The Moth, in conjunction with LIVE at the NYPL, in celebration of the exhibit Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, presents:
OMG: Stories of the Sacred
Moshe, Musa or Moses. Join The Moth as we explore the common and uncommon threads through three different religions, all of which extol the virtues of humility, service, compassion, forgiveness and most of all, love. Hear tales of hallowed spaces and blessed events. Soul searchers, devotees and agnostics tell stories of faith, doubt and the places in between. Can we get a witness?
Hosted by: Mike Daisey
Stories by: Peter Hyman Imam Khalid Latif Reverend Wayne Reece Reverend Al Sharpton Andrew Solomon among others
Curated by: Meg Bowles Paul Holdengräber
Bio
Mike Daisey
Mike Daisey has been called "the master storyteller" and "one of the finest solo performers of his generation" by the The New York Times for his groundbreaking monologues which weave together autobiography, gonzo journalism, and unscripted performance to tell stories that cut to the bone, exposing secret histories and unexpected connections. His monologues include If You See Something Say Something, How Theater Failed America, Great Men of Genius, All Stories Are Fiction, and 21 Dog Years. He has performed in venues on five continents, ranging from Off-Broadway at the Public Theater to remote islands in the South Pacific, from the Sydney Opera House to abandoned theaters in post-Communist Tajikistan. He's been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a commentator and contributor to Wired, Vanity Fair, Slate, Salon, NPR and the BBC. His first film, Layover, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and a feature film of his monologue If You See Something Say Something is currently in post production. His second book, Rough Magic, a collected anthology of his monologues, will be published in 2011. He has been nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award, two Drama League Awards, and is the recipient of the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, four Seattle Times Footlight Awards, the Sloan Foundation's Galileo Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship.
Judy Gold
Judy Gold is an American stand-up comedienne and actress. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. She has also been involved in many projects in various roles, including the television series All American Girl and HBO At the Multiplex segments where she asks humorous questions of unexpecting moviegoers.
Peter Hyman
Peter Hyman is the author of The Reluctant Metrosexual: Dispatches from an Almost Hip Life, a collection of humorous nonfiction. His essays have been included in a number of anthologies, including The Best American Essays 2010 (as a notable selection) and Bar Mitzvah Disco. He has written for The New York Times, New York Magazine, The New York Observer, GQ, McSweeney's, NPR, and Slate.com. He is currently the editor of Netted, a publication that covers digital culture.
Imam Khalid Latif
Imam Khalid Latif was appointed the first Muslim chaplain at NYU in 2005 where he began to initiate his vision for a pluralistic future on and off campus for American Muslims. He was appointed the first Muslim chaplain at Princeton University in 2006. Under his leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU became the first ever established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States. In 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg nominated Imam Latif to become the youngest chaplain in history of the New York City Police Department at the age of 24. He has lectured throughout the United States and in various parts of the world and has been quoted, featured and appeared in numerous media outlets including BBC, NPR, CNN, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Newsweek, Time Magazine, BET and GEO TV. Amongst many awards and distinctions for leadership and community service over the last few years, Imam Latif has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by Georgetown University's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.
Reverend Wayne G. Reece
Reverend Wayne G. Reece has been a United Methodist Pastor for more than five decades and has served congregations in Texas, Indiana, Michigan and the UK, as well as being editor of Sunday School material. He is the author of the book Giving Beyond Ourselves, and wrote and edited three books in the Becoming People of God series. Rev. Reece developed the Project HOMES that renovated low-income houses, spent two years as the President of a Housing Commission and was a delegate to the World Methodist Conference. He did missionary work in Sierra Leone and Ganta Mission, Liberia, and is the recipient of the Amy Crotts Award for Humanitarian Service by The Tennessean. Rev. Reece spent 15 years writing the Bible column for the Michigan Christian Advocate.
Reverend Al Sharpton
Reverend Al Sharpton is one of the nation's most-renowned civil rights leaders and the founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), a not-for-profit civil rights organization based in Harlem, New York. Rev. Sharpton’s strong commitment to equality and progressive politics has had an irrefutable impact on national politics, as evidenced by his noteworthy presidential run as a U.S. Democratic candidate in 2004 and his compelling speech at the Democratic National Convention. Throughout his career he has challenged the American political establishment to include all people in the dialogue regardless of race, gender, class or beliefs. He is a nationally-syndicated radio host, T.V. personality, and columnist. He has three popular radio shows broadcast throughout the country, a regular television show featured on TV One, and a column that appears in national newspapers across the country. Rev. Sharpton says his religious convictions are the basis for his life and he preaches throughout the country most Sundays.
Andrew Solomon
Andrew Solomon's most recent book, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, won the 2001 National Book Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; it has received 14 additional national awards and is published in 24 languages. Mr. Solomon is a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical College, and has lectured on depression around the world. He is a contributing editor at Travel and Leisure, and writes for The New York Times and The New Yorker, among others. He is currently working on a book entitled, Far from the Tree: A Legacy of Love, in which he studies family dynamics and extraordinary children; he is also working on a PhD at Cambridge University. He serves on numerous philanthropic boards in the fields of mental health, the arts, and gay rights, and is a fellow of Berkeley College at Yale University and the New York Institute for the Humanities.
Relation of human beings to God or the gods or to whatever they consider sacred or, in some cases, merely supernatural. Archaeological evidence suggests that religious beliefs have existed since the first human communities. They are generally shared by a community, and they express the communal culture and values through myth, doctrine, and ritual. Worship is probably the most basic element of religion, but moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions also constitute elements of the religious life. Religions attempt to answer basic questions intrinsic to the human condition (Why do we suffer? Why is there evil in the world? What happens to us when we die?) through the relationship to the sacred or supernatural or (e.g., in the case of Buddhism) through perception of the true nature of reality. Broadly speaking, some religions (e.g., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are outwardly focused, and others (e.g., Jainism, Buddhism) are inwardly focused.
Why is FORA putting this...this...I'm at a loss for words, man on.
How many of you FORA viewers want to listen to him?
Saw him in debate with Hitchens, you would think he'd be so embarrassed, he'd never show his face on FORA again.
FORA, keep this up and you are blocked.
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