Episode 5: Interview — Faith, Spirituality, & Organized Religion

Forever Curious: An Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Podcast

Dr. David Smith is a popular lecturer in the OLLI - UW program, and if you haven't discovered his courses yet, you'll want to, after you hear this discussion with host Charlene Joy and a panel of OLLI - UW members.

David grew up in a very religious, evangelical family, but life events and his own research and reflection pulled him in a different direction. He became a religious progressive skeptic, received degrees in religious studies, including a PhD in religious studies from Temple University.

Why study religion if you don't follow a traditional faith anymore? For one, he wanted to find answers, since the ones he'd been raised on no longer held. And secondly, his own struggle to discover a spirituality that felt right gave him a passion for helping others break free from ideology and learn to think for themselves, and think "well."

Civil discourse is another concern for David: How do we discuss highly emotional, highly sensitive topics while staying civil? Even more, why take on the topic, if the conversation is likely to be so emotionally fraught? Says David, people are struggling with big questions of life and faith, and while he may not be able to provide definitive answers, he is often able to help people see their faith more clearly. There are still lessons to learned from religious teachings, he says, if we cast an informed eye on them.

The questions are deep and meaningful; the conversation open and forthright, taking on questions of anger, broken family relationships, loss, and grief. It's such an important discussion — we hope you'll listen, share, and discuss. Then check out David's and other experts' course offerings at OLLI-UW: https://www.osher.uw.edu/.

Forever Curious is produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.