This weekend, tune in to Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast State of Belief as two prominent authors from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum discuss the state of traditional religion in America. He’s a conservative opinion writer for the New York Times, she’s a progressive author and public speaker, and they bring their perspectives from the written page to a conversation.
Earlier this summer, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, author of Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, which was published in April, wrote in the Times that “liberal Christianity has simply collapsed.” Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, which was published in February, responded in turn on her Huffington Post page, asking the question: “Can Christianity be saved?”
Both authors agree that organized religion greatly influences American culture and society as well as the general malaise that it is suffering from. But that’s where the continuity stops. They share their analyses of the state of organized religion in the country today and the implications for tomorrow. They discuss what needs to happen and how it needs to happen.
You guessed it – their conclusions are pretty different. Tune in to hear their divergent perspectives, with State of Belief host Welton Gaddy, a perpetual proponent for civil discourse among people with different viewpoints, as moderator. Click here for extended interview video and transcript.