Shows
Religion in the American ExperienceReligions’ Role in Refugee Resettlement - Part 2Since the summer of 2021 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in the wake of America’s departure, some 70,000+ Afghan refugees have come to the United States through Operation Allies Welcome. This has taxed the country’s capacity to resettle these people - men, women and children - who fled for their lives – all of whom have experienced severe trauma on their way to the United States. There are nine non-governmental agencies the government depends on to help resettle them. Since seven of those are religious-based agencies, the National Museum of American Religion thought it would be helpful to learn about t...2022-06-0656 min
Religion in the American ExperienceReligions’ Role in Refugee Resettlement - Part 1Since the summer of 2021 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in the wake of America’s departure, some 70,000+ Afghan refugees have come to the United States through Operation Allies Welcome. This has taxed the country’s capacity to resettle these people - men, women and children - who fled for their lives – all of whom have experienced severe trauma on their way to the United States. There are nine non-governmental agencies the government depends on to help resettle them. Since seven of those are religious-based agencies, the National Museum of American Religion thought it would be helpful to learn about t...2022-06-0656 min
Religion in the American ExperienceReligions’ Role in Native American Boarding SchoolsThe recent discoveries of unmarked graves at the sites of four former residential schools in western Canada have shocked and horrified Canadians and the world. This has spurred an interest here in the United States to understand the history of our Native American boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, a comprehensive review of the troubled legacy of federal boarding school policies. Since many of these schools were run by religious orders, the National Museum of American Religion felt that it would would...2022-03-211h 01
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat Have America‘s Clergy Told Us During Times of National Tragedy?Sermons, the words of the country’s vast number of spiritual leaders, have played significant and even profound roles during times of national crisis. They have comforted those that mourn, given grief higher purposes, and plumbed the depths of evil, suffering, and loss; they have offered hope, courage, vision, and belief in the face of doubt and fear. They have also been key to how the nation defines itself as it reacts to these crises.
Melissa Matthes can help us all better comprehend what sermons at times of national crisis have meant for America. She is Professor of...2021-12-091h 20
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Making of US: Lived Religion in America with Daniel Walker HoweDaniel Walker Howe was born January 10, 1937 in Ogden, Utah. Both of his parents were from Utah, though neither were religious. His mother had grown up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father’s family had come to Utah to work on the railroads. Daniel’s father was a newspaper man who lost his job during the Depression, and who was hired by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project. He helped write the Utah’s Story under the popular American Guide Series Books.
Daniel graduated from East High School in Denver...2021-08-0244 min
Religion in the American ExperienceReligion at the National Museum of African American History and CultureThe most recent addition to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall is the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in September of 2016. This is a profound and exceptionally meaningful addition to the tapestry woven by the museums in D.C.
From the perspective of The National Museum of American Religion, we want to know more about the roles that religion played in the story of slavery and its aftermath.
To do this, we have with us today Teddy R. Reeves, curator of religion at the Smithsonian’s Na...2021-07-191h 05
Religion in the American ExperienceHow Do Some Foodways Look Like Religion?Food sustains physical life, and as such is of critical importance to each of us. Some in the country have an abundance; hunger or food insecurity gnaws at others: in which group we find ourselves determines much of our current existence. What we eat also touches on other aspects of our lives besides “need”: celebrations, emotional comfort, health, family traditions, and connections or “breaking bread” with others. For the purposes of this podcast series, we are of course interested in uncovering and understanding the connections between religion and food in the United States – what they are, what they mean, and their...2021-07-0539 min
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Making of US: Lived Religion in America with Reverend Senator Kim JacksonReverend Kim Jackson is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Atlanta, vicar at the Church of the Common Ground, which gives services for the homeless and, as of her electoral victory in November 2020, the first out LGBTQ person ever elected to the Georgia state Senate.
Her father served families as a social worker for more than 30 years. Kim's mom, a retired nurse and Professor of Nursing, served as a community nurse for economically disadvantaged families living with Sickle Cell disease.
After graduating from Furman University, Kim volunteered as an EMT and led her colleagues a...2021-06-2148 min
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat Has Been the Role of Religion in Capitalism?Capitalism – a massive influence in the American narrative; loved for driving innovations and raising the standard of living; plagued by the production of opulence and the economic inequality left in its wake. If we understand capitalism better, we understand America better. And, it turns out that religion has played and continues to play a significant role in economics, which is of great interest to this podcast series, “Religion in the American Experience.”
