Evolving in Monkey Town - Rachel Held Evans on SBE

Erik Guzman August 27th, 2010

Rachel Held Evans grew up in Dayton, Tennessee, a town that epitomized Christian fundamentalism during the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.

Join Rachel on Steve Brown Etc. as we talk about her crisis of faith and how she came to a place where knowing all the answers isn't as important as asking questions.

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Rachel Held Evans is an award-winning writer and author of Evolving in Monkey Town: H … (Read More)

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Getting After the Devil: Obama and Civil Liberties

John W. Whitehead May 25th, 2010

Of all the tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. —C.S. Lewis

There is an unease in the air, a sense that a shift is taking place in the world. The signs are all around us: weapons of mass destruction, continual threats of terrorism, an emerging global police state, and a growing but over-extended military empire that is wreaking havoc on the American economy. All the while, troops are being deployed on American soil, raising the specter … (Read More)

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Jumping through Fires - David Nasser on SBE

Erik Guzman December 18th, 2009

Jumping through fires, or Chaharshanbe Suri, is a 3,000 year-old tradition of celebrating the Persian New Year. By jumping through the fire, always while holding someone's hand, all bad things from the previous year are burned away and replaced with new beginnings.

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David Nasser is an Iranian exile and former Muslim, and he has jumped through his share of fires. Join David on Steve Brown Etc … (Read More)

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Is Tweeting Now a Felony Under Federal Law?

John W. Whitehead November 18th, 2009

Say you want a revolution.

We better get on right away.

Well you get on your feet

And out on the street.

–John Lennon, "Power to the People"

The ominous rise of the surveillance state continues unabated. With each passing day, hope fades that the Obama administration will diverge from George W. Bush's erection of a police state.

The government's treatment of Elliot Madison is a case in point. Madison, a 41-year-old self-styled anarchist and social worke … (Read More)

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Loving Big Brother: The Future Is Now

John W. Whitehead October 5th, 2009

"He loved Big Brother."–George Orwell, 1984

1984 portrays a global society of total control in which people are not supposed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom. Snitches and surveillance cameras are everywhere. And people are subject to the Thought Police, who deal with anyone guilty of such thought crimes. The government, or "Party," is headed by Big Brother, who appears on posters everywhere with the words: … (Read More)

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Freedom Fading - John W. Whitehead on SBE

Erik Guzman July 3rd, 2009

If it's not enough of a 4th of July bummer that the economy is in the toilet, join John Whitehead on this edition of Steve Brown Etc. to hear about the shocking ways that the freedoms we're celebrating are going up in smoke.

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If your city canceled their 4th of July celebration because of budget cuts, here's a recipe for fireworks. Combine one part federal hate crimes law and two pa … (Read More)

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