John Pinna
Co-Host of Crossing Faiths
John Thomas Pinna is Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development for Religion News Foundation. Over his 20-year career, Pinna has personally secured and managed $600 million dollars and $12.7 billion dollars as a leader of a team across 43 projects, with engagement in 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia.
After leaving an international career in industry in 2009 to focus on positioning the Muslim community positively with other faiths, Pinna joined the American Islamic Congress (AIC) as their Director of Government and International Relations. After AIC, he continued for three years to develop multi-faith events while executing international programming as the executive director at the Development Organization for Societies in Transition (DOST), culminating in events with Muslim leaders and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
In 2016, Pinna was named the Vice President of Development for the USAID-funded American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) where he managed the non-academic departments and established several functional departments. Pinna also managed two USG funded projects: the Business Innovation Hub and the International Center for Afghan Women's Economic Development, and USG and non-USG funded projects. Pinna also drafted parts of the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) and supported the logistics of the first DOS Ministerial. He advises the National Security Council Directorates on Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tunisia, and international religious freedom (IRF), as well as DOS bureaus on Afghanistan, Libya, Tunisia, and the Ukraine, and on countering radical ideology.
John Pinna has hosted 115 Episodes.
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IRF Summit 2022: Sam Brownback
July 23rd, 2022 | Season 8 | 18 mins 53 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
John Pinna interviews IRF Ambassador Sam Brownback
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IRF Summit 2022: Mariam Wahba
July 21st, 2022 | Season 8 | 20 mins 34 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
John Pinna interviews Mariam Wahba from the Philos Project
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The War in Ukraine, Chicken & Waffles and Evil Shrimp
June 18th, 2022 | Season 8 | 23 mins 29 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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The Ukraine Conflict
June 7th, 2022 | Season 8 | 58 mins 45 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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Faith-based Policy in a Liberal Democracy
June 4th, 2022 | Season 8 | 1 hr 6 mins
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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Abortion and Theocracy
May 21st, 2022 | Season 8 | 1 hr 5 mins
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
John and Matt return with a new season of Crossing Faiths. This episode: A discussion about abortion and Roe v. Wade. John shares a personal experience, and Matt unpacks an Evangelical perspective.
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65: Multi-faith Christmas seasons and the end of 2021
December 23rd, 2021 | Season 7 | 55 mins 24 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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64: Surveillance of American Muslims goes to the Supreme Court
November 15th, 2021 | Season 7 | 27 mins 16 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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63: Sharia with Sumbul Ali-Karamali
November 8th, 2021 | Season 7 | 1 hr 4 mins
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion, sharia
John is joined by Sumbul Ali-Karamali, author of Demystifying Sharia. Together, they discuss Western ignorance of Islam, what the goals of Sharia really are, the truth about the role of violence in Islam, and Star Trek.
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62: Atheism among Muslims and more on vaccine exemptions
November 1st, 2021 | Season 7 | 43 mins 44 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
John and Matt discuss: Is it actually possible to be both a Muslim and an atheist? Plus: Should Christians use religious exemptions to avoid the COVID vaccine?
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61: Conversion, proselytization, and... abortion?
October 19th, 2021 | Season 7 | 52 mins 21 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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60: Religious exemptions and COVID-19 vaccines
September 16th, 2021 | Season 7 | 52 mins 37 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.