Progressive Spirit

The good citizen defends his castle.   Punks, thieves, thugs, and rapists don’t stand a chance against a 44 Magnum in the hands of the good guy who stands his ground.   That is the myth.  The reality is that America’s love affair with guns and lethal self-defense has not ma... Read more

Drew Bekius was a true believer.  He prayed the “sinner’s prayer” when he was three and was immersed in evangelical Christianity, starting an award-winning ministry in his high school.  He became a minister and a leader and he was skilled at the job.       But a few years ... Read more

The Nag Hammadi library discovered in 1945 has provided a number of alternative Christian texts.   They were not included in the Bible. They have been dismissed by many orthodox Christians as Gnostic or even heresy.  Yet new scholarship is discovering the complexity of thes... Read more

Justin Dillon is a former musician turned filmmaker and social entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Made in A Free World, a platform that brings together consumers, organizations, and businesses to dismantle the 150 billion dollar business of human trafficking. His la... Read more

The United States with five percent of the world’s population  incarcerates 25% of the world’s prisoners.   Mass incarceration in the United States is well-known.   Today’s guest points out something not as well known.   Overcrowded and underfunded prisons now outsource edu... Read more

Contemporary American Society is saturated with fear, fear that is out of proportion to the actual threats we face. That is how Michael Kinnamon, a widely respected leader and scholar in the ecumenical movement begins his book, The Witness of Religion In An Age of Fear. Wh... Read more

What if we brought mindfulness to schools and Buddhism to economics? Clair Brown teaches at Cal Berkely and is the author of Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science. Caverly Morgan is the founder of "Peace in Schools," the first for credit high sc... Read more

When we hear the word theology, we may think we are going to engage in esoteric reflections about divinity and the afterlife.  But theology at its best is not about God or gods, but about life and its meaning and the myths that drive us.   Arthur Dewey is professor of theol... Read more

What is moral?  How has morality changed and how does that effect how we make decisions and evaluate the decisions of others in politics, business, and sex?   In Behaving Badly:  The New Morality in Politics, Sex and Business. Eden Collinsworth embarks on a personal journey... Read more

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was one of the leaders of the civil rights movement along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy.  But he was in many ways unsung.  Middle Georgia State University Professor Andrew Manis talks about the legacy of Fred Shuttlesworth.   In 199... Read more