Beyond Belief

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 s...

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...

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 ther...

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 afterw...

Today's crisis in the global financial markets has produced much soul searching about the culture of greed which seems to permeate our society. At the beginning of the last century the German sociologist, Max Weber, proposed that there was a direct link between the Protestant Reformation and the rise in capitalism. And specifically, that hard work, combined with a moral attitude towards wealth, wa...

Shamanic cultures have been using substances for thousands of years to induce altered states of consciousness. X ray vision is said to be a key feature of the shamanic experience. This has been observed in Aboriginal rock art where the skeletons of animals are depicted. Cannabis is sacred to the Hindu God Shiva and even ancient Buddhists were known to use drugs. In India there was a substance call...

In the first of a new series, Ernie Rea and his three guests discuss Islam & the Veil. France, Belgium & Italy have already banned the full face veil. Other countries are considering it. In Britain a Private Member's Bill on the subject was thrown out 18 months ago. But the subject prompts fierce debate amongst Muslims and non-Muslims alike. In a country like the UK, which prizes individua...

Earlier this year the Irish Prime Minister launched an unprecedented attack on the Vatican, after an inquiry into the handling of allegations of child abuse found that the church had ignored its own child protection guidelines. Enda Kenny said a culture of "dysfunction, disconnection, elitism and narcissism" dominated the Vatican, criticisms which were rejected by the Vatican as "unfounded". Kenny...

Around 60% of the people who attend church in London on a Sunday are of African or Caribbean origin. Some of their churches are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. Many argue that they have the capacity to breathe fresh life into mainline British churches, and offer a version of Christianity uncorrupted by western liberalism. Ernie Rea and his guests discuss the history of these churches...

In the film "The Rite," released earlier this year, Anthony Hopkins plays the part of an American priest who travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school. The film is based on one of the Vatican's Chief Exorcists, Father Gary Thomas, who says his work brings him into daily contact with demons. The idea that human beings can be possessed by evil spirits clashes with scientific and medical explan...

When the hijackers directed their planes into the Twin Towers in New York, it was religion as well as terrorism which hit the headlines. The hijackers had the name of their God on their lips. For many it was a sign that the Clash of Civilisations, the conflict between the Muslim and Christian worlds, had become a dreadful reality. But the events led to an upsurge of interest in Islam and in the qu...

A controversial High Court ruling on the admission policy of the Jewish Free School in London two years ago has led to heated and ongoing discussion among Jews in this country about what constitutes Jewishness. With the number of Jews in Britain declining, the question of how to preserve and pass on Judaism is a major preoccupation of members the community, be they Orthodox, Reform or secular. So...

Religious symbols can cause offence these days, it seems - whether it's a Christian cross over a work uniform or a Muslim woman's headcovering. But people seem to have no problem with statues of the Buddha in shops and garden centres. Secularists who are quick to pour scorn on Christianity and Islam often have a soft spot for his teachings. But is Buddhism as we experience it in the West, the genu...

The Scottish Premier League season is well underway with memories of the sectarian attacks on the Celtic manager earlier in the year still fresh in the mind. What do these incidents tell us about the nature and extent of sectarianism in Scotland today? Is it confined mainly to football or is it endemic within wider society? With church attendance in rapid decline, is religion still a potent force...

We were told that Globalisation would kill off religion. In fact, the vast majority of the world's population continues to maintain religious beliefs and practice. So how does Globalisation affect Religion? Does the spread of religion across national boundaries mean that its universal elements will develop at the expense of the national and particular? Is there a danger that faith and culture migh...

The idea of the Sabbath, a communal day off every week, has been all but taken over by Sunday opening and the 24/7 society. In "Beyond Belief" Ernie Rea asks what society has gained and lost as a result of this change. Sports Commentator Dan Walker tells him why he refuses to work on a Sunday, and he is joined by Rabbi Naftali Brawer, Sam Barker of the Relationships Foundation and Keep Sunday Spec...

According to recent research, a Christian couple in Britain has only a 50 percent chance of transmitting their beliefs and practice to their children. If a child has just one Christian parent the chance is 25 per cent. Why is it so difficult for parents to pass on their faith? And do grandparents and parents in minority faith communities face the same problems when it comes to transmitting their r...

If there is one idea on which David Cameron has staked the reputation of his government it is the Big Society, and he has stressed the role he believes faith groups have to play in it. Their reaction has, however, been mixed with the Archbishop of Canterbury describing it as a "stale slogan" in danger of being seen as an opportunistic cover for spending cuts. So what is the Big Society, and are it...

Christianity is a Middle Eastern Religion. Its early expansion was Eastwards and it quickly became the dominant religion of the region. That changed with the arrival of Islam but Christians have always had a significant presence. But during the last century Christians began leaving the Middle East in large numbers. Sometimes it was because they were more able to take up the opportunities the West...

In the first of a new series, Ernie Rea and guests discuss the Christian understanding of Hell. Hell appears in several mythologies and religions as a place of suffering and punishment after death, but it is Christianity which has lent it its most vivid imagery. The Christian understanding of hell grew out of the Jewish concept of Sheol, a shadowy abode of the dead. Jesus used graphic images to de...

In the last in the current series, Ernie Rea invites guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives to debate the challenges of today's world. Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us. In this programme Ernie and guests discuss ways in which individuals...

Ernie Rea invites guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives to debate the challenges of today's world. Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us. In this programme Ernie Rea and guests discuss male spirituality and ask if men and women respond diffe...

Ernie Rea chairs Radio 4's discussion programme in which guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives debate the challenges of today's world. Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us. In this programme, Ernie discusses the role and place of nuns in re...

Ernie Rea chairs Radio 4's discussion programme in which guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives debate the challenges of today's world. Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us. Producer: Karen Maurice.

Ernie Rea chairs Radio 4's discussion programme in which guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives debate the challenges of today's world. Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us. Producer: Karen Maurice.