Religion News Godcast

Kim Lawton of Religion & Ethics Newsweekly joins us from Tampa to discuss faith and politics at the Republican National Convention.

Azariah Southworth discusses why he outed Jonathan Merritt, as well as his own past and his faith. Southworth wrote about Merritt on his blog, azariahspeaks.blogspot.com, in late July. For more background, you can read RNS coverage and Merritt's own response: * http://www.religionnews.com/culture/social-issues/evangelical-author-jonathan-merritt-reveals-he-had-homosexual-encounter * http://www.edstetzer.com/2012/07/jonathan-merritt-shares-his-st.html * Azariah's original post: http://azariahspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/07/jonathan-merritt-come-out-become-clean.html

Daniel Burke is joined by the Rev. Vito Aiuto, senior pastor at Resurrection Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn. Aiuto and his wife Monique make up the gospel-folk-indie-pop band The Welcome Wagon. We talk about The Welcome Wagon's new album, "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices," how Aiuto and his wife started playing music, and how Aiuto's work as a pastor influences the band's songs. Listen for samples of the new tracks "Remedy," "Lo He Comes With Clouds Descending," "My Best Days, Parts 1 & 2," and "Would You Come And See Me In New York." To learn more about the band and hear more music: * http://welcometothewelcomewagon.com/ * http://thewelcomewagon.bandcamp.com/album/precious-remedies-against-satans-devices * http://www.asthmatickitty.com/precious-remedies

Daniel Burke is joined by David Gibson, our national correspondent, and Omar Sacirbey, who covers Islam and Muslim Americans. We discuss the reaction among religious groups to the shooting in Aurora, Colo.; how Muslim athletes are preparing for the Olympics, which occur during Ramadan this year; and the upcoming Catholic Comedy Slam between Stephen Colbert and Cardinal Timothy Dolan. To learn more about this week's topics, you can start with these links: * "Is gun control a religious issue?": http://www.religionnews.com/culture/social-issues/is-gun-control-a-religious-issue * "Ramadan fast poses challenge for Muslim Olympians": http://www.religionnews.com/culture/sports/ramadan-fast-poses-challenge-for-muslim-olympians * "Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Stephen Colbert to star in Catholic comedy slam": http://www.religionnews.com/culture/arts-and-media/cardinal-timothy-dolan-and-stephen-colbert-to-star-in-catholic-comedy-slam

Dan Burke is joined this week by Tracy Simmons, Amanda Greene, David Yonke and Kellie Kotraba, the editors of four of RNS's community-based Faith and Values websites. We battled through some audio quality issues to talk about some of the stories that the FAV sites covered recently. The editors also discussed their experiences in starting and building their sites, including recruiting contributors, introducing themselves to the existing faith community and partnering with other local media. Tracy Simmons's FAV site, based in Spokane, Wash., is available at www.spokanefavs.com or on Twitter @spokanefavs. Amanda Greene is based in Wilmington, N.C.; check out www.wilmingtonfavs.com or @wilmfavs. ColumbiaFAVS will launch later this month at www.columbiafavs.com. Get in touch with Kellie Kotraba, the editor, at @columbiafavs on Twitter. David Yonke will open ToledoFAVS soon afterwards. For now, he's at @toledofavs. The FAV sites were created as part of a $3.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.

As the United States marks Independence Day, we talk with Stephen Prothero, author of the new book "The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation," about important texts in American history, such as George Washington's farewell address and Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." We discuss the lasting influence of these works and their relevance to our political life today.

Leah Libresco of the Unequally Yoked blog joins Kevin Eckstrom and Kimberly Winston to talk about her recent conversion from atheism to Catholicism. You can read Leah's blog at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unequallyyoked/. She's on Twitter @leahlibresco. Her original post about converting: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unequallyyoked/2012/06/this-is-my-last-post-for-the-patheos-atheist-portal.html Her CNN interview: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/22/prominent-atheist-blogger-converts-to-catholicism/ And some reactions: * http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2012/06/25/leah-libresco-medias-favorite-puzzle/ * http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/06/18/a-fellow-atheist-blogger-has-converted-to-catholicism/ * http://freethoughtblogs.com/wwjtd/2012/06/24/so-confused-about-leah-libresco/

Jana Riess joins us to discuss what she's learned at some recent Mormon conferences around North America. Plus: Should the Catholic bishops hire a spokesperson?

Kevin Eckstrom, Dan Burke and David Gibson discuss "political" Catholic bishops; what it means to be Mormon and gay; and what to expect after the health care ruling.

Our first episode of the Religion News Godcast will be ready this Friday, June 15. Be sure to check it out for our weekly summary of the news and a listen to what we're planning to cover at RNS.