TheSocialEdge.com

by Gerry McCarthy

Mark Klempner is a folklorist and oral historian. Ten years ago he sought out some of the last surviving Dutch rescuers of Jewish children to better understand how and why they made their courageous choices. The result of this research is his new book The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage. It was recently published by the Pilgrim Press and is distributed in Canada by Northstone Publishing.

     Klempner grew up in New York. He attended Cornell University and won a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. He received a Masters degree in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

     For over 20 years, Klempner worked as a professional musician. As a studio guitarist in Los Angeles he worked with many recording artists, including Luther Vandross, Holly Near, and pianist David Benoit.

     Klempner’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including the National Catholic Reporter and Tikkun. He has also been a featured commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. I reached him in Costa Rica to speak about his new book.

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Fr. Diarmuid O’Murchu is a social psychologist and member of the Sacred Heart Missionary Congregation. He lives in London, England.

     O’Murchu has written numerous books, including: Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics, Reclaiming Spirituality: A New Spiritual Framework for Today’s World, Poverty, Celibacy, and Obedience: A Radical Option for Life, and Evolutionary Faith: Rediscovering God in Our Great Story.

     A revised edition of Quantum Theology was published last year by Crossroad. I reached Fr. O’Murchu in Peru to speak about the book and other issues.

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Theodore Zeldin is a fellow and former dean of St. Antony’s College, Oxford. The Magazine Litteraire in France has called him "one of the hundred most important thinkers in the world." He is best known in North America for his book An Intimate History of Humanity. His most recent book is entitled Conversation: How Talk Can Change The World. The book began as a series of talks first broadcast on the BBC. I reached Zeldin by telephone in Oxford.
...

by Maura Hanrahan

The Al-Noor Mosque sits on the eastern edge of St.John’s

Dr. Mahmoud Haddara is the imam of Masjid Al-Noor: The Mosque of Light in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a port city of about 250,000 people. An engineering professor, Haddara explains that as imam, he is the community’s religious co-ordinator and not a priest. Although he has a high profile in this province and is active nationally, Haddara is unassuming and modest. With his quietly friendly manner, he puts visitors to the mosque at ease.

     The Al-Noor Mosque was built in 1990, eight years after the congregation was founded (although it is believed the city’s first Muslim arrived in the early 1960s). More than100 Muslim families live in St. John’s, and there are 160 students at Memorial University of Newfoundland who are active in the Muslim community.

Maura Hanrahan: You grew up in Egypt, Dr. Haddara. Maybe you can tell me about that –the setting, the culture. I’m especially interested in the role Islam played in your early life, in your childhood.

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Michael Toms is the co-founder, executive producer and principal host of New Dimensions Radio –which is heard on 350 stations in the United States. He has spent 30 years covering social change and global transformation issues.
...

by Gerry McCarthy

Zygmunt Bauman is considered one of the most influential and renowned sociologists in the world today. His numerous books include: Modernity and the Holocaust, In Search of Politics, Globalization: The Human Consequences, The Individualized Society, Modernity and Ambivalence, Liquid Modernity, and Society Under Siege....

by Gerry McCarthy

David Gibson is an award-winning religion writer. He writes about Catholicism for various newspapers and magazines. In the late 1980s, he worked in Rome and traveled with Pope John Paul II for Vatican Radio....

by Gerry McCarthy

Barbara Fiand is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur. She is the author of seven books, including: Releasement, Living the Vision, Where Two or Three Are Gathered, and Embraced by Compassion.
...

by Gerry McCarthy

Francis Rothluebber is co-director of Colombiere, which is a center for transforming consciousness in Idyllwild, California. She is the author of "Lost Images of God" (a tape series of guided meditations on feminine values), Nobody Owns Me, and The Great Secret....

by Gerry McCarthy

Bill McKibben is the author of numerous books, including the national bestseller The End of Nature, which was first published in 1989. He is also a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College.

     McKibben’s many articles have appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, and The New York Review of Books.

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Robert Blair Kaiser spent ten years in the Society of Jesus before leaving to pursue a career in journalism. He has been a religious reporter for The New York Times, Time, and CBS.

     Currently, Kaiser is editor of JustGoodCompany.com, a journal of religion and culture. He’s also a contributing editor in Rome for Newsweek.

     Kaiser has published 10 books including: Clerical Error, The Politics of Sex and Religion, and Pope, Council, and World. His new book A Church in Search of Itself: Benedict XVI and the Battle for the Future of the Church was recently published by Knopf. I reached Kaiser in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gerry McCarthy: In A Church in Search of Itself you write about the silencing of liberation theologian and priest Leonardo Boff. You explain that: "Boff argued that a ‘clerical aristocracy’ had expropriated from the people of God the means of religious production, and hence had misappropriated their right to make their own decisions. This sounded like Marxist jargon, but all Boff meant was the Church didn’t want people to grow up." Another theologian that was singled out by the Church was Charles Curran. In 1986, he was deemed not "suitable" or "eligible" to teach Catholic theology by the Vatican, but he wasn’t saying anything different than Richard McBrien of Notre Dame. He was made an example of by Rome wasn’t he?

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Madeleine Bunting is a columnist for the Guardian newspaper in London, England. She joined the paper in 1989 as a reporter. She has covered religious affairs, Europe, and development issues. She studied at Cambridge before winning a postgraduate scholarship at Harvard. She lives in London with her three children.

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Marcus Borg is the author of the best-selling book The Heart of Christianity. Currently he is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University. He was an active member of the Jesus Seminar when it focused on the historical Jesus. Some of his other books include: Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, The God We Never Knew, and The Last Week co-authored with John Dominic Crossan.

     Borg’s new book Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary was just published by HarperSanFrancisco. I reached him in Portland, Oregon.

Gerry McCarthy: In Jesus you write: "the Christian life is about personal transformation into the likeness of Christ (from one degree to another, as Paul put it); and it is about participation in God’s passion for the kingdom of God. The personal and political are brought together in ‘the way of the cross,’ –an image of personal transformation and confrontation with the domination systems of this world." What are the domination systems you think Christians must first confront today?

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Richard Layard is a leading economist who believes that the happiness of society does not necessarily equate to its income. Currently he is Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics.

     Layard is also founder of the Centre for Economic Performance at The London School of Economics. Since 2000 he has been a member of the House of Lords.

     In 2005, Layard’s book Happiness: Lessons From a New Science was published in hardcover by Penguin. Last year it was released in softcover by the same publisher. The book continues to remain relevant, and is cited by more economists and policymakers.

     The following interview with Layard appeared in the December 2005 Issue of The Social Edge. I reached him by telephone in London, England.

...

by Gerry McCarthy

Donald Messer is a United Methodist minister and scholar. He is past president of Iliff School of Theology, where he is currently the Henry White Warren Professor of Practical Theology. He is also Director of the Center for Global Pastoral Ministries at Iliff....

by Gerry McCarthy

Howard Zinn is a renowned historian and author of A People’s History of The United States. He taught at Spelman College, where he was novelist Alice Walker’s mentor. He was also a professor at Boston University for many years.
...