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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.
This week on Inspired:
Evangelical minister turns from anti-abortion advocacy to confronting gun culture
For decades, evangelical Christian minister Rob Schenck was one of the most high-profile anti-abortion advocates in the country, using provocative and sometimes shocking tactics in his demonstrations. Schenck eventually turned away from that form of activism, and dedicated himself to a new cause: advocating for gun reform. Though gun control isn’t popular in mainstream evangelical culture, Schenck believes one cannot be both “pro-life” and “pro-gun.” In his newest memoir, Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love, Schenck details the three conversions he has undergone in his life: to Christianity, to right-wing activism, and to gun control advocacy.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, evangelical minister, author of Costly Grace, and founding president of the Deitrich Bonhoeffer Institute in Washington, D.C.
The concerned neighbor in Columbus
Zerqa Abid is a business owner, a mother, a Muslim, and a Pakistani immigrant living in Columbus, Ohio who refocused her life to address violence, drugs, and human trafficking in the poor Wedgewood community of her city. Many of Wedgewood’s residents are Somali, but from a particular ethnic minority that is marginalized even among Columbus’ Somali community. Abid founded “My Project USA,” a nonprofit to better Wedgewood through community partnerships among people who barely spoke to each other before she invited them to the table.
The Greatest Story Never Told: Documentary Explains the Origins of the Baha’i Faith
Steve Sarowitz is not a filmmaker. But when the former tech entrepreneur declared himself a Baha’i, he felt compelled to let others know about his new faith. With only about five million Baha’is in the world, few people know much about the religion. But Baha’is are not allowed to proselytize, so Sarowitz set off to make what became “The Gate: Dawn of the Baha’i Faith,” a documentary from Spring Green Films about the creation of the Baha’i faith and its prophet, the Báb, directed by Peabody Award-winner Bob Hercules. You can watch the trailer here.
Steve Sarowitz, executive producer, and Bob Hercules, director, of “The Gate: Dawn of the Baha’i Faith“
