Dr. Susannah Heschel on the Normalization of Racism in America

04/14/17 • 31 min

Mystic-Skeptic Radio: Uncensored/Raiders of the Unknown

In this week’s show we are honored to have as our guest Dr. Susannah Heschel, the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of biblical scholarship, and the history of anti-Semitism. Her numerous publications include On Being a Jewish Feminist (Schocken), Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus (University of Chicago Press), The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton University Press) and numerous articles. She is also the daughter of civil rights activist and modern Jewish Philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel.Today’s topic is the current social and political trends in the U. S. and the normalizing of bigotry, racial hatred and anti-Semitism; the intensity of these incidents can be seen from the political provocateurs who mesmerize large audiences to irresponsible political leaders and celebrities who act as mouthpieces to radical groups. In the last year there has been a resurfacing of Anti-Semitism in the U.S. such as cemetery desecrations, Jewish Community Centers being evacuated often and a 45 percent spike in anti-Jewish incidents across college campuses; as well as other incidents in England, France and Sweden. Dr. Heschel discusses how racism, ethnic hatred and religious persecution affect modern day politics.

Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 10 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space...

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The Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory

In this week’s show we discuss The Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory with three different guests, Theo Wellington president of the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society, Theologian Michael Heiser and skeptical scientific researcher Bryan Dunning. Most of our conversation is with Ms. Wellington who debunks the outrageous claims of the Flat Earth conspiracists. Dr. Michael Heiser author of the unseen realm discusses his struggle challenging Christians about this topic, while Brian Dunning of Skeptoid.com shares the history behind this movement.For those unfamiliar with this controversy, in the past couple of years religious and secular individuals who believe the earth is flat have resurfaced in the age of the Internet. We are not speaking about the discredited Flat Earth Society, but they were the ones who popularized fabrications of a “round Earth conspiracy” orchestrated by NASA and other government agencies. The Flat Earth belief came to the forefront in 2015 as media personalities used Twitter to proclaim the Earth is flat.Our main guest Theo Wellington is a graduate from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Science in astronomy. She Joined the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society in 2003 and worked at the Sudekum Planetarium for eleven years and is a volunteer with the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador program. She lives in Goodlettsville, north of Nashville.

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The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany

In this week’s show we are featuring Dr. Susannah Heschel, the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of biblical scholarship, and the history of anti-Semitism. Today’s topic is her book "The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton University Press)." We will like to thank Dr. Leonard Greenspoon for providing us with permission to air this lecture delivered at Creighton University on April 23, 2013.