Program Particulars
*Times indicated refer to web version of audio

(01:42–02:27) Music Element
"The Multiples of One"
from Awakening,
performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:05) Quote from The Irresistible Revolution
The passage read by Krista comes from Claiborne's book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. An extended version from the section titled "Facing Statistics That Have Faces" follows:

There were plenty of violent revolutions during the time of Jesus, and Jesus had several Zealots in his inner circle. But he was teaching them another way of life. I am reminded of how Gandhi said that if he had to choose between a violent person and a coward, he would choose the violent person. For a violent person can be taught to love, but ver little can be done with a coward. We are students of a gentle revolution, and that is what the world needs more of, whether you're conservative or liberal. It was Argentinian doctor and pop-revolution icon Che Guevara who said, as he was leaving Cuba for Africa, "Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love."

Just as "believers" are a dime a dozen in the church, so are "activists" in social justice circles nowadays. But lovers are hard to come by. And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of — lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about. We are trying to raise up an army not simply of street activists but of lovers — a community of people who have fallen desperately in love with God and with suffering people, and who allow those relationships to disturb and transform them.

(02:27–03:04) Music Element
"Chant Down the Walls"
from Another World Is Possible! Volume I: War,
performed by Jes Karper

(02:47)The Bible Belt
The Bible Belt is a region in the southeastern quadrant of the United States that has no defined boundaries. It loosely stretches from Texas to the norther part of Florida, up the eastern Atlantic coast to Virginia, and west through Missouri and north into Iowa. Evangelical Christianity and Protestant fundamentalism heavily influence, some may say dominate, the area that leans socially conservative with a strict set of morals and a belief in the inerrant and literal truth of the Bible.

Today, the phrase is often used as shorthand, sometimes derisively to connote a backwardness and at others politically to describe a voting bloc of conservative voters. Jounalist H.L. Mencken coined the idiom in the early 1920s and incorporated it into several of his reports while covering the famous Scopes Trial of 1925 in Tennessee:

The cops have come up from Chattanooga to help save Dayton from the devil. Darrow, Malone and Hays, of course, are immune to constabulary process, despite their obscene attack upon prayer. But all other atheists and anarchists now have public notice they must shut up forthwith and stay shut so long as they pollute this bright, shining, buckle of the Bible belt with their presence. Only one avowed infidel has ventured to make a public address. The Chattanooga police nabbed him instantly, and he is now under surveillance in a hotel. Let him but drop one of his impious tracts from his window and he will be transferred to the town hoose-gow.

The Constitution of Tennessee, as everyone knows, puts free speech among the most sacred rights of the citizen. More, I am informed by eminent Chattanooga counsel, that there is no State law denying it -- that is, for persons not pedagogues. But the cops of Chattanooga, like their brethren elsewhere, do not let constitutions stand in the way of their exercise of their lawful duty. The captain in charge of the squad now on watch told me frankly yesterday that he was not going to let any infidels discharge their damnable nonsense upon the town. I asked him what charge he would lay against them if they flouted him. He said he would jail them for disturbing the peace. …

Such is criminal law in Rhea county as interpreted by the uniformed and freely sweating agents. As I have said, there are legal authorities in Chattanooga who dissent sharply, and even argue that the cops are a set of numbskulls and ought to be locked up as public nuisances. But one need not live a long, incandescent week in the Bible belt to know that jurisprudence becomes a new science as one crosses the border. Here the ordinary statutes are reinforced by Holy Writ, and whenever there is a conflict Holy Writ takes precedence. …

Rhea county is very hospitable and, judged by Bible belt standards, very tolerant. The Dayton Babbitts gave a banquet to Darrow, despite the danger from lightning, meteors and earthquakes. Even Malone is treated politely, though the very horned cattle in the fields know that he is a Catholic and in constant communication with the Pope. But liberty is one thing and license is quite another. Within the bounds of Genesis the utmost play of opinion is permitted and even encouraged. An evangelist with a new scheme for getting into Heaven can get a crowd in two minutes. But once a speaker admits a doubt, however cautiously, he is handed over to the secular arm.

(03:37) Organized Bush-Quayle Campaign
In The Irresistible Revolution,, Claiborne briefly writes about working on the Republican presidential campaign at a time in his life when he was, as he writes, a "Jesus freak":

Then a couple of new kids transferred to our high school, and I heard a few rumors about them. They were from a "charismatic," nondenominational congregation that was much more "radical" than the United Methodists; they spoke in tongues and danced in the aisles. All right, I must admit, something in me was secretly fascinated. I wanted to see passion. But of course, I dared not admit my interest and joined my other friends making weird looks and cult jokes. … But like good evangelicals, they invited me with open arms to worship with them, and I went. I quickly grew to admire their reckless, unguarded worship. And I met people who lived like they believed in heaven and hell, who cried and worshiped like they were actually encountering God.

Before long, I ended up joining that congregation. I became a Jesus freak. I tried to convert everybody, from heathens to pastors. I organized the See You at the Pole meetings at our school, where hundreds of us met at the flagpole to pray, committed to bringing prayer back into the public schools. I was passionately pro-life and anti-gay, and I tore apart liberals. I helped organize the local Bush-Quayle campaign, running around slapping bumper stickers on cars whether the owners wanted them or not. Nobody could stop us Jesus freaks. I went to the malls to do goofy skits and hand out religious tracts to try to save innocent shoppers from the fires of hell. To this day, I have a certain respect for those religious fanatics who stand on street corners. At least they have a sense of urgency and passion and live as if what they are saying is true.

It was awesome being a Jesus freak, and I did it for almost a year, but the fiery newness of it died out, and when they actually let us pray in school, it sort of lost its glamor. I saw the messiness of church politics and egotism. I was driven mostly by ideology and theology, which isn't very sustainable, even if they'r true. I wondered if Jesus had anything to say about this world, and I began to question how much he cared whether I listened to Metallica. Sometimes when we evangelized, I felt like I was selling Jesus like a used-car salesman, like people's salvation depended on how well I articulated things.

(04:15) Kensington Welfare Rights Union
Kensington was a thriving blue-collar neighborhood in north Philadelphia. Now it is one of the poorest districts in Pennsylvania. In 1995, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) relocated 63 families living in a temporary "tent city" to St. Edward's Catholic Church, a building closed down by the archdiocese several years earlier. In an unheard cut, Claiborne tells in greater detail how he became involved (mp3, 5:58) in KWRU's stand-off with city officials and its outcome.

Photojournalist Jonathan Olshefski has created a marvelous interactive project called Whispers in the Storm. Through vivid images and first-person audio, he captures the "tales of the unseen and the unheard in Philadelphia."

(07:52–08:46) Music Element
"What Can I Say?"
from 25:47,
performed by John Mallinen

(08:55) Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa (1910–1997), born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was a Macedonian nun who is known for her compassionate care for the indigent and dying in Calcutta, India. From the age of 12, she wanted to dedicate her life to God. She trained with the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin before being sent to Calcutta, India to teach in a convent.

Struck by the poverty she saw, she requested permission to leave the convent to work with people struggling in Calcutta's slums. She trained as a nurse, and in 1950 established her own order, The Missionaries of Charity, with the explicit aim to care for "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."

Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 1979 and died in Calcutta at the age of 87. At the time of her death, the order had established itself in 130 countries treating nearly four million sick people every year.

(10:08) God Takes Care of the Lillies and the Sparrows
Claiborne's account of Mother Teresa telling him that "God takes care of the lillies and the sparrows" is rooted in the New Testament gospel of Matthew. In chapter 6, verses 25 through 34, Jesus said:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, "What will we eat?' or "What will we drink?' or "What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

(10:29) Worked in a Leper Colony
Claiborne worked at the Gandhiji Prim Nivas leper colony in Calcutta, which he translates as "Gandhi's New Life." In both the Old and the New Testaments, leprosy was thought to be a punishment sent by God for sin. The sufferer was said to be in a state of tsara'ath — a Hebrew word later translated to lepros — Latin for defilement. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that the first known mention of the disease dates to a manuscript from 600 BCE. Leprosy is not highly infectious and can be cured with multi-drug therapy. If treated early, disfigurement can be prevented. Despite being treatable, leprosy is still a significant health problem in countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America — and still exists in Europe. India reports more than 150,000 new cases of leprosy each year.

(12:37) The New Monastics
"New Monasticism" is the term used for a current religious movement of groups of Christians living within and serving communities of need. According to the site for the Rutba House, a New Monastic community in Durham, North Carolina, the term was coined by Jonathan Wilson, in his book, Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World. Wilson drew heavily on writings of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who wrote in After Virtue:

What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us. And if the tradition of the virtues was able to survive the horrors of the last dark ages, we are not entirely without grounds for hope. This time however the barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers; they have already been governing us for quite some time.

The Rutba House defines new monasticism as having 12 distinguishing characteristics, including:

1. Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.
2. Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3. Hospitality to the stranger
4. Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
5. Humble submission to Christ's body, the church.
6. Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate.
7. Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
8. Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children.
9. Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
10. Care for the plot of God's earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
11. Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
12. Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.

(14:35) Citation of Martin Luther King
Claiborne quotes from Martin Luther King's speech "A Time to Break Silence" which was delivered at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967 at a gathering of Clergy and Laity Concerned:

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

(17:00) New Jerusalem
New Jerusalem is a non-denominational, residential addiction recovery program located in North Philadelphia. The program views addiction as a part of "a vast network of social injustices that are particularly profound in the urban desert of North Philadelphia." As a result, they are also involved with issues of social justice.

(17:00–18:11) Music Element
"Chant Down the Walls"
from Another World Is Possible! Volume I: War,
performed by Jes Karper

(19:30) Quote of Jesus
Claiborne is paraphrasing a passage from the gospel of Luke 19, verses 36-40:

As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

(20:40) Flags in Churches and Patriotism in American Christianity
Krista cites a passage from The Irresistible Revolution:

This burst of nationalism reveals the deep longing we all have for community, a natural thirst for intimacy that liberals and progressive Christians would have done much better to acknowledge. September 11th shattered the self-sufficient, autonomous individual, and we saw a country of broken fragile people who longed for community — for people to cry with, be angry with, to suffer with. People did not want to be alone in their sorrow, rage, and fear.

But what happened after September 11th broke my heart. Conservative Christians rallied around the drums of war. Liberal Christians took to the streets. The cross was smothered by the flag and trampled under the feel of angry protesters. The church community was lost, so the many hungry seekers found community in the civic religion of American patriotism. People were hurting and crying out for healing, for salvation in the best sense of the word, as in the salve with which you dress a wound. A people longing for a savior placed their faith in the fragile hands of human logic and military strength, which have always let us down. They have always fallen short of the glory of God.

(23:05) Amish Response to School Shooting
On October 2, 2006, Charles Roberts shot and killed five young girls in a one-room school in the Amish community of Paradise, Pennsylvania. Several other girls were wounded. Roberts, who was not Amish, later killed himself. Rather than seeking retribution and revenge, the Amish community's instinct was to "be with the murderer's family."

In "What Kind of People Are These?," Sister Joan Chittister echoes Claiborne's admiration of the Amish reaction: "…it was not the violence suffered by the Amish community last week that surprised people. Our newspapers are full of brutal and barbarian violence day after day after day — both national and personal. No, what really stunned the country about the attack on the small Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania was that the Amish community itself simply refused to hate what had hurt them."

(23:39–27:27) Music Element
"New Law"
from Mockingbird,
performed by Derek Webb

(28:18) Claiborne in Iraq
Claiborne went to Iraq in March 2003 with Voices in the Wilderness Iraq Peace Team, a group formed in 1996 "to nonviolently challenge the economic warfare being waged by the U.S. against the people of Iraq." Claiborne documented his experiences while traveling in Iraq through a series of twelve journals:

I am going to Iraq as a missionary. In an age of omnipresent war, it is my hope that Christian Peacemaking becomes the new face of global missions. May we stand by those who face the impending wrath of Empire and whisper: "God loves you, I love you, and if my country bombs your country, I will be right here with you." Otherwise, our gospel has little integrity. As on of the saints said, "If they come for the innocent and do not pass over our bodies , then cursed be our religion." May our lives interrupt terrorism and war, in small ways, in large ways, in moments of crisis and in everyday rhythms. These are extreme times. And I go to Iraq as an extremist for Love.

