Faith Leaders

Beyond “Dead Man Walking”: Helen Prejean’s Fight for Justice

Bill Thompson

For more than 30 years 1 of the most vocal and effective campaigners against capital punishment in the U.S. has been a Roman Catholic nun from New Orleans.

But until 1993 few people in the general public had ever heard of Sister Helen Prejean. That changed when she wrote a book called Dead Man Walking, which was later made into a highly acclaimed movie.

Leveraging her newfound influence, Prejean pushed forward with her campaign against the death penalty. She helped establish the Moratorium Campaign, and she started a group to counsel families of murder victims.

One major part of her effort has been to prevent executions of innocent defendants, who frequently are swept up in a dizzying array of legal technicalities that overlook their humanity.

In 2004 Prejean wrote a second book, called The Death of Innocents, drawing on the stories of two men she counseled who were executed despite what she believed was their innocence.

She and I talked about that book in 2005, the first time we had met since 1993.

So here now, from 2005, sister Helen Prejean.

Sister Helen Prejean Is 86 now. Based in New Orleans she continues to travel the country campaigning against the death penalty.

Brandan Robertson’s Message of Inclusion: Being Queer And Christian

Bill Thompson

Brandan Robertson is a young progressive Christian pastor who has built a national reputation as an articulate leader for LGBTQ inclusion.

And for Rev. Robertson it is a personal effort, because he is gay.

In a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack as they haven’t been for decades, Robertson’s nessage of inclusivity is finding a receptive audience on social media. On Tik Tok alone he has over a quarter million followers.

But his outreach is not limited to those in the community. Robertson also speaks to allies, those perhaps with a family member who’s queer, or those who feel uneasy about their own church’s teachings.

Get your copy of Brandan Robertson’s book

And he has just written a book, being published this week, called Queer And Christian. In it, Rev. Robertson seeks not just to reinterpret scripture, but to offer Solace and support to those in the LGTBQ community.

So here now, about to embark on an author tour, Rev. Brandan Robertson.

Brandan Robertson is turning 33 this summer. He serves as pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York.

Theodore Hesburgh: A Legacy of Leadership, Faith, and Service

Bill Thompson
Photo by U.S. Institute of Peac

Not many six year olds know what they want to be when they grow up.
I mean really know what they want to be.

Llittle Teddy was one of those.

The young Theodore Hesbergh knew from the age of six that he wanted to be a priest.

He probably didn’t realize that someday he would also be the renowned, honored, and
revered president of one of the most honored institutions of higher learning in America,
Notre Dame University.

Get your copy of Theodore Hesburgh’s book

But Hesbergh achieved those dreams and more. In 1952, he became president of Notre Dame, a position he held for 35 years, including through the turbulent 1960s when college campuses across America were
roiled by controversy, protests, demonstrations, and student takeovers.

How did Father Hesbergh handle that? You’ll hear that in this interview coming up.

Finally, after his retirement in 1987, Hesbergh was persuaded to write his memoir. In 1990, he did. He called it God, Country, Notre Dame.

Finally, after his retirement in 1987, Theodore Hesbergh wrote a memoir.
His autobiography. in 1990,he published his book God, Country, Notre Dame.”

And when he was on the book tour to promote it, that’s when I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes
with his illustrious and much-honored leader—————————————————————

So here now, from 1990, Father

Theodor Hesbergh died in 2015 at age 97.

Before the Miracles: What Jesus’ Daily Life Might Have Looked Like

Bill Thompson

Most of what Christians know about Jesus comes straight from the Bible, as it should. That knowledge, however, is largely limited to the circumstances of his birth, which we celebrate at Christmas, his three-year ministry, and his death, which we Mark at Easter.

But what about all the years in between? How did people around him regard him when he was a carpenter? What was Jesus like as a child, or an adolescent?

More below video:

Former Catholic priest Joseph Girzone sought to flesh out some answers in his 1998 book called A Portrait of Jesus. Girzone was a writing veteran by this time, as author of the very popular “Joshua” series of books.

So here now, from 1998 Joseph Girzone.

Joseph Girzone died in 2015. He w3as 95.

Finding Your Capacity For Compassion: Spiritual Guru Ram Dass

Bill Thompson

In today’s America it often feels to many people like there is a lack of empathy, or compassion. Too often the underprivileged, the underserved, the marginalized get pushed aside.

