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In the words of Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century, French mathematician and Christian philosopher, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction." Does religion breed intolerance, violence, and ignorance? Or does it promote peace, morality, and ethical behavior? Has religion been more a source for good or evil in human history?
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Religion matters deeply to many Americans, shaping their views on numerous controversial issues, including abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, vouchers for parochial school students, and the importance of the faith of presidential candidates. Is it appropriate for religion to influence political discourse and affect public policy? Or is it inappropriate, evidence that America is too religious?
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One of the pillars of Islam is that Muslims pray five times a day. Before those prayers, they are expected to perform a purification ritual called Wudu, during which they wash their face, hands, arms and feet. We visited Masjid Muhammad Mosque in Washington, D.C., where Imam Talib Shareef described the ablution practice as preparing for an “appointment before God.”
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Religious, moral, and spiritual themes are topping the bestseller lists these days, indicating a heightened degree of interest in religious topics. This program contrasts the many ways people are finding religious and spiritual fulfillment-from popular guides, through the traditional use of religious symbols, to contemporary experiences in the monastic life.
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When contemporary social mores regarding marriage and divorce collide with religious traditions, the results can be messy. We encounter happy polygamist families in Utah, a Hindu matchmaker in Canada, and Israeli women who are challenging the notoriously restrictive Orthodox Jewish divorce laws upheld by their country's powerful and all-male rabbinic courts.
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The highly controversial topic of euthanasia is examined in this program through the eyes of several medical and religious experts. Euthanasia as an acceptable practice is discussed within the context of current "right-to-die" cases, including the highly publicized assisted-suicide activities of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. We see how individual rights issues often overshadow legal arguments. Efforts currently under way by religious groups to block the practice...
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Atonement, penance, and absolution are beliefs that reside at the core of the world's major religions. Have the practices of contrition and restitution become relics of the past, or are they still viable today as opportunities for spiritual cleansing, healing, and rebirth? In this program, The God Squad's Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman; Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina, of the Organization for Islamic Learning; Sister Helen Prejean, author...
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How could Bud Welch, whose daughter died in the Oklahoma City bombing, forgive Timothy McVeigh? How did the Reverend Walter Everett move beyond his desire for revenge against the man who murdered his son? In this program, these and other remarkable individuals-people who in picking up the pieces of their shattered lives have triumphed over hate-share the details of their long, painful, and deeply personal journeys from shock and the desire for retribution...
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Can the current generation of hereditary enemies muster the will to put the past behind them? Can nations reconcile old enmities once and for all? This program explores the complexities of promoting forgiveness on a mass scale in places such as Ireland and the Middle East. Dr. Robert Enright, president of The International Forgiveness Institute; Nobel Laureate Betty Williams; representatives of The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies;...
12) Faith and reason
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Efforts being made by scientists and theologians to find common ground between their two seemingly opposing fields are captured at a Divine Action Conference. Sponsored jointly by the Vatican and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley, the conference gathers leading scientists, theologians, and philosophers, who discuss such issues as the origin of the universe and the meaning of life. Visits to Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins...
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The Celtic Mass for the Sea has become a contemporary choral classic. Combining a chamber string orchestra and choir with a Celtic ensemble of harp, pipes, mandolin, fiddle and guitars, the Mass is an exuberant celebration of the teeming life in the waters covering our planet - and a warning of the dangers of abusing it. The libretto is based on ancient Celtic incantation and prayers that express startlingly-modern environmental concerns. Since its...
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Leaving behind his Boston childhood, Benjamin Franklin reinvents himself in Philadelphia where he builds a printing empire and a new life with his wife Deborah. Turning to science, Franklin gains worldwide fame from his lightning rod and experiments in electricity. After entering politics, he spends years in London trying to keep Britain and America together as his own family starts to come apart.
15) From Poverty to Purpose, The Ben Carson Story: African Americans Who Left their Stamp on History
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How does an inner city African American kid with a self-proclaimed violent temper, become a world renowned brain surgeon, an inspiring role model for disadvantaged youth, a medical innovator and achieve success... against all odds? In 2001, CNN and Time Magazine named Ben Carson one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists. His mother was his most influential inspiration, changing Ben from worst to first. He gained respect as he soared...
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Benjamin Franklin leaves London and returns to wartime Philadelphia where he joins Congress and helps Thomas Jefferson craft the Declaration of Independence. In Paris, he wins French support for the American Revolution then negotiates a peace treaty with Britain. He spends his last years in the new United States, working on the Constitution and unsuccessfully promoting the abolition of slavery.
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In 1926, 49-year-old Violet Gibson, daughter of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and a debutant at the Court of Queen Victoria, shot Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini at point-blank range in front of an adoring crowd in CampidoglIo Rome.Her assassination attempt saw her imprisoned and interrogated, before a deal was brokered by Mussolini and the British Foreign Office to have Violet committed to a lunatic asylum, written off as a lone "mad Irishwoman,"...
20) President Biden
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The story of how crisis and tragedy prepared Joe Biden to become America’s next president. Those who know him best describe the searing moments that shaped President-Elect Biden and what they reveal about how he will govern.