To better comprehend what is going on between religion and economics, we have with us today Professor Ben M. Friedman, the William Joseph Maier Professor of Pol...2021-06-081h 32
Religion in the American ExperienceHow Has Religion Influenced the Development of the U.S. Prison System?Americans have always thought hard about how to prevent crime and bring about justice, with the desire to create a flourishing society. The prison system is a critical part of the punishment and rehabilitation system in the United States, which has the largest prison population in the world and the highest per capita incarceration rate. Because of this and other reasons, there are often calls for "prison reform", as is the case today. As the country goes about this work, and because religious thought has always been part of the "crime and punishment" discussion in America, the Museum thought...2021-05-171h 12
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat Roles Has Religion Played in the American Environmental Movement?Climate change is one of the dominant news stories of the 21st century. Rising sea levels, more fearsome and catastrophic hurricanes, drought, raging wildfires – there is so much here that seems to touch existential fears of humankind. The podcast series “Religion in the American Experience” wishes to understand how religion, one of the greatest forces in the nation’s history and that thing that more than anything else addresses existential questions, figures into American environmentalism, which meets climate change and other challenges facing planet earth, head on.
Today to help us at least begin to uncover s...2021-05-041h 13
Religion in the American ExperienceWhy do we need the National Museum of American Religion?The "digital first" National Museum of American Religion addresses the critical gap in Americans' understanding of their own history - the story of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion, including the establishment of the revolutionary and indispensable idea of religious freedom as a governing principle, is perhaps the last great untold American story.
Our middle and high school history classes, as well as the beautiful museums of the nation's capital, do not fully reveal this tale, which captures the most influential force in our history, for good and ill...2021-04-2651 min
Religion in the American ExperienceHow Has Religion Seen and Treated Mental Illness Throughout American History?There seems to be some sort of mental health crisis, especially among younger people, in the United States – with many experts blaming social media. Teen suicide is in the news, depression seems to be an ever-growing menace. Then COVID hit last year, which has exacerbated the problem.
Mental health has a special place as seen through the lens of religion – the sicknesses one can’t see, the depression, the darkness, all things “of the soul” are things religion naturally addresses.
At the Museum, we believe it will be instructive for all of us to better understand...2021-04-201h 03
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Making of US: Lived Religion in America with David BlackListen to David Black, an attorney from Great Falls, Virginia, talk about religion's influence on him during his early life in the 1970s and 1980s and then during college and beyond, and how that makes him who he is today as an actor on the American stage.
Religion has profoundly influenced the sweeping American narrative, from the times of the Indigenous peoples to the present. The start-up digital-first National Museum of American Religion is the nationally recognized center for presenting, interpreting, and educating the public about what religion has done to Americans and what Americans have done t...2021-04-1257 min
Religion in the American ExperienceAmerica Still Believes: How Do Our Religious Views of End Times Affect American Political Behavior?We have all been part of the recent contentious U.S. presidential election, which finally ended in the transfer of power in January of this year.
At the Museum we observed that, as usual, a colossal amount of energy, money, time, emotion, concern, debate, argument, Tweets, posts, letter-writing, editorializing, and protest were invested in the election and its outcome. America was all in. That is, Americans have a deep and meaningful allegiance to perfecting, preserving and perpetuating the American experiment in self-government. Some religious beliefs even tie into the country’s founding & purpose.
At the same time, how...2021-04-051h 04
Religion in the American ExperienceMinority American Religions and Their FoodwaysFood sustains physical life, and as such is of critical importance to each of us. Some in the country have an abundance; hunger gnaws at others: in which group we find ourselves determines much of our current existence. What we eat also touches on other aspects of our lives besides “need”: celebrations, emotional comfort, health, family traditions, and connections or “breaking bread” with others. For the purposes of this podcast series, we are interested in uncovering and understanding the connections between religion and food in the United States – what are they, what do they mean, and how significant are they?
...2021-03-2951 min
Religion in the American ExperienceGod Says Come or God Says Stay Away: The History of Religion & Immigration in AmericaAmerica is a nation of immigrants, except for the Indigenous Peoples who were here before European colonization and the Africans brought here against their will and sold as enslaved people.
I just read this in the newspaper a few days ago “Administration short of shelter space amid ‘overwhelming’ [immigration] surge: record number of unaccompanied minors being held in adult cells far longer than legally allowed.” This morning’s paper had another front page piece on the surge at our southern border. Immigration reform is a major policy task of the current administration.
