Browse Entire Collection
Document Type
Video
Interview Date
6-12-2002
Abstract
Would people be religious if they were never going to die?
Dr. Michael Baxter discusses his view on the role of death in a person’s religious life. While he believes that for most people, death does play a role later in life, death is not what makes a person religious. Dr. Baxter suggests that finding a cause for one’s life is what makes people religious. He adds the thought that as they age, people realize they cannot live forever, and that strengthens their religious beliefs.
Recommended Citation
Baxter, Michael C.S.C and Benney, Alfred. Created by Alfred Benney. "Dr. Michael Baxter, C.S.C Engages with the Question: Would People Be Religious if They Were Never Going to Die?" June 2002. DigitalCommons@Fairfield. Web. https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/asrvideos/131
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Playing Time:
About the interviewee:
The Rev. Dr. Michael J. Baxter, C.S.C, (Ph.D. Duke University, 1996) is Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Baxter is interested in the interrelationship of theology, history, and ethics, with particular attention paid to the morality of war and Christian peacemaking. Baxter's long-term research focuses on the emergence and development of the Americanist Tradition in Catholic Social Ethics from World War I to the present. He has published articles in the DePaul Law Review, Pro Ecclesia, Communio, andThe Thomist, and he co-founded Andre House, a house of hospitality dedicated to serving the poor and homeless of downtown Phoenix. Baxter was a Fellow of the Kroc Institute and he also served as the National Secretary of the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
About the Interviewer:
Dr. Alfred Benney is a professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University. He has a Ph.D in Theology from the Hartford Seminary Foundation and teaches courses in Non-Traditional American Religions and Christian Religious Thought. His research interests include "how people learn"; "the appropriate use of technology in teaching/learning" and "myth as explanatory narrative". He has published work on teaching with technology.