Religion Thoughtful Activisim – Web

Inter-Religious Studies Conference Podcast

This podcast showcases some of the deep and inspiring conversations that take place in inter-religious spaces.

Season 1
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8

Season 1

This season, our podcast focuses on “Religion and Thoughtful Activism,” the 2021 theme of the Vancouver School of Theology’s annual Inter-Religious Studies Conference.

Rachel Wilkowski on Depicting God’s Justice in Children’s Bibles

This episode examines depictions of God’s justice in 3 Christian children’s Bibles – The Jesus Storybook Bible, The Big Picture Bible and The Children of God Storybook Bible.

You’re welcome to reference Rachel’s Academia.edu page, here

Charles Kaplan on Activism Through Music: Jewish Musical Fusions that Promote Social Change

Throughout history, in both religious and secular settings, music has been a cultural form encouraging the transformation of individuals and existing social systems. In this episode, we will briefly examine several well-known secular and sacred activist musical genres, before exploring in more detail two activist genres that are specific fusions of Jewish music with the music of other traditions.

Elana Brief on Singing to Salmon Berries at Outdoor Elementary School: How the Seasons of the Coast Salish Lands Helped Me Find My Place in the Jewish Calendar

With song and story, this episode tells how an outdoor school learning experience has gently brought back a relationship with the land that has given a place-based understanding of the Jewish Calendar.

Michael Karlberg on Radical Constructive Agency: An Exploration of Bahá’í Praxis

The Bahá’í community comprises a growing movement of people across the planet, representing a microcosm of humanity, working to translate commonly held spiritual principles into a new social reality through an evolving framework of action. This episode examines salient elements of this framework in relation to insights from the theory and practice of nonviolent social change.

Raanan Mallek on Inter-religious Dialogue and how it can Contribute to Peacebuilding

The article seeks to determine how interreligious dialogue can contribute to peacebuilding within Israeli society.

David Prfimmer on A Public Ethic and Spirit of Pandemic Capitalism

This episode describes some of the successive variants of capitalism, the implicit dominant public ethic and spiritual imperative of each, and their implications for advocacy and activism. What kind of public ethic and spiritual imperative is necessary for “mending creation” and life’s flourishing today? What are some implications for activism by faith groups in a pandemic 21st-century world?

Violet Johnicker on Inter-Religious Public Advocacy: Best Practices from Illinois’ Successful Campaign to End Money Bond

In January of 2021 the Illinois legislature passed significant criminal justice reform that will make Illinois the first state to end money bond. Proposed by the Legislative Black Caucus, this landmark legislation becomes law after years of advocacy from a broad coalition of organizations. This episode details the impact of people of faith who have been involved with this campaign, sharing best practices of faith-based policy advocacy organizations.

Laura Duhan Kaplan Towards Healing Social Trauma: Activist Inter-Religious Education for Graduate Theological Study

Graduate theological students choose an ecumenical affirming seminary like Vancouver School of Theology partly because they want to be activist change agents in their religious communities. This episode explores how students as religious leaders want to contribute to healing, particularly in their awareness of three kinds of trauma: intergenerational trauma, moral injury, and spiritual abuse.