It is also...2021-03-221h 13
Religion in the American ExperienceAn Unusual Feast: Gumbo and the Complex Brew of Black ReligionFood sustains physical life, and as such is of critical importance to each of us. Some in the country have an abundance; hunger or food insecurity gnaws at others: in which group we find ourselves determines much of our current existence. What we eat also touches on other aspects of our lives besides “need”: celebrations, emotional comfort, health, family traditions, and connections or “breaking bread” with others. For the purposes of this podcast series, we are interested in uncovering and understanding the connections between religion and food in the United States – what are they, what do they mean, and how signif...2021-03-151h 04
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat is American Civil Religion & Why Was It On Display at President Biden's Inauguration?It has been noted that religion was prominent at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, as it often is at presidential inaugurations, in traditional ways: the oath of office was taken with the president’s hand on the family bible; the invocation was offered by a Catholic priest, the benediction by an African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor; musical numbers with threads of religion in them, including Amazing Grace, were performed; and Old Testament scripture and God were invoked by President Biden in his address.
Yet, religious tests for public office are banned by the Constitution, America may have no s...2021-03-081h 04
Religion in the American ExperienceWhy Does Religion Play So Prominently in the Saga of American Oil?From Edwin Drake’s 1859 discovery of oil in Pennsylvania to our 21st century entanglements in the Middle East, oil’s influence on America is vast. Religion’s role in this American oil story is outsized, and relatively unknown, and understanding it will help us more fully comprehend what religion has done to America, and what America has done to religion—which is understanding America itself.
We trust that at the conclusion of this podcast, listeners will have a deeper appreciation of religious freedom as a governing principle in the United States and will see to its protection as an in...2021-03-011h 27
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat is the Relationship Between Religion, Race and Sports in America?Sports is everywhere in America, as we all know: the Super Bowl, the Masters, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Olympics, the NBA, MLB, NFL, youth travel sports, and the list goes on and on. So if we understand sports, we may understand America. For us on the podcast series, the question is “does religion factor into sports”? It seems the answer is a loud “yes.”
In 1976 Sports Illustrated published a three-part essay by the famed sports commentator Frank DeFord titled “Religion in Sport” in which he analyzed the cozy relationship between Christianity and sports in the...2021-02-2254 min
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat Counsel are America's Places of Faith Offering in the Face of the Pandemic?Our history is clear: religions and their leaders have always inspired Americans during times of national tragedy and crisis with their words – their sermons that give their people hope.
Today the country faces a raging global pandemic, now going on twelve months, and its staggering effects: death without loved ones near, unemployment, hunger, shuttered public schools, uncertainty, isolation, fear, and closed temples, mosques, synagogues, and churches.
What counsel have religious leaders been offering to their people in the face of the pandemic? We thought “Religion in the American Experience” could both capture history in real-time, AND be...2021-02-151h 08
Religion in the American ExperienceHow Are Sports and Religion Interconnected in America?Sports is everywhere in America, as we all know: the Super Bowl, the Masters, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the U.S. Open, the Olympics, the NBA, MLB, NFL, youth travel leagues, high school sports, and the list goes on and on. So maybe if we understand sports better, we can understand America better. For the podcast series “Religion in the American Experience”, we want to learn about the relationship between religion and sports – which it turns out, is a deep and meaningful one.
This discussion will help us better understand what religion has done to Americ...2021-02-0855 min
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Women and Men of American Religion. Story 4: Elizabeth SetonThe Catholic Church is the United State's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest church or religious denomination. As of 2018, 23% of the United States population was Catholic. This is startling when you realize that at the beginning of the American experiment, religions and their adherents were almost completely Protestant and vehemently, sometimes violently, anti-Catholic.
The story of this transformation is critical to understanding the American religious landscape, which is another way of saying it is critical to understanding America. And, often the best way to understand a historical movement or event is to learn about...2021-02-0159 min
Religion in the American ExperienceHow Has Religion Shaped American Presidents?Welcome! The start-up National Museum of American Religion is dedicated to telling the profound story of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion, convinced that understanding this history will help us all see the revolutionary nature and indispensability of the idea of religious freedom as a governing principle in the United States.
