Religion and Faith

Since the 2004 election, people have debated the influence of religion on public life. Polls seemed to show that those describing themselves as religious seemed to favor George W. Bush. The reaction to those polls suggests the real picture may be more complicated.
Best-selling religion writer Karen Armstrong says that the rise of modernity and the rise of religious fundamentalism are linked. In a speech Saturday at St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis, the former nun said that fundamentalist religious movements were both enabled by modernity and arose as a backlash against modernity.
Middle East expert Shibley Telhami says there's no doubt that anti-Americanism is on the rise in the Arab World. But Telhami says that people who blame Arab media outlets like Al Jazeera have missed the mark. Telhami has done extensive polling and found almost no connection between media consumption and public opinion in the Arab world.
The theory of intelligent design is getting its day in court after a Pennsylvania parent sued to stop the school district from teaching this alternative to evolution.
Best-selling author and Rabbi Harold Kushner says that when he was in rabbinical school 50 years ago, everybody thought that fundamentalist, orthodox religion was going out of style. It hasn't. Kushner, who spoke Monday night in Wayzata and considers himself a liberal, says that liberal churches and synagogues have foresworn the mystical, irrational elements of religion to their own detriment.
Hurricane Katrina has inspired a nationwide outpouring of sympathy, grief and outrage. We watched the institutions of society crumble before our eyes on television, bringing out the best in some and the worst in others. What did the storm teach us about the human condition?
John Danforth, who served three terms as a Republican in the U.S. Senate and six months as U.N. ambassador in 2004, is concerned about the growing influence of christian conservatives on the Republican Party. Danforth, who is also an Episcopalian priest, spoke about his religion and his politics with Speaking of Faith Host Krista Tippett.
Lutherans expect to debate whether the church should bless same-sex unions. Midmorning looks at how the issue of gay representation has affected many Christian denominations.
How have fundamentalists changed the world's view of Islam? A Muslim scholar discusses the challenges facing his religion and its followers.
Lawyer and Baptist minister Oliver Thomas says that the Supreme Court has blurred the line between church and state in America, and Thomas wants that line redrawn. Thomas, who wrote the American Civil Liberties Union's handbook "The Right to Religious Liberty," spoke Friday at Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York.