News & Public Affairs
Atheists Not Happy With Council Prayer Vote
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03/18/10
Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Evening News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: atheists, John Dingfelder, Tampa City Council, Religion, forced prayer, Atheists of Florida
The question over whether the Tampa City Council should stop praying before each meeting came to a head this morning. The council unanimously adopted an informal resolution to continue reciting prayer at the beginning of each meeting.
The debate that has raged at 315 East Kennedy Blvd. for countless meetings brought out preachers and atheists, who would have their say during public comment. At times the debate morphed into a theological discussion, with Christian leaders insisting on God’s...
Be the first to commentConsumerism as Religion
02/10/10 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: consumerism, Del DeChant, Religion, The Bridge
COMING UP WE’LL TALK WITH A RELIGION INSTRUCTOR WHO SAYS THAT CONSUMERISM HAS IN ESSENCE BECOME THE MAIN RELIGION IN THE US.
DELL DECHANT IS AN INSTRUCTOR AT USF AND ASSISTANT CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES. HE’S THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK- THE SACRED SANTA. HE SAYS THAT CONSUMERISM HAS BECOME A RELIGION IN THE US-- RIVALLING OR SUPPLANTING TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS.
IS THAT RIGHT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? WHAT IS RELIGIOUS ABOUT SHOPPING?
HE’LL BE GIVING A TALK LATER THIS WE...
Be the first to commentA look inside Islam
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01/19/10
Joshua Lee Holton
WMNF Evening News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: islam, islamic radicalism, Religion, Polls, film, CAIR, USF
A new civil rights group for Muslims sponsored a showing of the new film “Inside Islam: What a billion Muslims really think.” The film was at USF in Tampa last Saturday night, and was designed to challenge the notion that Islam and the West are on a collision course.
Muslims in 40 countries participated in a Gallup public opinion poll that showed what Muslims think about the most controversial issues surrounding their religion. Last Saturday hundreds of people attended the film at USF, wh...
7 commentsTampa joins 3000 candle light vigils for Copenhagen Climate Conference
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12/14/09
Joshua Lee Holton
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Copenhagen, Climate Conference, vigil, climate change, Greenpeace, Religion
With one week left in the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, religious groups across the globe are congregating with fellow secular advocates to demand a binding climate agreement from world leaders. With about 500 events in the US, local faith based organizations in Tampa also held a vigil on Friday.
Cold and windy weather didn’t deter more than a dozen climate change advocates who huddled in front of Senator Bill Nelson’s Tampa office last Friday night. Faiths Unit...
1 commentsReligious minority persecuted in Iran
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03/23/09
Jamie Kidder
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Clearwater, Iran, Religion, civil rights
The Bahá'í faith focuses on peace, justice and unity. But in Iran, Bahá'ís are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Bahá'ís are barred from higher education, unable to find work, and sometimes arrested and executed.
In Clearwater yesterday afternoon, a local Bahá'í center held a conference to raise awareness of this persecution.
The Bahá'í religion was founded in Persia in 1844, and it has more than 5 million followers all over the world. Since its origins, Bahá'ís have faced ...
Be the first to commentDo non-believers need a lobbyist in D.C.?
11/25/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Religion, atheists, secularists, lobbying, discrimination against non-believers
Good afternoon, welcome to WMNF’s Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. On the first part of today’s program, we’ll hear from Lori Lipman Brown, the director and first Congressional lobbyist with a new group called the Secular Coalition For America. It’s a group that advocates on behalf of America’s atheists, humanists, agnostics and others who want to see a separation between religious doctrine and civil law.
Brown is a former Nevada legislator, she’s an attorney and has taught Constitutional la...
1 commentsKeith Ellison interview - Part 2
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11/19/08
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Religion, Muslim, Arab issues, CAIR
In 2006, Minnesota’s Keith Ellison became the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Congress. WMNF’s Seán Kinane spoke with him on Saturday, before the Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet in Tampa. The second half of the interview begins with Rep. Ellison responding to Barack Obama’s first move as president-elect. Obama chose Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff. Emanuel is strongly pro-Israel.
“[I've met with Dr. Al-Arian's family] and I’ll be happy to meet with them again in the futu...
Be the first to commentCAIR urges Muslims to define themselves
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11/17/08
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: CAIR, Keith Ellison, John Esposito, Muslims, civil rights, religion
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held its 6th annual banquet Saturday at the Tampa Convention Center. Speakers included Georgetown University professor John Esposito and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress.
Following prayers, about 600 people gathered to hear about the theme American Muslims: Defining Ourselves. Ellison said that during the recent presidential campaign, others groups attempted to define Islam and what it means to be Muslim. Many even tried...
