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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.
On this installment of Interfaith Voices:
‘Think Positive’: A History
“Words are like seeds,” reads a recent Tweet by megachurch pastor Joel Osteen. “If you dwell on them long enough, they will take root and flourish.” The idea that thoughts create reality, sometimes called “The Law of Attraction,” can be found all over American culture, from the sermons of prosperity gospel preachers to the pages of self-help books like The Secret. Its history stretches back to a mystical religious movement in 19th century America.
The Prayer Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Since Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, scholars have studied his sermons, his speeches and his non-violent philosophy to find the sources of his strength. We talk to a historian who says a key part of King’s identity has been overlooked: his prayer life. From January 2010.
The Roots (and Buds) of Rastafarian Spirituality
If you live in Colorado, you can now walk into a store and buy recreational marijuana. America’s first retail weed stores opened there on January 1st. That’s great news to many, including members of the religious social movement Rastafari, who have long used marijuana, or “ganja,” as a kind of religious sacrament.
Featured speakers/guests:
Mitch Horowitz, author of One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life
Lewis V. Baldwin, author of “Never To Leave Us Alone: The Prayer Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Ennis Edmonds, professor of religious studies at Kenyon College
