Multifaith Matters

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

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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#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/

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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#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.

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org

Support this work:

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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.

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org

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#religion #religiousstudies #GeorgeChryssides

Heron Michelle, Street Preachers, and Pagan Religious Freedoms

How might a member of a minority religion feel about aggressive Christian preaching at their sacred venues? Can such evangelistic efforts function in ways that restrict the religious freedoms of others? Heron Michelle, a Pagan, shares her perspective resulting from interactions with a street preacher outsider her business.

Heron (Greenville, NC) is a witch, priestess, artist, and mom. She is the founding high priestess of the Sojo Circle Coven, and she created a training program in modern witchcraft, which she’s taught year-round since 2010. Heron is the owner of the Sojourner Whole Earth Provisions metaphysical shop, and she’s a Reiki master, tarot reader, and clairvoyant. She writes the blog Witch on Fire at Patheos Pagan, and she regularly lectures at local universities, festivals, and conferences.

Heron Michelle’s website

Witch on Fire blog

Video of Heron talking to EC Street Preacher

“Pagan ‘metaphysical shops navigate threats from Christian critics” at RN

“Christian groups step up harassment of pagan festivals” at RNS

For more on a respectful and informed Pagan-Christian dialogue see the book Beyond the Burning Times: A Pagan and Christian in Dialogue by Philip Johnson and Gus diZerega (Lion, 2008).

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

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

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#Paganism #religiousfreedom #evangelism

Catherine Wessinger on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Branch Davidian Tragedy

April 19, 2023 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the fire which ended the standoff between federal agents and members of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. Much has been learned about this tragedy over the last few decades, and it continues to be relevant to events in politics and religion. Catherine Wessinger is our guest sharing her expertise in this area.

Catherine Wessinger is the Rev. H. James Yamauchi, S.J. Professor of the History of Religions at Loyola University New Orleans. She is the author of How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate (2000); editor of Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases (2000); editor of The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism (2011); editor of three Branch Davidian survivor autobiographies for Bonnie Haldeman (David Koresh’s mother), Sheila Martin, and Clive Doyle. She has served as a co-general editor of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions since 2000.

 

She has written a number of book chapters and a journal article on the Branch Davidians-federal agents conflict outside Waco, Texas.

Among the most significant is the 2009 journal article, “Deaths in the Fire at the Branch Davidians’ Mount Carmel: Who Bears Responsibility?” in Nova Religio; and a chapter titled, “The FBI’s ‘Cult War’ against the Branch Davidians,” in the 2017 edited volume,The FBI and Religion.

 

Her YouTube channel—Catherine Wessinger—is devoted to interviews with people involved with the Branch Davidians-federal agents conflict at Mount Carmel Center, outside Waco, Texas, as well as video footage of the 1993 conflict, and video of past Branch Davidian memorials.

 

She is one of four scholars who are featured in the 2020 film titled The Waco Branch Davidian Tragedy: What Have We Learned or Not Learned? produced by Reunion Institute, published on her YouTube channel. The separate chapters of this nearly three-hour film are also available on her YouTube channel.

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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Ida Glaser and the Reading the Bible in the Context of Islam project

Ida Glaser leads the Reading the Bible in the Context of Islam project at the Center for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, UK, and is the Director of Center for Muslim and Christian Studies, Houston, TX. She also overseas the International Partnership and the Langham Bible Commentaries from Muslim Contexts project on behalf of the Solomon Academic Trust. Previously she taught in the areas of Qur'an and Bible and History of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue at the University of Edinburgh.

Center for Muslim-Christian Studies, UK: https://www.cmcsoxford.org.uk/about-us/our-team/publications-ida-glaser

Center for Muslim-Christian Studies, Houston: https://www.cmcshouston.org/

Thinking Biblically about Islam: Genesis, Transfiguration, Transformation (London: Langham, 2016) (With Hannah Kay): https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Biblically-about-Islam-Transfiguration/dp/1839731915/

Routledge Reading the Bible in Islamic Context Series: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Biblical-Interpretation-in-Islamic-Context-Series/book-series/RBIIC

The Bible and Other Faiths: what does the Lord require of us? (Leicester: IVP, 2005): https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Other-Faiths-Require-Christian/dp/1907713050/

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

Learn more about our work at https://www.multifaithmatters.org.

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#IdaGlaser #Islam #Quran #Bible