Common Threads: An Interfaith Dialogue

These episodes are really among my favorites. Aired in 2008, we hosted Rabbi David Rosen, a gent with an impressive resume.

David Shlomo Rosen is the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and currently serves as the American Jewish Committee's International Director of Interreligious Affairs. He has participated in some of the world's more seachanging conferences in the arena of multi-faith engagement. In these conversations David and I discuss, among other things, the major interfaith event that was convened in Spain under the direction of King Abdullah, then the monarch of Saudi Arabia.

I'm pleased to say that in the 20+ years we've produced Common Threads we've hosted many brilliant minds. This is an example of that. Listen or lose out. Theme music "Nigal."

One of my favorites! In these 2 episodes I speak to Mark Pinsky, the author of The Gospel According to The Simpsons, which aired in 2001. Not only insightful, but a lot of fun. OK, I'm a bit biased, as before publication Mark reached out to me. I am quoted in the book.

And here's something of a bonus track. As you might suspect, when I say goodbye to a guest on air, we normally chat for another minute or so off air. Sometimes that is caught on tape. This happened here, & the short conversation is really great. He discusses his next book about religion & Disney. What kills me is that though you'll hear me say that we'll interview him when that is published, it never happened. Stupid me. We did, however, get him back a few years later to discuss his book "A Jew Among the Evangelicals." That is his account of being a religion editor for a paper in Florida. I hope I still have that one. Stay tuned. But to catch this short interchange LISTEN PAST THE CLOSING THEME OF PART 2. Theme music "Nigal."

I haven't counted how many episodes we've posted so far with the esteemed teacher Swami Bodhanada. Well, here are 2 more. These aired in 2004. As always, please ignore any promotions for events that are included in our conversations. Also featured here is Dr. Ruth Harring, a remarkable scholar in her own right.

Very few are able to explain the non-dual philosophy of Vedanta with such clarity as Swamiji. Enjoy. Theme music "Nigal."

If you've been listening long enough to Common Threads you know that we champion the cause of liberal religion of all stripes. Here we discuss Islam and the challenges its adherents are faced with from a very conservative all-male leadership. In these 2005 episodes we speak with Asra Nomani, a thorn in the side of the Muslim establishment in the USA. Hers is a harrowing tale that could easily have sent someone else to convert to another faith. But Nomani does believe in the tenets of the religion of her birth, and is passionate about seeing it expressed as she believes was intended. Theme music "Nigal."

Benyamin Cohen, an Orthodox Jew embedded himself in Christian culture for a year just to, y'know, see what it's like. Not much to say to lure you to listen other than this very compelling title. Aired in 2008. Theme music "Nigal."

Many, if not most, religionists will claim that their faith is supported by science. The problem is, most scientists look upon these claims with a very skeptical eye, as they should. But some who speak from wisdom are able to make claims that really should be heard, contemplated and given respect. The work of Rabbi David Nelson would fall into this category. Listen and learn.

David Nelson spent much of his early life portraying himself in a popular family sitcom in the 1950s. He later converted to Judaism and....oh, wait. What. OK. Never mind. Originally aired in 2005. Theme music "Nigal."

A few things can be taken for granted about our penal system. For one, much of how we punish and/or rehabilitate prisoners is based on rather ancient codes. Also, religion has strongly impacted how we think about punishment. In these 2006 episodes my guests & I discuss how we can move away from a system that seems to work only sometimes, to a place of restorative justice that from all accounts, produces better outcomes--that is, less recidivism.

Good stuff, Maynard. Theme music "Nigal."

Do you know how many times I've heard people ringing the death knell for the religious right? The 1st time was during a sermon given by a Unitarian minister in the 1980s.

Yeah, How'd that work out?

Even during the GW Bush years pundits were claiming that the movement would be short-lived. And during the Obama years the very naive thought that the Tea Party replaced the Evangelicals with a message of economics over "morality." In no time at all the 2 forces allied to give Obama the shellacking of his life in the midterms.

This is why I post all these old episodes. They tell us where we were, and we are able to see how we got to now. Little did we know in 2006 when we aired these conversations with Rev. Peter Laarman about his book "Getting On Message" that the frustrations we were experiencing then by the likes of Focus on the Family, Jerry Falwell and that ilk would pale in comparison to what we had waiting in the wings a decade later with Trump & his misguided minions.

Listen. Ponder. Hope. Theme music "Nigal."

I was thrilled to find this cassette in the box of old shows. These episodes aired toward the end of 1999. My guest was also a very dear friend named Don Herman. Don passed away in 2019. He meant a lot to my wife & me. His wife Bluma is still a part of our lives. In 1997 Jewish Theatre Grand Rapids staged a play Don wrote called "That Reminds Me of a Story." It was collection of brilliant examples of classic Jewish Humor.

Back in 2020 I revisited the world of Jewish humor again. Check out Podcast #113 for that. But this is the original.

One other note: On these cassettes that I'm digitizing & uploading there are sorts of sounds such as mic checks, countdowns from my engineer, a word or so from my guest, etc. As you would expect, I edit those out for these podcasts. Well, there are a couple sweets remarks by Don immediately before & after the episodes that I couldn't bring myself to cut. So here we go, all the way. Enjoy. Theme music "Nigal."

I really enjoyed conversing with these co-authors Sandra Hirsh & Jane Kise about their book "Soul Types: Matching Your Personality to Your Spiritual Path." They have devised a testing practice based on the well known Myers Briggs formula that they claim allows one to find a tradition, religion, practice, etc. that seems to resonate. I was impressed with their research. It made for a good discussion. 1st aired in 2006. Theme music "Nigal."