6 commentsSeparation of Church and State
10/18/08 Mary Glenney and Arlene EngelhardtWomen's Show
Toni Van Pelt, vice president for the Center for Inquiry, talked about the dangers of tearing down the firewall of separation of church and state. She talked of recent "findings" by President Bush and his utilization of tax funds to give to religious organizarions for governmemtal programs.
Be the first to commentForum on race, religion in media held in Tampa
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05/30/08
Jamie Kidder
WMNF Evening News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Last night in Tampa, a public forum was held to discuss the issues of race and religion in the Media.
The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists, along with the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), hosted last night’s panel discussion.
The panel consisted of Ahmed Badir, a local civil rights activist and president of the Tampa/Hillsborough Human Rights Council. He is also the host of WMNF’s True Talk, which airs Friday mornings from 11 to noon.
Other panelists include...
Be the first to commentControversial pastors and their candidates
05/08/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Iran, end-times, WWIII, 2008 election, Barack Obama, Religion
The controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial soundbites has raged for months. Today WMNF played soundbites from two conservative Christian ministers, both of whom back Sen. John McCain for president.
Are their comments also worthy of national debate? Read and watch the comments and then comment.
[John Hagee](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04rich.h...
Be the first to commentEvolution in everyday life
05/06/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Religion, evolution, higher education, science standards
David Sloan Wilson, is an evolutionary biologist who teaches at Binghamton University in New York.
His books include Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives, (2007); Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion and the Nature of Society, (2002); and Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior, with Elliott Sober, (1998).
Wilson also directs a program that applies evolutionary theory to different academic disciplines. ...
Be the first to commentWright holds press conference
04/29/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: African American, Barack Obama, Religion, civil rights
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was, until recently, pastor at Sen. Barack Obama's church in Chicago. Soundbites from several of his sermons have been repeated endlessly on television and radio. Many times those clips have been used to cast doubts about Obama, one of two Democrats vying for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Today WMNF played the unedited press conference that Wright gave to national reporters at the national Press Club in Washington, D.C., yesterday. Following the ...
Be the first to commentInterview with physicist Michio Kaku
04/24/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Religion, intelligent design, science standards
Dr. Michio Kaku hosts Explorations, WMNF's weekly science program. He is on a mission to popularize science. He is also a co-founder of "string theory."
In his latest book, Kaku takes on some of the "wildest" ideas of science fiction: teleportation, telepathy, force fields, psychokinesis, time travel, travel to other galaxies and more. He divides these ideas into Class One Impossibilities (possible given the current laws of physics and scope of technical ability); Class Two (possible but...
1 commentsFAST assembly addresses citizen's concerns
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04/08/08
Jamie Kidder
WMNF Evening News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: religion, drugs, affordable housing, education
Faith and Action for Strength Together (FAST) is a Pinellas County faith-based orginization that works toward community justice.
FAST held its annual Nehemiah Action Assembly in Largo last night, where local community leaders, members of law enforcement and local government officials were invited to answer questions about issues that FAST members feel should be addressed.
The topics included education, affordable housing and crime. Members of FAST asked a series of yes-or-no questions t...
Be the first to commentE.J. Dionne on religion in politics
03/07/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Evening News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Washington Post syndicated columnist E. J. Dionne has just written a new book, Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith & Politics After the Religious Right. In it, he details why the era of the Religious Right – and the crude exploitation of faith for political advantage – is now over. But he writes that the end of the Christian right doesn’t signal the decline of evangelical Christianity, but is rather its disentanglement from a political machine that sold out to a narrow agenda such as oppositio...
Be the first to commentWhat a billion Muslims really think
03/06/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Evening News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Religion
In the new book, Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think? authors Dalia Mogahed and John Esposito use interviews from tens of thousands of residents of more than 35 nationas that are predominantly Muslim or have large Muslim populations.
Among the questions that Gallup poll posed were: Is Islam to blame for terrorism? Why is there so much anti-Americanism in the Muslim world? What do Muslim women really want?
Author John Esposito writes that Westernized advocacy of ...
Be the first to commentHot political topic: Separation of church and state
03/05/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Religion
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United For Separation of Church and State, joined us for this part of the conversation. He addressed the upcoming vote in Florida on whether a ban on gay marriage should be enshrined in Florida's Constitution.
Lynn says it elevates a particular religious doctrine, ascribed to by some but not all religions, into law. That, he says, is never good for freedom of religion. Lynn, an ordained minister, also addressed controversies involving Br...
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