Religion
'Why Religion?' Asks 'How Hearts Can Heal' After Tragedy
Religion scholar Elaine Pagels lost her young son to terminal illness and her husband a year later in an accident. She spoke to Fresh Air in November 2018 about loss and faith.
How Twitter Helped Change The Mind Of A Westboro Baptist Church Member
Growing up as a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, Megan Phelps-Roper was taught that God hated gay people. The church, which was founded by Phelps-Roper's grandfather, Fred Phelps Sr., became infamous for picketing the funerals of U.S. soldiers — whose deaths it believed were a punishment for America's sins and its tolerance of homosexuality.
Sister Helen Prejean On Witnessing Executions: 'I Couldn't Let Them Die Alone'
Sister Helen Prejean is best known for her 1993 memoir, Dead Man Walking, about her role as a spiritual adviser to a convicted killer on death row. The story was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Prejean has accompanied six prisoners to their executions and has been at the forefront of activism against the death penalty.
'I Couldn't Continue On': A Former Jehovah's Witness On Leaving The Faith
Amber Scorah has written a new memoir about being a 3rd generation Jehovah's Witness, leaving her faith, and then dealing with a tragedy without her faith to turn to.
For Priest Turned Professor, 'Holy Envy' Is Key To Appreciating World Religions
Barbara Brown Taylor is an ordained Episcopal priest who left the pulpit to become a professor of religion. She is also the author of a couple of best selling books. Her new book is about how teaching the religions of the world changed her understanding of her own faith, and how her Christian students responded when she took them to mosques, synagogues, and buddhist temples.
Director Paul Schrader Tests His Faith In 'First Reformed'
First Reformed, which Schrader wrote and directed, is up for an Oscar for best screenplay. It tells the story of a divorced minister experiencing a crisis of faith. Originally broadcast June 12, 2018.
Robbie Fulks And Linda Gail Lewis On Singing Harmony And Living A 'Wild!' Life
Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis come from different generations, but both play the old style of country music — her brother is Jerry Lee Lewis. They share songs and stories from their new album, Wild! Wild! Wild!
'Why Religion?' Asks 'How Hearts Can Heal' After Tragedy
Religion scholar Elaine Pagels lost her young son to terminal illness and her husband a year later in an accident. Her new book combines memoir and biblical scholarship to reflect on loss and faith.
Robbie Fulks And Linda Gail Lewis On Singing Harmony And Living A 'Wild!' Life
Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis come from different generations, but both play the old style of country music — her brother is Jerry Lee Lewis. They share songs and stories from their new album, Wild! Wild! Wild!
Memoirist: Evangelical Purity Movement Sees Women's Bodies As A 'Threat'
When Linda Kay Klein was 13, she joined an evangelical church that prized sexual "purity" and taught that men and boys were sexually weak.