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Every Sunday at 3:00amAbout the Show
Inspired
Inspired is the nation's leading public radio show about faith, ethics and spirituality. Each week we offer you analyses of the big headlines alongside lesser-told stories – those of Orthodox Jewish artists and African-American atheists, Muslim feminists and spiritual seekers. Through these stories, a rough sketch of our country’s religious landscape begins to emerge. It’s a marketplace of beliefs and ideas too complex for sound bites, and too important to ignore.
“I have been called terrorist, ISIS…it’s just weird!”
Malak Osman is 11 years old. Her birthday is on Election Day. She shares her story of being bullied at school when she wore a hijab, and how she fought back with a short speech. Researchers and rights groups say hate crimes against Muslims are up sharply, and many scholars believe presidential campaign vitriol is a big part of the problem. Malak Osman is a sixth grader who recently gave an anti-bullying speech at an event organized by her mosque and Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement, or VOICE.
The Small but Mighty Muslim Vote
Traditionally, voter turnout among American Muslims has been pretty low. But our guests say this year will be different. Sarwat Husain and Nihad Awad believe anti-Muslim hostility this elections season has pushed many in their community to register to vote for the first time. And they think this may even help tilt the scale in a few swing states. Sarwat also shares why she insists on wearing a hijab when she’s out canvassing, and why she says voting is a “a form of worship.” Sarwat Husain is president of the San Antonio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and
Nihad Awad is the executive director of CAIR.
Values Voting Takes a Backseat
Well, we’re in the final days of a presidential race that’s been so wild, even Hollywood script writers are saying: “You couldn’t make that up.” Who knew in the run up to Election Day, we’d be talking about groping, sexting, leaked emails and a revived FBI probe. That got pollster and president of the Public Religion Research Institute, Robert P. Jones wondering whether voters have become more tolerant of the private misdeeds of their public officials. Meanwhile, author Mike Pinsky argues partisan politics have trumped religious values at the ballot box. He adds: “More than sex, more than money, hypocrisy is the chief undermining factor of religion in America.”
Nuns Now: Where is Everybody?
We wrap up our Nuns Now series by addressing the elephant in the room. Like… where is everybody? Everybody young, that is? Why are so few women becoming nuns today? There are just 50,000 nuns in the United States, down 75 percent since 1965. We hear how more traditional orders are actually seeing membership rise, while expanded opportunities for women have made a nun’s life less attractive for many. Gail DeGeorge is a journalist with the Global Sisters Report of the National Catholic Reporter. Make it a habit of enjoying all the stories in Nuns Now stories. Listen here.
