This weekend on State of Belief, Welton reflects on the program’s “Prophetic Vision for a New Year” series with a panel of prominent guests, observing how the fight for social justice brings together people of all different faiths.  And Kevin Eckstorm – editor-in-chief of Religion News Service – weighs in on the mass media’s role. Download Icon

Reflecting on “A Prophetic Vision for a New Year”
Welton starts this weekend’s State of Belief with a reflection on the four interviews in the “Prophetic Visions for a New Year” series: Rev. William Barber of the Moral Monday movement, Sr. Simone Campbell, who organized the Nuns on the Bus tour, Rev. Michael Ellick, who spoke about budgets as moral documents, and Valarie Kaur, who discussed the power that sharing stories has on connecting people all over the world. Listening to these interviews, Welton reflects that it’s clear that in communities all across the United States, a diverse yet focused interfaith movement is building the potential to effect real, positive change.

Unity in the Battle Against Injustice
As a capstone to the “Prophetic Vision” series, Welton sits down with Dr. Katherine Henderson, President of Auburn Theological Seminary and the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, Senior Religion Editor at the Huffington Post. The three of them discuss the ways in which the fight against injustice unites members of different faiths, and the role that fresh and effective religious leadership will have in leading this charge. Finally they discuss the difficult task of amplifying the voices of the progressive faith community in Washington without trampling on the separation between church and state – like so many on the far right have done for years.

Social Justice and the Progressive Faith Movement
Echoing Katherine and Paul, Kevin Eckstrom, editor-in-chief at Religion News Service, speaks about the ways in which progressive faith movements in Washington and across the country are following in the footsteps of Pope Francis in the fight for social justice. Kevin and Welton discuss the potential impact of events like Moral Monday and the Nuns on the Bus tour on the upcoming midterm elections, as well as the problem secular media has with covering stories with a religious component.

State of Belief would like to acknowledge the partnership of Auburn Seminary and the support of the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation in New York for the month of conversations with faith leaders most likely to frame the critical justice debates of 2014, “A Prophetic Vision for a New Year: Where We’re Going, How We’ll Get There.”

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