Life Inside a Cult, Satanic Protests and Rabbis Marrying Non-Jews

Learning the Craft of Storytelling from an Apocalyptic Cult

When a preacher says the world is going to end next week–and it doesn’t–there’s only one way to keep people believing: tell them a good story. And that’s what Glynn Washington, public radio’s master storyteller, learned from the Worldwide Church of God, an insular religious group where he spent his formative years. He now calls it a “cult.” The “Snap Judgment” host joins us to reflect on how his fundamentalist upbringing shaped his career as a radio host.

We also hear a reaction from the church, which changed its name in 2009 and says it now embraces a more traditional form of Christianity.

Satanists Rejoice the Removal of Ten Commandments

A monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capitol was just removed, after years of criticism.  Many groups are rejoicing–including followers of Satan. That’s right. People who revere the “father of lies” were some of the monument’s most eloquent critics. We get a reaction from one Satanist who created a rival “religious monument” of his own, depicting a goat-headed pagan idol named Baphomet.  Featuring Lucien Greaves, a founder of The Satanic Temple.

For Jews, Lifting the Taboo on Interfaith Marriage

When it comes to religious groups and mixed marriages, most people think the particular “mix” that causes a problem is same-sex marriage. But in Judaism, the real problem is with marrying outside the faith, especially when it comes to clergy–who are meant to be model members of the Jewish community. Now, for the first time ever, the seminary behind a major branch of Judaism has just decided that its rabbinical students can date and marry non-Jews.  With guests Rabbi Deborah Waxman, President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and
Rabbi Mychal Copeland, Director of InterfaithFamily Bay Area.

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