Multifaith Matters

Rabbi Ariel Mellul of the International Raëlian Movement

Rabbi Leon Ariel Mellul of the International Raëlian Movement is the guest who discusses the group's origins in a meeting with extraterrestrials called the Elohim, their work in the creation of humanity, the place of their founder Raël in a long line of prophets from the world's religions, their millenarian philosophy of the return of the Elohim, and responses to various aspects of their religion that has received critical reporting in the media over the years.

Rabbi Mellul was born in a traditional Jewish family until November 1987 when he discovered the book Intelligent Design by Raël. He came to understand that the Elohim were an extraterrestrial civilization who had been mistaken for gods by our primitive ancestors. Since then has has been a part of the Raëlian Movement with a special connection to the Israeli Raëlian Movement.

Links to the Raëlian Movement:
www.rael.org
www.Alliance4ET.org
www.1min4peace.org
www.isralestinian-gandhis.org

Scholarly discussions of the Raëlian Movement:

Aliens Adored: Raël's UFO Religion by Susan J. Palmer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813534763/

UFO Religions by Christopher Partridge: https://www.amazon.com/UFO-Religions-Christopher-Partridge/dp/0415263247/

Handbook of UFO Religions edited by Benjamin Zeller: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Religions-Handbooks-Contemporary-Religion/dp/9004434372/

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#RaelianMovement #UFOReligions #UFOs

Elias D’eis, the Holy Land Trust, and the War in Gaza

Elias D'eis, Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust, shares about his life as a Palestinian Christian in the West Bank, life under the Israeli military occupation, the role of a Christian in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the work of The Holy Land Trust.

Elias D'eis was born into a Christian family with a long history of nonviolent resistance in Beit Sahour. His life was shaped during the First Intifada, watching his father and his community find the path towards justice through peaceful resistance. It was through his Christian upbringing, holding onto Jesus's sacred words of "loving thy neighbor," that led Elias into a life journey of engaging his community in transformation.

Joining Holy Land Trust in 2007 as a travel coordinator, Elias has grown the Travel & Encounter program. His department now facilitates tours and educational packages to some 1,500 peacemakers and sojourners a year. In June 2019, Elias got promoted to the Executive Director of Holy Land Trust after he spent the last decade investing his life into the mission and vision because it is something that he truly believes in: "Building communities of trust and respect."

Holy Land Trust: https://www.holylandtrust.org/

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#HolyLandTrust #IsraeliPalestinianConflict #GazaWar

J. Gordon Melton on the Church of Scientology

J. Gordon Melton, the noted scholar of new religions, joins us in this episode to discuss the Church of Scientology.

Dr. J. Gordon Melton, became Distinguished Professor of American Religious History of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies in Religion in March of 2011. He also serves as the director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Woodway, Texas. Since joining ISR, he has been developing a set of joint projects between ISR and the Woodway-based Institute, the initial project being a comprehensive census of the American Buddhist and Hindu communities completed in 2010 (with and updated census having been launched in 2019). In addition, he has for the last two decades been monitoring the changing state of the church in China.

In 1968 he founded the Institute for the Study of American Religion and has remained it’s director for the last 49 years. The institute is devoted to organizing, motivating, and producing research-based studies and educational material on North American Religion. It has been responsible for the publication of more than 400 reference and scholarly texts since its founding, including multiple editions of Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions (9th edition, 2016).

Dr. Melton is a pioneering scholar in the field of New Religions Studies and helped to create the sub-discipline. He sits on the international board of the Center for Studies in New Religions (CESNUR) based in Turin, Italy, the primary academic association focusing studies of new and minority religions.

J. Gordon Melton at Baylor: https://www.baylorisr.org/about-baylorisr/distinguished-professors/j-gordon-melton/

Melton's book on Scientology: https://www.amazon.com/Church-Scientology-Studies-Contemporary-Religions/dp/1560851392

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#GordonMelton #Scientology

Matthew Bowman and The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

Matthew Bowman discusses the first American UFO abduction account detailed in his new book The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America (Yale University Press, 2023). From the book's dust cover: "Bowman tells the fascinating story of the Hills as an account of the shifting winds in American politics and culture in the second half of the twentieth century. He exposes the promise and fallout of the idealistic reforms of the 1960s and how the myth of political consensus has given way to the cynicism and conspiratorialism of American life today."

Matthew Bowman is associate professor of religion and history and Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University. His books include The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith.

