{"id":113397,"date":"2013-11-09T12:58:07","date_gmt":"2013-11-09T17:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=113397"},"modified":"2013-11-09T12:58:07","modified_gmt":"2013-11-09T17:58:07","slug":"pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem.<\/p>\n

Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more of a challenge.<\/p>\n

Yet this week my number came up; it was my first turn at the mic for GetReligion\u2019s \u201cCrossroads\u201d podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n

I chair-danced while the introductory music played. I tried to answer host Todd Wilken\u2019s questions honestly and succinctly while adding the insight he asked. I prayed silently throughout that my daughter\u2019s small, white pet rabbit sitting next to me wouldn\u2019t start loudly munching on the wicker basket in the corner.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m told these things become easier with time and practice \u2014 not to mention professional voice coaching, a dialect makeover and a stint living somewhere outside the proverbial Bible Belt.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pour yourself a cup of coffee first, though, because we\u2019re stopping in again at the Death\u00a0Caf\u00e9.<\/a> In summary, I wanted to order up an item that wasn\u2019t on the menu: any real spiritual discussion related to death, the destination of souls or thoughts about the afterlife.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed reader FW Ken\u2019s take on the subject and appreciated his thoughts on the journalistic questions I raised:<\/p>\n

Finally got around to reading the article, and I\u2019m here to tell you, is hard to take seriously a program called a Death Cafe. It sounds like a Deathmetal eatery. Maybe like that one in Chicago serving unconsecrated hosts on a burger.<\/p>\n

Mulling over the critique that the article lacks substantive discussion of the afterlife, I would be fearful of such a discussion going in the circles illustrated in the comments on this thread. I can\u2019t imagine that such a cheerful program would allow such theoretical discussions, but it would be nice to know if they happen, and how they are handled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We also looked back at a BBC installment<\/a> in its series on kindness regarding Keshia Thomas, an anti-KKK protester at a KKK rally that took a dangerous turn when a white supremacist was spotted in the anti-KKK section. Thomas said her instinct to shield the supremacist with her body was born of faith, and that she felt like angels were picking her up and placing her across him to protect him. The follow-up questions about her spiritual background and religious convictions were nil, however.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t seen a retrospective of this 1996 rally that has done Thomas\u2019 story justice, but I\u2019m still looking. I\u2019m sure it will be a good one, if a reporter is willing to really listen to her replies and delve into the answer as to why she kept this man from being harmed that day.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the show,<\/a> and remember I\u2019m the rookie around these parts!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more of a challenge. Yet this week my number came up; it was my first turn at the mic for GetReligion\u2019s \u201cCrossroads\u201d podcast. I chair-danced while the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1628,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,68,55,12,4],"tags":[473,930,120,2580,2548,2550,2579],"class_list":["post-113397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people","category-getreligion-podcasts","category-race","category-religion","category-social-issues","tag-bible-belt","tag-crossroads","tag-death","tag-death-cafe","tag-keshia-thomas","tag-kkk","tag-pod-people"],"yoast_head":"\nPod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GetReligion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-09T17:58:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/11\/Pod-people-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tamie Ross\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tamie Ross\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/\",\"name\":\"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-09T17:58:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-11-09T17:58:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/593897e9b7bea6f3404b7fcd0eac83bd\"},\"description\":\"Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\",\"name\":\"GetReligion\",\"description\":\""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/593897e9b7bea6f3404b7fcd0eac83bd\",\"name\":\"Tamie Ross\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd66913a89b7a21c84d7c5e9be204ce1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd66913a89b7a21c84d7c5e9be204ce1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tamie Ross\"},\"description\":\"Tamie Ross is a wife, mom, writer and all-around crazy-about-life girl now battling autoimmune disease. Her 20-year journalism career included stints as religion editor for The Oklahoman, online editor for The Christian Chronicle and freelancer for clients ranging from The Associated Press to United Methodist News Service. She has won state and national awards for her personal columns and editorials.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/tross\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9","description":"Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9","og_description":"Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/","og_site_name":"GetReligion","article_published_time":"2013-11-09T17:58:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/11\/Pod-people-300x300.jpg"}],"author":"Tamie Ross","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tamie Ross","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/","name":"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-11-09T17:58:07+00:00","dateModified":"2013-11-09T17:58:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/593897e9b7bea6f3404b7fcd0eac83bd"},"description":"Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/11\/pod-people-stopping-in-again-at-the-death-cafe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pod people: Stopping in again at the Death Caf\u00e9"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/","name":"GetReligion","description":""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/593897e9b7bea6f3404b7fcd0eac83bd","name":"Tamie Ross","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd66913a89b7a21c84d7c5e9be204ce1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd66913a89b7a21c84d7c5e9be204ce1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tamie Ross"},"description":"Tamie Ross is a wife, mom, writer and all-around crazy-about-life girl now battling autoimmune disease. Her 20-year journalism career included stints as religion editor for The Oklahoman, online editor for The Christian Chronicle and freelancer for clients ranging from The Associated Press to United Methodist News Service. She has won state and national awards for her personal columns and editorials.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/tross\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1628"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}