They say those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. It may be a cliché, but it’s a good reminder to look to the past to help understand the present day. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s radio show and podcast, we will do just that – examine lessons learned from history to better understand the moment we’re currently living in.
For LGBT Americans of faith, and to some extent their religious family members, friends and allies, attending an anti-LGBT church can be unpleasant at best, and downright dangerous at worst. A new project – Church Clarity – is trying to make sure people know what they’re walking into before they enter a church, starting with policies related to LGBT people. George Mekhail, Church Clarity co-founder and director of innovation and strategic partnerships at the Riverside Church in New York City, will join host Rev. Welton Gaddy this week to talk about this new initiative – and what they’re asking people across the country to do to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation October 31st.
We’ve heard the word “unprecedented” used over and over to describe the Trump presidential campaign, victory and administration. So many things that were once unthinkable – such as the Muslim ban and threatening nuclear war via Twitter – are now the norm. To better understand exactly how “not normal” the past year has been, Welton will speak with Greg Lebel, retired assistant professor of political management at George Washington University and veteran of several presidential campaigns.
The simple phrase “never again” expresses a resolve that the horrors of the Holocaust must not be repeated – but also implicitly acknowledges that they could. One important enabler of the Holocaust was the failure of religious leaders to even acknowledge what was happening. Welton will explore what we can, and must, learn from this past with Victoria Barnett, director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Program on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust.