But compassion may prove to be like a muscle, that we can exercise and strengthen.

Famed psychologist and eastern spiritual leader Ram Dass wrote more than a dozen books over a period of years, starting in 1971 with the groundbreaking Be Here Now.

More below video:

In 1992 Dass Wrote a book to show us what compassion should look like. His book was called Compassion in Action. That’s when I had a few minutes with him.

So here now, from 1992, Ram Dass.

Ram Dass died in 2019, at the age of 88.

Meadowlark Lemon: Beyond the Court to the Pulpit

Bill Thompson

For 22 years he was known as the “Clown Prince” of the Harlem Globetrotters. But for basketball Hall of Famer Meadowlark Lemon, there was a larger, much larger, purpose for his life.

When I met him in 1987, Lemon was eager to talk about not just basketball, but about God.

Just a year before our interview, Lemon was ordained a Christian minister. And proud as he was of his on-court accomplishments, Meadowlark Lemon had much bigger things on his mind.

Also, be aware that my very first question to him, as you are about to hear, was worded in such a way that his response was worded in the third person. I should emphasize that is not the way he normally talked about himself, but was simply answering the question the way I had framed it.

So here now, from 1987, Meadowlark Lemon.

Meadowlark Lemon died in 2015. He was 83.

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Helen Prejean

Bill Thompson

How did a Roman Catholic nun wind up befriending a convicted killer on death row?

The answer to that deceptively simple question is found in Sister Helen Prejean’s bestselling 1993 book Dead Man Walking. If you haven’t read the book, you’ve probably seen the movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

Prejean is an outspoken and powerful voice against capital punishment. Her book has made millions of people reconsider their own positions on the death penalty.

I first met her shortly after her book was published. So here now, from 1993, Sister Helen Prejean.

Sister Helen Prejean celebrated her 84th birthday last week. And she is still working to eliminate the death penalty.

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Karen Armstrong

Bill Thompson

Who is God?

Photo: Vogler

Who is the all-knowing, all-powerful deity who, despite having different names, is at the heart of every major religion?

A former Roman Catholic nun who has become one of the world’s most renowned religious scholars, Karen Armstrong in 1994, wrote a book called A History of God.

This was the first of many conversations I had with her over the next few years.

So here now, from 1994, Karen Armstrong.

Karen Armstrong is 77 now. In 2014, she was made an honorary Doctor of Divinity by McGill University.

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Jim Bakker

Bill Thompson

In the 1970s and 1980s, perhaps no one was more popular on Christian television than Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.

Founders of the PTL club, and later the Heritage USA Christian theme park, the Bakkers also espoused a Theology of prosperity. God wanted you to do well financially, they told us.

But in the 1980s it came out that the Bakers were prospering a little bit too much off of the donations their viewers had set in. And after Jim Bakker was accused of sexually assaulting Church secretary Jessica Hahn, prosecutors moved to charge him with fraud.

Bakker was convicted, and in 1989 was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

But powerful allies, including famed defense attorney Alan dershowitz, came to Bakker’s Aid, and he was eventually paroled in 1994.

But not before Tammy Faye divorced him.

2 years after his release from prison, Bakker wrote a book based on things he says he learned about the Bible while in prison. The book was called I was wrong.

So here now, from 1996, my conversation with the Reverend Jim Bakker:

Jim Bakker is 81 now. He is still seen by millions on TV on The Jim Bakker Show with second wife Lori Bakker. Tammy Faye also remarried — she died in 2007 at age 65.

Andrea Jaeger

Bill Thompson
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In 1981, at the age of 16, Andrea Jaeger was ranked number two in the world among professional women tennis players.

But at age 19, a shoulder injury ended her five-year pro career.

Within two years, however, Jaeger launched her second career as an advocate for children with life-threatening illnesses.

I met her almost 20 years later, when she wrote a book called “First Service,” the story of how faith in God inspired her, and changed her life.

So here now, from 2004, Andrea Jaeger:

Andrea Jaeger is 55 now,

Two years after our interview, Amdrea Jaeger became “Sister Andrea” — she’s a member of the Episcopal Church’s Anglican Order of Preachers.