KJFK

KJKF AM Radio in Reno is 1230 AM on the radio dial. It's the local Air America affiliate - the liberal/progressive "alternative" to the predominant conservative talk radio selection. Typically, the only reason I listen in is because they have the re-broadcast of the 49ers radio announcers for every game. I had been listening in the car yesterday to the game when I went to get my finger examined.

When I got in the car to go to church, the radio was still on, and there was a show about faith. They had a couple guests, including the author of a New York Times editorial I referenced here before, about America not being a "Christian Nation." His discussion of it did the best job of explaining why that strikes a chord with me.

The first idea is that by claiming the "Christian Nation" title, the actions of the nation are often, in the minds of those outside the church, given implicit sanction by the church - if X is the action of a Christian Nation, it must be the proper Christian action. The other is that the church is far above and beyond the scope of any nation's interests. It is a gathering from all nations, tribes, tongues, ages, races, and genders. That in the church, since there is neither slave nor free, man or woman, Jew or Greek, there is no distinction for American or not-American either - all are one in Christ Jesus.

I listened to the show intently. That's the first time I've done that with talk radio in a while. It was a genuinely interesting, engaging discussion. It began with the thoughts of a couple believers on the position of some prominent atheists, and which of their arguments carried the most weight, and how the believers respond to them. It was a reasonable discussion, that did not dismiss the atheists out of hand, but said "Here's the argument that makes me think the most, and here's how I answer it."

Pretty nifty.