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LOSING RELIGION

Program 10-08-22-B

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When it comes to religious practice, we don't always end up where we started. For some people, the journey away from their childhood religion is filled with serious, personal strife. For others, spiritual loss can be less dramatic or even – dramatically funny. I'm Jim Fleming. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll talk with best-selling author Rhoda Janzen about growing up Mennonite; and Philip Pullman on being an atheist – and religious – all at the same time.

SEGMENT 1:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born woman who later settled in the Netherlands and was elected to the Dutch Parliament. Her latest book is "Nomad: From Islam to America, A Personal Journey through the Clash of Civilizations" and argues that fundamentalist Islam poses a serious threat to the West. Hirsi Ali tells Anne Strainchamps that her fierce criticism of religion grows out of her own shattering personal experience.

SEGMENT 2:

Philip Pullman is one of England's most famous atheists. Author of the best-selling fantasy novels "The Amber Spyglass" and "The Golden Compass," Pullman's latest novel tackles the story of Jesus. Pullman talks with Steve Paulson about "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ" and the role supernatural miracles play in his life. Also, sociologist Phil Zuckerman talks with Jim Fleming about his book "Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment." Zuckerman spent a year in Scandinavia and found that most Danes and Swedes he spoke with are happy to get along without religion.

SEGMENT 3:

Rhoda Janzen talks with Anne Strainchamps about the life experiences behind her successful book "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home." Also, Tony Dushane talks with Steve Paulson about his novel based on his childhood as a Jehovah's Witness. The book is called "Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk."

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 10-08-22-A.

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Books & CDs:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad: From Islam to America - A Person Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations (Free Press)
Tony DuShane, Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk (Soft Skull Press)
Rhoda Janzen, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home (Henry Holt)
Philip Pullman, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Canongate)
Phil Zuckerman, Society Without God (NYU)

Websites:

• Aayan Hirsi Ali
  http://www.aei.org/scholar/117
• Philip Pullman
  http://www.philip-pullman.com/
• Phil Zuckerman
  http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/
• Rhoda Janzen
  http://www.rhodajanzen.com/
• Tony Dushane
  http://www.tonydushane.com/

Music:

• After Ali:
  Youssou N'Dour, This Dream, from the album Joko: The Link
• After Pullman:
  Ottorino Respighi, Vetrate di chiesa (church windows), La Fugua in Egitto
• After Zuckerman:
  North Holland Dances, The Dutch National Folk and Dance Orchestra, Authentic Holland
• After Janzen:
  Eddie Vedder, Tuolumne, from Into the Wild
• After Dushane:
  Vienna Walzer Orchestra and Sandro Cuturello, Walking in Sunlight

Distribution dates: week of 08/22/2010 - hour 1 click HERE for timings and cues

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: ttbook@wpr.org

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