Matthew Bowman: https://www.cgu.edu/people/matthew-bowman/

The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300251388/the-abduction-of-betty-and-barney-hill/

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The Satanic Temple’s Unveiling Day: Pluralism and Archaic Superstition

On July 25 The Satanic Temple (TST) celebrated one of their holidays, Unveiling Day. Their website describes this as a time to commemorate the unveiling of their Baphomet with Children statue in 2015. This holiday includes a "celebration of religious plurality and shedding archaic superstition." In this collaborative podcast episode with Sacred Tension,  TST minister Stephen Bradford Long, and progressive Christian Randal Rauser, discuss perspectives on these aspects of the holiday.

Stephen Bradford Long is a nontheistic minister with TST, and host of the Sacred Tension podcast. He also recently started writing for Substack. Randal Rauser is a Christian who has written several books on a neighborly engagement with atheism, including Conversations with My Inner Atheist, An Atheist and a Christian Walk Into a Bar, and Is the Atheist My Neighbor?.

Stephen Bradford Long: https://stephenbradfordlong.com/

Randal Rauser: https://randalrauser.com/

Holidays of The Satanic Temple: https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/holidays

Stephen's Substack article mentioned in the program: https://sacredtension.substack.com/p/i-left-christianity-because-i-stopped

Sacred Tension's episode of this conversation: https://sacredtension.substack.com/p/pluralism-and-archaic-superstition

For more on The Satanic Temple see Joseph Laycock's book Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2020): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/speak-of-the-devil-9780190948498

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#Satanism #TheSatanicTemple #atheism #Christianity

The Covid Pandemic and the World’s Religions

George Chryssides discusses the book The Covid Pandemic and the World's Religions (Bloomsbury, 2023), which he co-edited with Dan Cohn-Sherbok. In the book, believers from a variety of faith communities were asked to assess how the Covid pandemic has affected their faith. Two exponents of each major religion and a number of minority faiths comment on these issues, combined with a concluding essay by the editors assessing the overall impact of the pandemic on religion worldwide. Faiths explored include Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Sikh, Baha'i, Jain, African Traditional Religion, Zoroastrian, Unitarian, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science.

Chryssides is Honorary Research Fellow at York St. John's University, UK and was formerly Head of Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, UK.

George Chryssides: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/author/george-d-chryssides/

The Covid Pandemic and the World's Religions: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/covid-pandemic-and-the-worlds-religions-9781350349643/

If ordering online from Bloomsbury, a 20% discount is available by quoting the relevant code below:

UK, Europe and rest of world: GLR TT9UK

United States: GLR TT9US

Canada: GLR TT9CA

Australia and New Zealand: GLR TT9AU

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#covid

Celucien Joseph on Christianity and Vodou in Dialogue in Haiti

In this podcast Celucien Joseph discusses Christianity and Haitian Vodou in dialgoue, including stereotypes of the tradition, Afrophobia and Vodouphobia, Protestant and Catholic responses to Haitian Vodou, suggestions for productive theological exchanges and dialogue, and the need for greater familiarity with the Caribbean theological tradition and its theologians and biblical scholars.

Dr. Joseph (affectionately called "Doctor Lou") is an award-winning author and a well-regarded Haitian-American author, scholar, and researcher. By training, he is an intellectual historian, literary scholar, and a theologian. Currently, he serves as Professor and Chair of the English Department at San Jacinto College.

Celucien Joseph: https://drcelucienjoseph.com/bio/

"Refining cultural, national, and religious identity: The Christian-Vodouist dialogue?": https://www.academia.edu/28160823/_Redefining_Cultural_National_and_Religious_Identity_The_Christian_Vodouist_dialogue

Revolutionary Change and Democratic Religion: Christianity, Vodou, and Secularism: https://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Change-Democratic-Religion-Christianity-ebook/dp/B087TKVT1J

Vodou in the Haitian Experience: A Black Atlantic Perspective: https://www.amazon.com/Vodou-Haitian-Experience-Atlantic-Perspective-ebook/dp/B01EO0PEP2

Vodou in Haitian Memory: The Idea and Representation of Vodou in Haitian Imagination; https://www.amazon.com/Vodou-Haitian-Memory-Representation-Imagination-ebook/dp/B01EVZ3RA4

"Revising Caribbean Theological Tradition: 20 Haitian Theologians and Biblical Scholars You Should Know": https://theglobalchurchproject.com/haitian-theologians/

