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...

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...

This controversial program highlights the political initiatives taken by Brazil's top two religious entities: Catholics and evangelical Protestants. It argues that the Roman Catholic Church has always been fused with the nation's identity, from statues of Christ in Rio de Janeiro to mark the first centenary of Brazil's independence to the thousands of Brazilian flags waved during morning mass at the Cathedral of Aparecida. Yet the Church has seemed...

This program examines the surprisingly rapid growth of Islam in the heart of America's Bible Belt, a predominantly fundamentalist Christian locale. Yet for Muslims living in Appalachia, the daily challenge lies not so much in acceptance by their neighbors as with practicing their religion in a country whose overall culture is so often at odds with their own beliefs. Interviews with refugees living in the region and with experts in American Islam reveal...

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, battle lines are drawn between conservative clerics claiming a God-given right to rule and reformers challenging their authority. This provocative program seeks to understand what happens when a modern state is re-created based on fundamentalist Islamic principles, and whether its society should be open and democratic or oppressed and authoritarian. From Iran's chaotic capital Tehran to its holy city of Qom, Iranians...

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?

Is the new genetics running ahead of society's ability to supervise it, or does genetic science bring huge benefits that humanity should willingly embrace? In this thought-provoking program, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams asserts the need for religious belief in the modern world to Sir John Sulston, Nobel Prize winner and the guiding spirit behind the Human Genome Project, and to Shahana Hashmi, who recently won a legal battle to create...

America's history has been repeatedly marked by debate over how the Bible applies or does not apply to social and scientific issues. Even strictly within the realm of religion, conservatives and liberals are divided about the authority and meaning of the Bible. This program examines Bible-related points of polarization and explains how different readings can coexist and even enrich each other. Topics include the place of the Bible in American culture,...

Traditional monotheistic religions are characterized by a hierarchical model in which a paternalistic deity, assisted by ascended saints and angelic beings, oversees the unfolding drama of life on Earth. This program questions the suitability of that model to the challenges of the 21st century as it presents the idea that humankind should step forward to accept greater responsibility for its own actions while becoming more attuned to the transpersonal...

Cultural values often encourage young people to aspire to high-paying, high-profile jobs-ones that ensure expensive houses, cars, clothes, and everything money can buy. Recently, however, a movement toward spiritual fulfillment has become evident among youth through their growing attraction to both traditional religions and nontraditional New Age sects, and even through such unlikely avenues as contemporary music. This program explores this movement...