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Do human beings have a cognitive predisposition to believe in the supernatural from birth? In other words, is spirituality a natural tendency in us? Psychologist Justin Barrett (Fuller Theological Seminary) explores some fascinating research that indicates that we have a strong sense of God from birth, and that this innate tendency is actually shared across cultures and historical epochs. While Prof. Barrett argues that religion is natural for humans, he also tells us that theology is “unnatural” and we examine the implications between religion (innate belief) and theology (structured logic).

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With Mitt Romney making waves as a presidential candidate frontrunner for the Republican Party, we visit with Prof. Patrick Mason to discuss the history of anti-Mormon bigotry in the United States tracing it back to the founding of the faith in the 1820s.

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To what extent can religious organizations assist immigrants adopting to a new country? Prof. Margarita Mooney (UNC) explores the role of the Catholic Church in assisting individuals of the Haitian diaspora in three communities — Miami, Montreal, and Paris. She discusses the role of personal faith and religious institutions in helping immigrants make the often difficult transition to living in a new environment, and notes that the efforts of Notre Dame d’Haiti in Miami were much more successful than similar efforts in Canada and France. She explains why this is the case and what importance that has for society at large. Our interview also digs into various methodological concerns of doing direct participant observation, a great discussion for students and non-academics who want to understand how social scientific research is conducted.

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Feeling down about the economy, crime rates or anything else? Cheer up because Bradley Wright joins us to summarize his new book “Upside: Surprising GOOD NEWS about the State of Our World.” Prof. Wright notes that over the past half century, nearly all measures of human well-being have improved (sometimes dramatically) even though we often feel things are getting worse. We discuss why we think this way in addition to highlighting the statistical trends that should give us hope. While stepping slightly outside of our specific focus on religion, this episode nonetheless brings the discussion back around to a number of Christian organizations that are making the world a better place.

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Prof. Byron Johnson, director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, joins us to talk about his new book “More God, Less Crime.” We focus our attention on prison ministries noting how difficult it is to overcome the “prison code” and how faith-based programs work. Specifically, we explore the InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Houston, TX and review Prof. Johnson’s six-year study of that program. Byron makes a strong case that although these prison ministries show positive results, more attention needs to be placed on helping prisoners after they leave the confines of jail.

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Why are American Jews more liberal than their socio-economic non-Jewish counterparts?
Why are they more politically liberal than Jews in other countries? And what explains the rightward, then leftward, drift of Jews from the 1970s to present? Prof. Ken Wald provides an interesting historical explanation to these three puzzles. A great complimentary episode to last week’s discussion.

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William Donohue of the Catholic League discusses how cultural nihilists are engaging in “secular sabotage.” Our discussion starts with an examination of who are these nihilists and how moral virtue is essential to control unbridled appetites in a free nation. We then weave through a variety of topics including Lady Gaga, Hollywood, and how Catholics and Protestants are often engaging in self-sabotage.

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Prof. Ruth Melkonian surveys the history of Protestantism in Latin America and examines whether evangelicals and Pentecostals in the region share the same political views as their U.S. brethren or whether they appear more similar to non-evangelicals in Latin America. She reveals that Latin American Protestants are more similar to their non-Protestant compatriots in the region than they are to their counterparts in the United States. We also discuss the issue of Latino immigration into the US and how evangelical leaders have viewed this phenemonenon.

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Darin Mather, a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota, discusses changing racial attitudes among younger evangelicals (defined as being born after 1957) and their elders, showing how the former are much more tolerant than the latter. Mather’s research also demonstrates that younger evangelicals are becoming more tolerant of racial diversity and have a greater sense of racial solidarity much like their younger non-evangelical counterparts. However, we note that younger evangelicals differ from their peers on public policy issues such as affirmative action and economic assistance to historically disadvantaged communities. We explore reasons for these similarities and differences.

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Prof. G. Alexander Ross of the Institute for the Psychological Sciences discusses the decline in female happiness over the past four decades and how it is related to declining religious partipation. Our interview features a general discussion of happiness, the non-religious factors affecting one’s happiness, the general decline in female happiness (relative to males) and how religion promotes general contentment and joy. Prof. Ross notes that recent declines among church attendance, particularly among women, have led to a steeper decline in happiness for females as compared to men. We conclude with a discussion of the role of religion in psychological counseling.

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