Beyond Belief

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Adoption Mar 26, 2012

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The Government is seeking to speed up the adoption process for the growing number of children being taken into care in the UK. Social workers responsible for the difficult job of matching children with adoptive parents are often criticised for focusing too much on questions of ethnicity or lifestyle. So how far should religion play a factor in the process which links children and parents? Ernie Rea discusses the issue with Raffia Arshad, a family lawyer, Ruby Clay, an author who has adopted three children with her lesbian partner, and Fiona Bowie a social anthropologist and also an adoptive mother.

Nigeria Mar 19, 2012

Show notes

Nigeria is in crisis. Thousands of Nigerians have fled their homes following a spate of Islamist killings. The attacks have been carried out by a group calling itself Boko Haram which has demanded that Christians leave the North of the country where the majority population is Muslim. Christians have taken revenge by attacking mosques and Muslims living in the South.

Nigeria is said to be one of the most religious countries in the world. Its also Africa's biggest producer of oil so it is wealthy. But more than half of its people live in poverty. Corruption and mismanagement is endemic. So is this conflict really about religion at all, or is religion simply a presenting issue?

Joining Ernie to discuss the role of religion in the conflict in Nigeria are Dr Jameel Yusha, senior lecturer in media and politics at Northumbria university, Dr Steven Pierce, lecturer in the history of sub Saharan Africa at the university of Manchester and Dr Leena Hoffman who has just completed her PhD on democracy and patronage politics in Nigeria at the University of Birmingham.

Travellers Mar 12, 2012

Show notes

There are many communities of travelling people in Britain and there have been for generations. While most people accept their lifestyles, some in the settled communities regard them with a degree of suspicion, even as a people apart.

Many travellers have a strong religious faith. Those of Irish origin tend to be Catholic; but an increasing number of travellers of Romany origin are joining Pentecostal churches. How does their religious practice differ from the mainstream? Are there common features that relate to their way of life? How has the experience of travelling and of exclusion impacted on their faith? In religion, as in life, must they always be outsiders?

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the religious beliefs of travelling people are Dr Adrian Marsh, Senior Programme Manager at the Open Society Foundation, Cathleen McDonagh, from Exchange House, a National Traveller Organisation in Dublin; and Jackie Boyd, a pastor with the Light and Life Gypsy Church.

Atheism Mar 05, 2012

Show notes

For the last few years a group dubbed the New Atheists have been waging a verbal war against religion. The language they employ is unrestrained. The late Christopher Hitchens was fairly typical when he wrote in his book "God is not Great," "Religion comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species and is a babyish attempt to meet our insatiable demand for knowledge." Richard Dawkins has declared that his aim is " To convert religious believers to atheism by helping them to overcome their childhood indoctrination in order to break free of the vice of religion altogether." Where has this new militancy come from? How does it differ from the Atheism that went before? Is New Atheism a movement and where is it heading?

Joining Ernie to discuss Atheism today are Professor Simon Blackburn, Vice President of the British Humanist Association; Mark Embleton, a psychologist and President of Atheism UK; and Lois Lee, founder of the Non-Religion and secularity research network.

Korea Feb 27, 2012

Show notes

The death in December of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's "Dear Leader" has focused the spotlight on the affairs of one of the world's most secretive states. Kim Jong Il - and his father before him - had assumed the status of demi-gods. To follow any other religion risked imprisonment or worse. In today's "Beyond Belief" Ernie Rea asks what the implications of Kim Jong Il's death might be for religious freedom. By contrast, South Korea has some of the world's largest Christian congregations. And for centuries millions of Koreans, North and South, have followed Confucian, Buddhist and Shaman traditions.

Joining Ernie for the discussion are James Grayson, Emeritus Professor of Modern Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield; Professor Sebastian Kim who holds the Chair in Theology and Public Life at York St John University; and Dr Jiyoung Song Associate Fellow at Chatham House and Lecturer at the National University of Singapore.

Baha'i faith Feb 20, 2012

Show notes

The Baha'i faith, though numerically small, claims to have a geographical reach second only to Christianity.

It was founded in the nineteenth century in Iran, where its followers are now severely persecuted, and preaches the Unity of God, humanity and religion.

Fidelma Meehan tells Ernie Rea how she was introduced to the faith by the comedian Omid Djalili.

Ernie is joined by two Baha'i writers Moojan Momen and Lil Osborne, and by Denis MacEoin who used to be a Baha'i but left after he became disillusioned with what he saw as its authoritarian structures.

The Role of Bishops in the House of Lords Feb 13, 2012

Show notes

The government's recent proposal to cap welfare benefits at £26000 a year received a setback when an amendment to exclude child benefit from the cap was passed in the House of Lords. The amendment was proposed by the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds and supported by four other Bishops. The Bishops' action has added fuel to the debate about whether Anglican Bishops should still have a statutory right to seats in the Upper Chamber. When less than 2% of the population attends an Anglican Church on a Sunday, why should 26 of its clergy exercise any influence on the deliberations of the Upper House of Parliament?

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the arguments for and against having Bishops sitting in the House of Lords are the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, Jonathan Bartley, Director of the Think Tank Ekklesia, and Dr Meg Russell, Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit at University College London.

Republican Nomination Feb 06, 2012

Show notes

What role does religion play in the race for the Republican nomination for the White House? Ernie Rea is joined by Bob Vander Plaats, head of "The Family Leader" pressure group, Boo Tyson from "Coalition Mainstream" and Dr Alexander Smith from Huddersfield University. Together they assess the influence of the Religious Right on Republican politics, and whether Americans might be ready for a Mormon president.

Pilgrimage Jan 30, 2012

Show notes

Every year more than 100 million people around the world go on pilgrimage, the biggest mass migration of people on the planet. Two and a half million Muslims visited Mecca for last year's Hajj and over 600,000 visited Graceland to worship at the shrine of Elvis Presley. Tourist companies specialising in pilgrimage tours are expanding - it's big business. Ernie & his guests discuss whether there is something in the human psyche which seeks fulfilment from a physical journey, but one that has a spiritual motive, and also consider the growing phenomenon of cyber pilgrimage. Can a "virtual" journey in any way be seen as comparable? Joining Ernie Rea to discuss pilgrimage are Dr Marion Bowman, Head of the Department of Religious Studies at the Open University; Martin Palmer, Secretary General of the Alliance of Religions & Conservation, and Connie Hill-Smith who is writing her doctoral thesis on cyber pilgrimage at the University of Wales, Trinity & St. David's.

Same Sex Marriage Jan 23, 2012

Show notes

This week's Beyond Belief comes from Scotland, where the Scottish government is considering legalising same sex marriage. A period of public consultation has provoked a huge response from many religious groups who are opposed, yet the opinion polls are generally in favour. Civil partnership ceremonies have been legal in Scotland since 2005 and include the possibility of a religious blessing afterwards. So why is there a need for this further step? What is marriage? Is it a human or a divine institution? And would such a law, if passed, lead to moral anarchy, as some have claimed? Joining Ernie Rea to discuss same sex marriage are John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrew's, the Reverend John Bell, a Church of Scotland minister and Bashir Maan, Former Convenor of the Muslim Council of Scotland.

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