Through the podcast series “Religion in the American Experience” scholars of American history share stories of religion exerting a vast influence, for good and ill, on the imperfect yet noble American experiment in self-government and its people. These are tale...2021-01-281h 01
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Women and Men of American Religion. Story 3: Fannie Lou HamerThe Civil Rights Movement is important to America and it’s important to Americans at this point in our national history. The story itself and the reception of the story is complex, nuanced, messy, profound, compelling, sad, joyful, hopeful and despairing. The Civil Rights Movement story is inextricably linked to Black slavery, what some call one of America’s two original sins. A good way to better understand any event or movement in history, and what it importantly projects onto the present, is to focus on individual actors on history’s stage. The name Fannie Lou Hamer will most likely...2021-01-251h 07
Religion in the American ExperienceJanuary 6, 2021 & the History of Religion and Politics in the United StatesWelcome! I’m your host Chris Stevenson, of The National Museum of American Religion, which is dedicated to telling the profound story of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion.
From what I saw on TV as it was happening and what I have read in the newspapers in the days afterwards, “religion” was very present at the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Jesus Saves” signs; prayer groups; a large wooden cross on the east plaza; and from an article in the paper the next morning “beneath streaming flags … people loudly exhorte...2021-01-181h 13
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Women and Men of American Religion. Story 2: Billy GrahamHello, this is Chris Stevenson, host of the podcast series “Religion in the American Experience.” Due to the events of last week at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. we will not publish, as we usually do, our normally scheduled episode on Monday January 18th. Instead, over the next two weeks we will convene a panel of American religious history scholars to discuss how the history of religion and politics can help us better understand and react to the storming of the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The recording of this discussion will be released Monday January 25th, on P...2021-01-111h 05
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Women and Men of American Religion. Story 1: Joseph SmithThe name Joseph Smith is known to many Americans, as is the faith he founded, once called “Mormonism”, but recently having requested to be identified by their original, historic name: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Joseph Smith is revered by members of that church as a “modern prophet of God”; and derided by others as a “charlatan” or worse. We thought that to understand American religion, which is really part of the quest to understand America itself, it would be helpful to know, as best we can in an hour, what the historical record has to say about this m...2021-01-0448 min
Religion in the American ExperienceWhat Role Did Religion Play in the Founding of the American Republic?The interest in religion and the founding of the United States is broad, deep, intense and continuous. And this interest is had by those who are themselves religious and those who are not.
Today we have with us two scholars who have expertise in this area, Mark David Hall and Daniel Dreisbach, to help us understand what we know about this from the historical record and what we don’t.
Daniel Dreisbach is professor in the Department of Justice, Law and Criminology at American University in Washington, D.C., with primary research interests in American const...2020-12-311h 02
Religion in the American ExperienceFor What Purposes Has Religious Freedom Been Invoked in US History?“Religious freedom” is everywhere in the news: it is invoked, it is debated, it is implicated, it is litigated, it is ridiculed, it is derided, it is loved, it is honored, it is before the Supreme Court & school boards, and it is found in religious sermons. The National Museum of American Religion offers to shed light on its history, in the hope that Americans, knowing some of its history, will understand this governing principle better, how revolutionary it is, how fragile it is, how dynamic it is, and how indispensable it is to America in fulfilling her purposes in the...2020-12-2853 min
Religion in the American ExperienceHow Have Baptists Influenced the American Narrative?When one thinks of what religion has done to America, at least for me and I think for many of our listeners, “Baptists” come to mind – they are influential, they are large in number, and their history is very much linked to American history. If one wants to understand America, one needs to understand America’s religious history – and if one needs to understand America’s religious history, one must understand Baptist history.
We have with us today Barry Hankins, Professor of History and Department Chair at Baylor University, who will walk us through some of the more importa...2020-12-2156 min
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World WarA few months ago I saw the title of a new book about missionaries who spied for the United States during World War II and knew we had to do a podcast episode about it. Religion’s influence on American foreign policy is an important and fascinating one, and this is a relatively unknown story that is just coming to light. It may have also caught my attention because I was a missionary in northern Germany in 1989 and 1990, and spent time in Berlin both before and after the Berlin Wall fell.
