Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news. We'll begin on this

Christmas Eve with the glaring contrast between the life and lessons of the prophet who ministered to

the poor and rose up the downtrodden, whose birth over 2,000 years ago is being celebrated by

Christians, and the emergence of a ruling clique of billionaires taking over the executive branch after having captured the judicial branch,

having promised the 76 million who voted for them, they would be champions of working Americans.

Joining us is the Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair with the Reverend William Barber of the Poor People's

Campaign, a National Call for Moral Revival, and the co-director of the Chiris Center for

Religions, Rights and Social Justice. Having spent the last two decades organizing amongst the

poor in the United States, she is the author of Always With Us, what Jesus really said about the poor,

and we cry justice reading the Bible with the poor people's campaign, co-authored with the Reverend

William Barber. Then we'll look into why the religious beliefs of some of Trump's top picks

for Secretary of Defense, National Security Advisor, and Ambassador Israel

are so troubling since these so-called Christians are infused with the sick theology of Christian

Zionism, which eagerly anticipates the end of the world in a cult of death that uses the

Israeli right to bring about Armageddon so that they can be raptured up to

heaven while the rest of us burn in hell. Joining us is Diane Winston, who spent over a decade

as a journalist and is now a professor of journalism and nightshare in media and religion

at the University of Southern California. She's the author or editor of several books, including religion in Los Angeles,

Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global City,

and her latest book is Writing the American Dream,

How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan's Evangelical Vision.

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