Soul Search

What role does faith play over the course of a lifetime? Three Christian women, each from a different generation, engage in an honest conversation about faith.

How can one nurture the soul? Or seek the divine in times of suffering and violence? These aren't new questions, but as 1.9 billion Muslims approach the peak of Ramadan, we meet a poet and a professor wrestling with these questions. 

Professor Mohamad Abdalla AM is the Founding Director of the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) at UniSA. He has over 25 years of experience in the field of Islamic Studies.

Yahia Lababidi.is a writer, poet and aphorist. His forthcoming collection of poems Palestine Wail, is dedicated to his grandmother, who had to flee her home in Jerusalem nearly 80 years ago.

Further information:

"Love that makes devils weep", "Ramadan", "What Tragedy Teaches" ©️ Yahia Lababidi 

Jesus is a film star. He’s graced the big screen since the beginning of cinema — you can probably picture him: robed and long-haired, but that’s only one way to imagine Jesus. In fact, the conversation about the image of Christ goes back a whole lot further than the story of cinema — to the earliest Christian era. There are multiple depictions of Jesus in the Bible, and artists have been giving expression to the Christ figure in different ways across time.

Dr Adrian Rosenfeldt is a Lecturer and Head Tutor in Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University. He has a particular interest in sociology of spirituality expressed in film and music as well as New Atheist identities in a post 9-11 world. He is the author of The God Debaters: New Atheist Identity-Making and the Religious Self in the New Millennium and an upcoming article in the Human Studies journal titled, The “Spirit” of new Atheism and Religious Activism.

Dr Katharine Massam is Professor of History at the University of Divinity and the author of a new study of the Australian writer Kylie Tennant, whose depression-era novels offer a disruptive vision of Christ in the midst of the workers' movement.

Rituals mark moments moments throughout our lives, big and small. They are also used to draw attention to political injustice and social inequality, to express lament and to reorient the participants in the ritual toward wholeness. What role might rituals play in our lives and our politics, and who might we find participating beside us?

Cole Arthur Riley is a writer, poet and NYT bestselling author. She is also the creator of Black Liturgies, a project of The Center for Dignity and Contemplation, where she serves as Curator. Her books include This Here Flesh and Black Liturgies.

Dr Molly Farneth is Associate Professor in the Religion Department of Haverford College. Her research and teaching focus on American and European religious thought (19th century to the present), with particular attention to religion and politics, ethics, rituals, and feminist and gender studies in religion. She is the author of The Politics of Ritual.

Perhaps you've heard it said, "We are what we repeatedly do". The early Christian ascetics knew this, but you don't have to be a monk to cultivate good habits, replace bad ones, and — hopefully — become a better person.

Dr Jonathan Zecher is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at the Australian Catholic University. He is a historian of Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Empire with a special interest in monastic literature and early Christian culture.

Andrew Hill is the CEO of Steiner Education Australia and a member of the Anthroposophical Society.

Flamy Grant is a drag queen who made a splash in the Contemporary Christian Music industry, charting on Billboard and iTunes' Christian charts. Previously, powerful gatekeepers at Christian record labels and radio stations excluded queer artists from their lineups for decades. Now, digital distribution and social media are revolutionising the music industry and opening doors for LGBTI+ people to contribute their art to an industry that previously excluded them.

Flamy Grant (she/her, aka Matthew Blake, they/them) is a musician and drag queen originating from North Carolina. She is the first drag performer to reach #1 on the Christian iTunes charts, and in 2023 her debut record Bible Belt Baby was nominated for Best Pop Album at the San Diego Music Awards. Prior to adopting the Flamy Grant persona, Matthew Blake worked as a worship leader for 22 years and released folk music under their own name.

Mikali Anagnostis (they/them) is a singer/songwriter who has just released their first EP, Whole with the sacred arts collective, Marion St. They are a member of Leichhardt Uniting Church on Gadigal/Wangal land in Sydney.

