I will be appearing on the Mike Malloy Show on Air America tonight at 11pm - midnight Eastern Time. My old friend Laura Flanders, (the usual host of America's Radio Nation program), is guest hosting. We will be talking about all the usual stuff -- the religious right and what to do about it.  It's a call-in, so do stop by for a chat!

If you aren't sure, check with your Air America affiliate to see if they carry the show. If not, you can also listen on streaming audio from the Air America web site.

"In conjunction with the website Talk to Action, State of Belief  takes an unprecedented look into the takeover of America's churches, revealing the ugly truths, personal experiences, and exhaustive research of four leaders." This, according to the show's press release for what promises to be a pioneering piece of radio.

This Special Edition of State of Belief, hosted by Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, (who is also president of the Interfaith Alliance)  features a discussion of the attacks on the mainline churches by the rightwing Institute on Religion and Democracy and related groups. His three guests, Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer; Rev. Dr. Bruce Prescott, and Rev. Dr. Andrew Weaver, have all played catalytic roles in transforming this issue in ways that are helping to empower people to resist and to counter the efforts of these groups to dismember the historic Protestant churches in the United States and in the world.

The show airs on Sunday, May 21st on many Air America affiliates, as well as XM Satellite Radio, and over the internet via streaming audio, as well as via podcast. Visit the State of Belief web site for details. Check with your local Air America affiliate to confirm when, or if, they air the show.

The religious and secular right have have been gunning for the mainstream Protestant churches in the United States, and around the world, for a generation. Through front groups -- mostly associated with the Washington, DC-based Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD), they have sought to foment internal division and generate external pressures, in order to neutralize, divide, and conquer the historic churches of mainline Protestantism that had become increasingly powerful and influential advocates for Christian notions of social justice.

Unfortunately, it has been as difficult for mainstream religious leaders to come to terms with this strategic assault, as it has been for most Americans to come to terms with the rise of the religious right in American politics.

But we may have reached a turning point, thanks to Air America and a dedicated group of bloggers who also happen to be veterans of research and writing about the religious right.

On Sunday, May 21st, Air America's nationally syndicated radio show State of Belief, "In conjunction with the website Talk to Action... takes an unprecedented look into the takeover of America's churches, revealing the ugly truths, personal experiences, and exhaustive research of four leaders."

"The Southern Baptist Convention was lost," State of Belief host Welton Gaddy ruefully notes regarding the fundamentalist takeover of his own denomination, "not because of those trying to take it over, but because of people arguing that it wasn't a big deal." The program will air on about 40 stations around the country, XM Satellite Radio, and over the internet via streaming audio, as well as via podcast. Visit the State of Belief web site for details on how to hear the show.

By Sheila Samples

And who will tell the people
that free speech is a ruse;
The corporations run the country
and then they make the news.
Is it media or mind control
heroic victories or crime?
Who will tell the people...
that we are living in these times.
~Song by Willie Nelson