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#vodou #voodoo #haiti 

The Christian Fascination with”Ex-Occultist” Narratives

Christians are fascinated by conversion stories of ex-occultists, particularly Witches and Satanists. From Mike Warnke and Bill Schnoebelen in the past, to contemporary figures like John Ramirez, these stories help confirm the faith identities and worldview of Christians in a battle of good vs. evil. Douglas Cowan and Joseph Laycock unpack various aspects of this phenomenon, and how they fit into contemporary satanic panic. Doug Cowan is a professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo. For many years he was a co-general editor of the premier journal of new religions study, Nova Religio, and chair of the New Religious Movements Group of the American Academy of Religion. Joseph Laycock is an assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University. He has written several books on new religious movements and American religious history. He is also a co-editor for the journal Nova Religio.

Douglas Dowan: https://uwaterloo.ca/renison/about/people/douglas-e-cowan

Joseph Laycock: https://faculty.txst.edu/profile/1922193

 

Related resources:

Selling Satan: The Evangelical Media and the Mike Warnke Scandal by Mike Hertenstein and Jon Trott

https://www.amazon.com/Selling-Satan-Evangelical-Warnke-Scandal/dp/0940895072

Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Satanic Abuse in History by David Frankfurter
https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Incarnate-Demonic-Conspiracy-Satanic/dp/0691136297/

Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media by Bill Ellis
https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Devil-Satanism-Religions-Media/dp/0813121701/

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#occult #apostatetestimony #Satanist #witch

Kaleb Graves on Psychedelic Theology

Psychedelics have long been connected to religion, including the Jewish and Christian traditions. In addition, there are now psychedelic chaplains, psychedelic churches, and people seeking out psychedelics not only for spiritual reasons but also to treat conditions like PTSD and anxiety. Yet like with many other aspects of culture, the church is ill prepared to address psychedelics. Kaleb Graves is our guest as we explore questions related to psychedelic theology. Graves is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship minister and educator living in North Carolina. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in psychology. He is focusing his efforts on Psychedelic Theology.

Kaleb’s website: https://www.psychedelictheology.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/psychedelic_theology?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA

“Is your church ready for the spiritual revolution of LDS, DMT and magic mushrooms? By Kaleb Graves at Baptist News Global: https://baptistnews.com/article/is-your-church-ready-for-the-spiritual-revolution-of-lsd-dmt-and-magic-mushrooms/

Items referenced in this podcast:

“Caves all the way down: Do psychedelics give access to a universal, mystical experience of reality, or is that just a culture-bound illusion?” By Jules Evans. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/is-psychedelics-research-closer-to-theology-than-to-science

“Marijuana Found at Ancient Temple in Israel.” Biblical Archaeological Society. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/marijuana-found-at-ancient-temple-in-israel/

Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/philosophy-and-psychedelics-9781350231610/

“Christianity and Psychedelic Medicine: A Pastoral Approach.” By Bryan McCarthy. Christian Bioethics 29, no. 1 (March 2023): 31-57. https://academic.oup.com/cb/article-abstract/29/1/31/6705514

DMT and the Soul of Prophecy: A New Science of Spiritual Revelation in the Hebrew Bible by Rich Strassman, M.D. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594773424

DMT The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819278

Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences by William Richards https://www.amazon.com/dp/0231174063

#psychedelics #theology

George Chryssides on Contested Concepts in the Study of Religion

Greater attention is needed to various concepts in the study of religion that may be assumed to be settled, but in reality need to be contested. George Chryssides discusses this in this episode, including concepts like “religion,” “world religion,” “cult,” and “new religious movement.” Chryssides is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at York St. John University, UK. His books include The Bloomsbury Handbook to Studying Christians, Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses second edition, Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change, The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements, and he is co-editor with Amy R. Whitehead of Contested Concepts in the Study of Religion.

Contested Concepts in the Study of Religion: A Critical Exploration (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023) https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/contested-concepts-in-the-study-of-religion-9781350243804/

George D. Chryssides: https://yorksj.academia.edu/GeorgeChryssides

Amy R. Whitehead: https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/expertise/profile.cfm?stref=950550

Book launch Contested Concepts contributor discussion hosted by INFORM: https://youtu.be/U3QcYvuFknY

You can listen to Multifaith Matters on your favorite podcast platform, including Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.

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#religion #religiousstudies #GeorgeChryssides