We are honored to have Dr. Su...2020-12-1451 min
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Political Mobilization of Black ChurchesBlacks in America are seared into the national consciousness. Slavery is considered one of America’s two “original sins.” Jim Crow, lynching, racism, inequality, mass incarceration, police brutality, specifically the death of George Floyd earlier this year, white supremacy – all are part of our understanding of the flawed yet noble and grand American tapestry. To many Americans, I think, the “Black church” holds some sort of special place in our thinking of Blacks and the varied roles they have played in the fragile American experiment in self-government
Professor Eric McDaniel is here with us today to discuss hi...2020-12-0749 min
Religion in the American ExperienceHas Religion Influenced American Diplomacy and War?United States foreign policy is of great interest to all Americans because of the important thread in the American narrative that says we should use our blessings of freedom and wealth to benefit the world: foreign policy matters.
The burning question for us is, how did religion influence American foreign policy and war?
To help us answer this question we will talk with Andrew Preston, Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge and author of Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy. Mr. Preston specializes in the...2020-11-3049 min
Religion in the American ExperienceAre Race and Religion Intertwined in American History?As we all observe and participate in the national reckoning with racism after the death of George Floyd on May 25th of this year, a fuller and more accurate understanding of how race and religion have been intertwined in United States history will be of use.
Paul Harvey is the Distinguished Professor of History and Presidential Teaching Scholar at University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, where he researches, writes and teaches in the field of American history from the 16th century to the present. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkley in 1992. Dr. Harvey is th...2020-11-2354 min
Religion in the American ExperienceReligion and the Shaping of Native Cultures in Early AmericaWhen European Christians arrived in this vast territory we now call the Americas over 400 years ago, they found indigenous people here with their own meaningful and personal and sacred religious beliefs. The contact and conflict between Europeans and Natives sparked a long-term series of religious encounters that intertwined with other settler colonial processes, such as commerce, government, enslavement, warfare and evangelization. The taking of Native Americans’ land and their lives have been called one of America’s two “original sins.”
The legacies of colonialism swirl all about us still, including broken treaties, reservations, alcoholism, poverty, despair, misunderstandings, and ques...2020-11-1652 min
Religion in the American ExperienceThe Civil War as a Theological CrisisOnce again America is reckoning with racism, this time in the wake of George Floyd’s death. 2020 is point near to us on the long historical timeline of both black slavery AND racism in the United States, which includes the secession of southern States in 1860 and the calamitous Civil War which followed, killing more than 600,000 Americans, and raining down disaster and ruin on the young nation’s homes and communities.
We are very grateful to have Professor Mark Noll with us today to plumb the depths of his book The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, hoping that...2020-11-0954 minReligion in the American ExperienceEvangelical Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy, 1970s-1990sEvangelicals have been active and influential in all parts of the American experience. For this interview, the term “Evangelical” is defined as: believers who (1) have had a born-again experience resulting in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, (2) accept the full authority of the Bible in matters of faith and conduct of life, and (3) are committed to spreading the gospel by bearing public witness to their faith.
Their impact on U.S. foreign policy is large, fascinating and full of experiences with direct bearing on our politics today. This is especially true as Americans look abroad to the Midd...2020-11-0254 minReligion in the American ExperienceReligion and the Idea of Religious Freedom in the 1800 Election, America's First Presidential CampaignReligion and the concept of religious freedom as a governing principal in the United States, has always played a role in our politics, and that includes in presidential elections. As we are all aware, 2020 has been no different. History can help us navigate today’s contentious zone of Church and State, and the contest between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1800 may be particularly beneficial.
Ed Larson, author of A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign, holds the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and is University Professor of History at Pepp...2020-10-2643 min
Religion in the American ExperienceTornado God: American Religion and Violent Weather2020 has brought America the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest wildfire season in California history, according to the California officials, and so many hurricanes that we have had to start using Greek letters to identify them. These things have traumatized Americans and America itself.
When Americans have experienced trauma, they have often reached out to religion hoping for some emotional comfort, physical assistance and answers to help them understand the sometimes chaotic and destructive world that surrounds them.
Peter Thuesen just published what is, for these reasons, a very timely book called Tornado God: American Religion and V...2020-10-1952 min
Spirit Matters TalkChristopher StevensonChristopher Stevenson has a bachelor’s degree in applied physics and masters degrees in teaching physics and agricultural engineering. He taught high school math and physics and was a systems engineer and scientist for the Navy and the Department of Homeland Security. Since 2004, he has helped build an R&D and Data Science consulting company into an industry leader with more than seventy employees and $20M in annual sales. His overriding interest is buttressing civil society, founding the non-profit Community Levee Association, which championed the indispensability of virtue to the American experiment in self-government, and writing Letters from an American Hu...2020-06-1432 min