Music in this episode

• 'What Did You Drag Me Into?' by Flamy Grant
• 'Good Day' by Flamy Grant
• 'Garden' by Mikali Anagnostis/Marion St
• 'God is Coming' by Mikali Anagnostis/Marion St

You might not know it, but there's a parallel Christian entertainment industry that's existed since the 1950s, and it's changed the music you listen to — and even the politicians you know about. The Contemporary Christian Music industry caters specifically to evangelical moral, cultural and political tastes, but far from being a world unto itself, it has affected the mainstream in ways that aren't always obvious to outside observers.

Dr Leah Payne is Associate Professor of American Religious History at George Fox University and Portland Seminary. She is the author of God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music and cohost of the Weird Religion and Rock That Doesn't Roll podcasts.

Even if you're not Buddhist, you might believe in karma. Taylor Swift's single 'Karma' reflects popular ideas about cosmic justice, and is just the latest Western pop hit to borrow concepts from Eastern religions.

Dr Hannah Gould is a cultural anthropologist studying death, Buddhism, and material culture in Australia and Asia. Along with Professor Anna Halafoff, she is presenting a paper at the 2024 Swiftposium titled Vibing with karma: Buddhist teachings on life and death in Western popular culture.

Dr Jeffrey W Cupchik is an ethnomusicologist specialising in Buddhist studies, ritual music and anthropology of religion. He is the author of "Buddhism and Popular Music", a chapter in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Popular Music, first edition. His latest book is The Sound of Vultures' Wings: The Tibetan Buddhist Chöd Ritual Practice of the Female Buddha Machik Labdrön

Hundreds of people — including pastors, activists, ministry workers and theologians — have gathered from every corner of this land we now call Australia. They're on Wurundjeri country for a First Nations theology conference, to share their faith and vision for justice. Some are describing this event as a theological revolution.

It's a reckoning of sorts, addressing the role of the churches during the era of colonial missionary activity through to the recent constitutional referendum.

Professor Anne Pattel-Gray is the inaugural Head of the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity. She is a descendant of the Bidjara and Kari Kari peoples of Queensland and a celebrated Aboriginal leader.

Mikenzie Ling is a Wiradjuri woman who recently completed her Masters of Theology, with her dissertation titled: Is Land My Mother? An Australian Aboriginal Christian Theology of Custodianship and Connection to Country.

Rhanee Lester, Adnyamathanha delegate from South Australia at the First Nations theology conference. 

Sandra King OAM, Quandamooka and Bundjalung woman, and Reconciliation Action Plan Coordinator for the Anglican Church in Southern Queensland.

Also in this episode, Julie Coombs, Joshua Lane, Travis Turner, Kyle Wicker, Ben Van Geldren, Dean Chisholm.

Further conference information: 

Further listening:

• Contemplating country with Garry Deverell - ABC listen
• Theology after Mabo – Dr Anne Pattel-Gray for Reconciliation Week - ABC listen
• Heal Country: NAIDOC week with Brooke Prentis and Aunty Rev Denise Champion - ABC listen
• Sovereignty is a spiritual notion: NAIDOC special - ABC listen
• Reconciliation as a pilgrimage to justice - ABC listen
• Indigenous theologian Garry Deverell on grounded spirituality - ABC listen

How do we live with care and attention on this beautiful, but warming planet? 

We meet leading Zen teacher Susan Murphy. She's re-thinking the wisdom stories of her tradition, after having to flee her home during the 2019 bushfires.

We also hear from Dr Alda Balthrop-Lewis, who recently found herself on the front lines of a climate protest, to the point of blockading coal exports.

Guests:

Dr Alda Balthrop-Lewis is a researcher of religion and environmental ethics at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.

Roshi Susan Murphy is a leading Australian Zen teacher, and founder of the Zen Open Circle in Sydney. She's been writing about Buddhism and climate change for years, and her latest book is A Fire Runs through All Things: Zen Koans for Facing the Climate Crisis

Further Listening: