Robert Funk is the founder of the Jesus Seminar and author of "Honest to Jesus." He tells Jim Fleming that Christianity should dump some of its myths and go back to the historical record to gain a better understanding of Jesus Christ and his message. Also, Peter Gomes is minister of Harvard University's Memorial Church and the author of "The Good Book." No stranger to controversy, Gomes is an African American Republican who prayed at the Reagan and Bush inaugurals. He's also gay, and infuriated by people who cite scripture to attack homosexuality. Gomes tells Steve Paulson that the Bible is not a collection of moral prescriptions.SEGMENT 2:
Kathleen Norris is a poet and married woman who fell in love with the life of the Benedictines. She became an oblate of the order and tells Anne Strainchamps how it changed her life and her poetry. Also, many monasteries and spiritual centers have guest programs. Some of the best are collected in "Sanctuaries: A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys and Retreats," by Jack Kelly and Marcia Kelly. Jack Kelly tells Judith Strasser why such visits can be wonderful experiences.SEGMENT 3:
George Fowler spent twenty years as a Trappist monk before he became disillusioned, eventually leaving the order and marrying a former nun. He tells his story to Steve Paulson and in a book called "Dance of a Fallen Monk: The Twists and Turns of a Spiritual Life."For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number 12-15-A.
Andrew Sullivan, a senior editor at the New Republic and author of "Virtually Normal: An Argument about Homosexuality," is himself gay and HIV positive. He tells Steve Paulson that protease inhibitors are a dramatically effective treatment for HIV infection and explores what this means for AIDS patients and the gay community.SEGMENT 2:
Gay men aren't the only ones with AIDS. Paul Farmer, an attending physician at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, director of the Institute for Health and Social Justice, and editor of "Women, Poverty and AIDS: Sex, Drugs, and Structural Violence" tells Jim Fleming that for his patients in Haiti, the major risk factor in acquiring AIDS is being married. Farmer makes the point that women who depend on men for their basic economic survival are not in a position to demand that their partners (including their husbands) practice safe sex.SEGMENT 3:
Charles Rosenberg teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and is the co-editor (with Janet Golden) of "Framing Disease: Illness, Society, and History." He tells Judith Strasser that physicians need to consider social and cultural customs as well as biological phenomena in diagnosing and treating disease. Also, Judith Walzer Leavitt teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is the author of "Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health." Leavitt tells Judith Strasser about Mary Mallon whose status as a healthy carrier of the typhoid bacillus created a public health dilemma we still haven't solved.For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number 12-15-B.
David Lykken teaches psychology at the University of Minnesota. He tells Judith Strasser about studies involving thousands of twins which indicate that our capacity for happiness has a genetic origin and that within six months of an event provoking great happiness or unhapiness, people revert to their "normal" state of happiness. Also, Martin Seligman teaches psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and is the author of "The Optimistic Child." He tells Steve Paulson that often depression in children can be prevented and gives some pointers on what parents should do.SEGMENT 2:
Thomas Moore is a former professor of religion and psychology and the author of "The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life." He tells Steve Paulson that people need to slow down and become enchanted by the world.SEGMENT 3:
Patricia Meyer Spacks chairs the English Department at the University of Virginia and is the author of "Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind." She tells Jim Fleming that boredom is a fairly recent invention and that we tend to think there's something lacking in the imaginative development of people who are easily bored.For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number 12-15-C.
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