Today on Kresta - December 30, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Dec. 30

Kresta Countdown of the top interviews of 2009

#11 – Secular Sabotage: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America
Secularism. This assault is not happening from accident or whim. It is happening because disaffected liberals have deliberately set out to upend our Judeo-Christian traditions. Indeed, they are determined to tear down the traditional norms, values, and institutions that have been part of American society from its founding. The cultural debris that these saboteurs have created will take decades to clean up. In feisty prose Bill Donohue explores our nation where a college student is threatened with expulsion because she prayed on campus, a civil rights organization protests a statue of Jesus found on the ocean floor and a housewife sues a school district to stop the singing of Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer at a school choral production. These are just a few examples cited that demonstrate a culture descending into madness. He joins us.

#10 – Original “Schindler’s List” Found in Sydney Library
A list of Jews saved by Oskar Schindler that inspired the novel and Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List" has been found in a Sydney library, its co-curator said this week. Workers at the New South Wales State Library found the list, containing the names of 801 Jews saved from the Holocaust by the businessman, as they sifted through boxes of Australian author Thomas Keneally's manuscript material. The 13-page document, a yellowed and fragile carbon typescript copy of the original, was found between research notes and German newspaper clippings in one of the boxes. We talk with the man who wrote the book on Oskar Schindler, David Crowe.

#9 – Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story & Imagination
At a contentious intersection of faith and contemporary culture, Brian Godawa offers what many have been calling for: balance. In a world (and often a church) torn by imbalanced devotion to either word or image, Godawa joins the two with a needed 'and.' He shows a well-developed literacy for both forms of communication, shows how the Bible incorporates both and challenges us to engage our culture creatively and redemptively on both fronts.

#8 – Fr. Leo Wins the “Throwdown with Bobby Flay”
It's official - Father Leo Patalinghug defeated renowned chef Bobby Flay in a Fusion Fajita cook-off. The episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” took place in June. Flay traveled to the Mount St. Mary’s campus and challenged Father Leo to the “Throwdown” marking the first time the Iron Chef has faced off against a priest. The two prepared Fusion Fajitas for a select group of families, members of the Mount St. Mary’s community and other guests outside University President, Thomas H. Powell’s home. Fr. Leo says “It was a fun day having people come together and enjoy our fajitas…it’s what the concept of Grace Before Meals is all about.” He joins us.