Category: Race & Ethnicity


Bradley Wright on Religion, Race, and Discrimination

When it comes to welcoming a stranger to a new church, are mainline churches, evangelicals, or Catholics more likely to discriminate based upon racial-sounding names? Prof. Bradley Wright (Connecticut) reveals the findings from his field experiment designed to answer this question. We discuss the methodology of this study and how a focus on structural versus interpersonal justice may have affected the surprising results. Prof. Wright also gives us a brief taste of what is happening with his other innovative research project, SoulPulse, and how listeners can participate.

Click “read more” to discover Prof. Wright’s books and information about participating in SoulPulse.

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John Inazu on the Four Freedoms, Religious Liberty, and Assembly

Prof. John Inazu of Washington University Law School (St. Louis) explains how four of the main freedoms contained in the US Constitution’s First Amendment are interrelated and how a series of court cases during the latter half of the 20th century has boiled down these separate, but related, freedoms into a single free speech dimension. Our primary focus is on the relationship between the free expression clause and the freedom of assembly, though other issues come into play. We review important court cases from Roberts v Jaycees to Hosanna-Tabor.

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Rajdeep Singh on American Sikhs and Religious Liberty

What is the Sikh religion and how have Sikhs fit into American society? Rajdeep Singh of the Sikh Coalition explains the history, tenets, rituals, and practices of his faith, as well as the challenges this religious minority has faced in the United States. We discuss how Sikhs have been instrumental in championing religious liberty with cases about religious garb in Oregon and issues of occupational safety.

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James Patterson on MLK, Fulton Sheen, & Jerry Falwell

What do Martin Luther King Jr., Fulton Sheen, and Jerry Falwell have in common? Other than being religious figures in the 20th century, most folks might struggle to and an answer to that question. However, this week’s guess — Dr. James Patterson — explains what these charismatic figures have in common and how they are different. We focus on their religious and political foundations and how this played out in their mass media strategies.

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Colleen Haight on Jewish Peddlers in 19th Century America

In 19th century America, Jews disproportionately filled an important role in the US economy as peddlers and merchants who brought supplies to settlers in the westward expansion. Prof. Colleen Haight of SJSU explains the logic behind this phenomenon and links it to the economics of religion and the role that religious distinctiveness played in solving reputational problems. She also addresses the matter of hostility towards Jews and how this factored in to their chosen profession.

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David Dixon on Religious Rhetoric and the Civil Right Movement

Prof. David Dixon of St. Joseph’s College discusses his massive project to document various sermons and speeches giving during the height of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-65). These speeches are from lesser known individuals who were nonetheless a critical part of the social environment pushing for civil liberties for African Americans and others. We also discuss how this project relates to his previous and ongoing research on religion in Latin America.

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Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions

Prof. Mark Koyama of George Mason University explains why King Edward I expelled the Jews from England in July of 1290, giving them only three months to leave. Rather than focusing on anti-semitism or explanations based upon “greed,” Prof. Koyama shows how changes in feudal revenue collection during the 13th century led to a devaluation of the moneylending role that Jews played in the English economy and how expulsion represented a credible signal to the ever-rebellious lower nobility. He generalizes this explanation to help us understand why further expulsions of Jews occured in continental Europe in the subsequent centuries.

Use this podcast as a basis for book club discussions with your friends. A great podcast for understanding medieval history!

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Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism

Carmel Chiswick (University of Illinois, Chicago and the George Washington University) discusses the economics of American Judaism, showing how higher wage rates and the “cost of time” shaped the way that Jewish immigrants practiced their faith. We look primarily at the German and Russian/East German Jewish immigration of the 19th century and how the socio-economic circumstances of those groups shaped the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements. Our conversation also covers the issues of immigration, education, and assimilation, ending with a discussion of what America Judaism looks like today, what it is likely to become, and how it is influencing Judaism worldwide.

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Gerald De Maio on the Electoral Religion Gap

With the election season heating up, we revisit the issue of whether religion plays a role in voting behavior in the United States. Prof. Gerald De Maio (Baruch College, CUNY) discusses his collaborative research with Louis Bolce on the “religion gap” in American politics. This research indicates that those who attend church more regularly, or who hold more orthodox religious views, tend to vote much differently than seculars. De Maio and Bolce’s research also shows how the media has failed to pick up on this electoral divide while touting other “gaps” — e.g., gender, age, soccer moms — that are much less salient when it comes to predicting election outcomes. We speculate how the “religion gap” will play out in the November 2012 elections.

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Richard Flory on Why We Go to Church (and other stuff)

Why do people bother to go to church when a recent Barna Group survey revealed that 60% of all regular attendees could not recall any new insight from their most recent church service? Prof. Richard Flory discusses this finding and several others and speculates on the role the churches play in our lives, arguing that the communal aspect of gathering may be highly underrated when compared with the spiritual education aspect of churches. We also discuss the role that churches can play in the community and whether or not such engagement will help to make church more relevant for youth.

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