At a time when the Religious Right and its elected allies misuse religion and attempt to force one set of beliefs on all, it is always worth considering how we can channel faith to contribute toward the greater good. On this week’s State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we’ll be discussing how each of us can tap into that ethic and use it to impact meaningful change within our own communities.

A familiar name to many, Shane Claiborne is the co-founder of Red Letter Christians and a tireless activist for peace, justice, and grace. Among his many projects is the Forge, which brings people in his Philadelphia community together to, literally, forge guns into plowshares (or at least garden tools!)

Shane’s brand new book, Rethinking Life: Embracing the Sacredness of Every Person, hits the shelves on February 7 and explores how to resolve the conflicting ways honoring life shows up in our culture today. This week, he joins Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to discuss the new book and his efforts for peace, justice and equality.

While it continues to have enormous potential to amplify diverse voices and empower democracy, social media is too often associated with a flood of hate and bigotry poisoning the digital world. On Wednesday, January 25th, Interfaith Alliance is releasing a new report, Big Tech, Hate and Religious Freedom Online; and that same day, it’s hosting an expert panel highlighting the urgent threat digital hate poses to religious freedom.

Project leader Interfaith Alliance Advocacy Associate Riya Kohli joins Paul to preview the report and webinar. The webinar, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time, features Zaki Barzinji of The Aspen Institute, Paul M. Barrett of NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, and Anti-Defamation League’s Lauren Krapf. Sign up to attend here!