In 2022

At home and abroad, Christian nationalism threatens our democracy and the promise of true religious freedom for people of all faiths and none. Few understand this movement better than those who research and write about these topics every single day. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we’ll hear from prolific authors, reporters, and publishers on how the written word can uncover and disempower this dangerous movement.

In May, the Conservative Political Action Conference took place overseas – in autocrat Viktor Orban’s Hungary, where the strongman is busily dismantling the nation’s hard-won democracy with Christianist, nationalistic, racist and homophobic rhetoric. American conservatives loved it – and the proof is in Orban’s appearance as keynote speaker at this month’s Texas CPAC gathering. Investigative journalist Sarah Posner will join Rabbi Jack Moline, President Emeritus of Interfaith Alliance, to discuss the implications.

From the January 6th insurrection to the rise of Christian nationalism, you don’t need to look far to see the corrosive impact of the Religious Right’s efforts to undermine religious freedom. But to better understand the various factors enabling this movement, it’s always helpful to hear from the folks who cover these issues for a living. Bob Smietana, the former editor-in-chief at Religion News Service, will sit down with Jack to discuss his new book, Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why it Matters.

In the past few years, we’ve seen some Christian publishers reject manuscripts from popular writers for not being harsh enough on LGBTQ+ people, or not leaning in enough to the rightwing culture wars. More than one of those books, however, have found a home at Chalice Press, which is now launching a new division, Chalice Stories. Rebeca Seitz, manager of this new division, will join Jack to discuss how they are changing the face of Christian publishing.

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