(28:33) Myth of Redemptive Violence
Claiborne says that U.S. culture and religion have adopted what he calls a "myth of redemptive violence" — a powerful but misleading idea that violence can be ended and redeemed with more violence. In December 2006, Speaking of Faith produced "No More Taking Sides" — a conversation with two individuals on each side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who have lost loved ones, and are working to stop the violence through understanding one another. Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace.

(28:55) Audio Clip from Another World Is Possible! Volume III: War
The audio clip from the program is excerpted from "Extremist for Love," a track from the DVD Another World is Possible! Volume I: War.

(30:12) Good Mennonites
Mennonites belong to the Protestant community and are part of a larger Christian expression of Anabaptism. Meaning "baptized again," the Anabaptists were a radical reform movement during the Reformation of the 1500s. Although the Mennonite Church traces its origins to the Swiss Brethren, they take their name from a Dutch priest, Menno Simons (1496–1561), who took a moderate approach to Anabaptist teachings and doctrine.

Mennonites place emphasis on the Scriptures as the ultimate authority of faith. Baptism centers on a public confession of faith, which means a conscious decision to commit one's life to God and Jesus Christ. The Mennonite Church refers to itself as a "missional church" called by God to bear witness to one's neighbors across the street and around the world. They are deeply involved in social and educational issues, economic matters, and the importance of community. The ethic of love and nonresistance — a teaching based on the New Testament that rejects both war and the use of force to maintain order — is central to most Mennonites.

(31:20) "Turn the Other Cheek"
Claiborne cites the Sermon on the Mount as a basis for countering the violence in their neighborhood of Kensington. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus advises his followers to "turn the other cheek":

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right check, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

(38:04–38:49) Music Element
"Home for Refugees"
from Another World Is Possible! Volume I: War,
performed by Psalters

(39:00) Quote of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Speaking of Faith program, "Ethics and the Will of God: The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer," explores this 20th-century German theologian whose life spanned the rise and fall of Hitler's Germany. He resisted Nazi ideology, while much of the German church succumbed, during the apex of its power and influence. During the late 1930s Hans von Dohnanyi, Bonhoeffer's brother-in-law, introduced him to a group seeking to overthrow Hitler. On April 5, 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Tegel, a military prison, until October 8, 1944. Despite the unsanitary conditions and severe conditions, he befriended the Nazi guards, who helped preserve his papers and correspondence and allowed him to minister to other prisoners.

At first the Gestapo thought that Bonhoeffer and von Dohnanyi were embezzling money for personal goals. Eventually the facts surfaced, and Bonhoeffer faced a litany of charges, including conspiring to aid and rescue Jews. Several months after the failed assassination attempt of Hitler on July 20, 1944, the Gestapo realized Bonhoeffer's role and transferred him several times: to a Berlin prison, to Buchenwald concentration camp, to Schönberg, and finally to the concentration camp at Flossenbürg. He was hanged on April 9, 1945.

Claiborne is most likely paraphrasing a translated passage from Bonhoeffer's Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community: "He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter…"

(45:13–46:20) Music Element
"The Sun & The Moon"
from Brother, Sister,
performed by mewithoutYou

(46:45) Spittin' Image
One theory on the origin of "spitting image" suggests that the phrase came about as "spirit and image" — in other words, conveying the idea of a likeness that goes beyond outward appearance. When a person who resembled a deceased person was sighted, that person was said to possess the "spirit and image" of the deceased. Over the years, "spirit" turned into "spit" and eventually became "spitting image."

(48:22) Falwell and Liberty University
Rev. Jerry Falwell was a fundamentalist Christian minister and televangelist, who is best known for founding the Moral Majority, a political action group that lobbied for prayer and the teaching of creationism in public schools, opposed the Equal Rights Amendment, homosexual rights, and abortion. The Moral Majority was dissolved in 1989. Falwell served as chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia until his death in 2007.

(49:36–52:29) Music Element
"Try On Life"
from Another World Is Possible! Volume III: Creation,
performed by Jes Karper