concerned citizen talking candidly about the possibility of losing Tennessee's signature mountains due to mountain top removal strip mining unless we act.  Read an article about her in the Elizabethton Star.  This is the mountain top removal action packet, Not One More Mountain.  

Anthony Flaccavento of S.C.A.L.E. is my guest on Religion For Life.   The topic is building local, sustainable, ecologically sound economies.