State of Belief: January 29

I think it is important that mainstream to progressive religious views get more air time--we are a long way from catching up with the right wing Christian media giants, but I want to make sure I do what I can to increase awareness of what's out there. So, a brief reminder that State of Belief, hosted by Welton Geddy of The Interfaith Alliance, is going to be on tonight at 5 p.m. EST. Previous programs are available viat podcast. Here is what's going to be on tonight's program... Esther Kaplan, author of With God On Their Side: George W. Bush and the Christian Right, tells us how the Christian Right got so powerful - and what scares her most about them. Plus, what to expect from Bush's State of the Union address, a look at the Pope's first encyclical (and what the heck an encyclical is!), and the religious side of the White House Hurricane Katrina stonewall.