Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

News and Public Affairs Series / 7 Seasons

This acclaimed one-of-a-kind TV show examines religion's role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines. Hosted by veteran journalist Bob Abernethy.

Watch Latest: S20 E5

25m 52s

Moral Questions on Syria Strikes, Sister Joan Chittister

S16 E52 / 25m 38s

University of Notre Dame professor George Lopez on moral questions and a possible Syria strike; Benedictine nun Joan Chittister on the need for reform in the Catholic Church; and India’s young Jains adapting their ancient religion to fit the modern world.

March on Washington 50th Anniversary, Moral Mondays

S16 E51 / 25m 39s

As the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington approaches, we visit black and white pastors in Sanford, Florida who are working together to promote racial reconciliation in the wake of Trayvon Martin's death; and we talk to faith leaders in North Carolina who risked being arrested to counter a conservative legislature with a series of protests known as "Moral Mondays."

Bride Trafficking in India, buildOn Movement

S16 E50 / 25m 38s

Correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from India on the problem of bride trafficking; Bob Faw talks with student volunteers and the founder of buildOn, a movement inspired by the social justice demands of his Catholic faith; and we talk with Buddhist teacher and author Lewis Richmond about aging as a spiritual practice.

New State Department Faith Office, Bobby McFerrin

S16 E49 / 25m 37s

Managing editor Kim Lawton interviews Shaun Casey, director of the State Department's new faith-based office launched by Secretary of State John Kerry this week, about the need for religion’s engagement with US foreign policy. We also revisit our stories about Grammy-Award-winning artist Bobby McFerrin and about ethics and genetic testing, especially in children.

Interfaith Village, Churches and Domestic Abuse, LDS Pageant

S16 E48 / 25m 38s

We talk to a Chicago priest who wants parishes to do more for the victims of domestic abuse; travel to an “oasis of peace” in Israel where Christians, Jews, and Muslims choose to live together; and attend an annual outdoor production based on the Book of Mormon.

Papal Trip to Brazil, Sikhs One Year Later, Tobi Kahn

S16 E47 / 25m 40s

We talk with Father Thomas Reese, senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, about Pope Francis in Brazil; we remember the first anniversary of the tragic shooting at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin; and we visit the studio of artist Tobi Kahn whose work is permeated by his Jewish background and spirituality.

Zimmerman Verdict, Hispanic Protestants, Combating Extremism

S16 E46 / 25m 38s

A conversation with Rev. Romal Tune, founder of the non-profit group Faith for Change, about the religious response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman; the growing number of Protestant Hispanics in the U.S.; and the controversy and mixed success of the British government's strategy to address homegrown Islamic extremism

Egypt's Turmoil, Bloodless Surgery, Kahlil Gibran

S16 E45 / 25m 38s

A conversation about the ongoing unrest in Egypt; bloodless surgeries for those with religious objections to blood transfusions; and the legacy of one of the best-selling poets of all time, Kahlil Gibran.

Landmark High Court Decisions, Reaction, and Analysis

S16 E43 / 25m 41s

We analyze and discuss the Supreme Court’s decisions on marriage equality, affirmative action, and voting rights; talk to religious leaders for reaction to the historic rulings on same-sex marriage; and interview the founder of One Million Bones, a public art project recently installed on the National Mall in Washington, DC to raise awareness of genocide.

Civil Rights 50th Anniversary, Prisons and Mentally Ill

S16 E42 / 25m 36s

We examine the decision facing the Supreme Court on the issue of affirmative action; look back at some of the key moments of the civil rights movement in 1963 with historian Taylor Branch; and visit a Chicago jail to look at the moral and financial costs of relying on prisons to care for the mentally ill.

Government Data Collection, Russell Moore

S16 E41 / 25m 38s

The morality of balancing national security and privacy rights; the new president of the SBC’s office of public policy issues; and bridging divides between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

Joni Eareckson Tada Breast Cancer Update, Mass Incarceration

S16 E40 / 25m 36s

We revisit our 2012 interview with popular Christian evangelical author and speaker Joni Eareckson Tada about the role of faith in her battle with breast cancer; look back at our report on mass incarcerations in the U.S. and the challenges facing prison ministries; and reprise a recent story on the origin and meaning of whirling dervishes in Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam.

May 31, 2013

S16 E39 / 25m 44s

We revisit our 2011 story on Catholic priest and scholar Andrew Greeley, who died earlier this week. Also from our archives, we rebroadcast a report on ethical working conditions and labor standards in Cambodia's garment industry, and we talk to members of The Mission Continues, a nonprofit organization that provides military veterans opportunities to serve their communities.

May 24, 2013

S16 E38 / 25m 36s

We talk with Grammy-Award-winning artist Bobby McFerrin about his Christian faith, his music, and his new album "spirityouall." We also travel to Thailand to ask if Buddhism is giving way to consumerism and materialism as the country modernizes and prospers.

May 17, 2013

S16 E37 / 25m 36s

The Boy Scouts of America vote on their longstanding gay ban; the city of Baltimore feels the effects of sequestration; a former White House press secretary graduates from a Methodist theological seminary and says he wants to fix Washington's broken politics; and a Sikh community in northern Virginia teaches parents and children how to wrap a turban.

May 10, 2013

S16 E36 / 25m 35s

We look at the challenges facing those who decide to leave the confines of the tight-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and we visit a program in San Quentin prison that helps inmates deal with the emotional pain at the root of their criminal behavior through meditation and contemplation.

May 3, 2013

S16 E35 / 25m 38s

Haris Tarin of the Muslim Public Affairs Council talks about what US Muslims can do to stop extremism. We meet Iraqi refugees resettling in San Diego and talk with groups such as Catholic Charities and the International Rescue Committee who are helping them adjust to life in America. And we interview John Wood, a former Microsoft executive who founded a nonprofit called Room to Read.

April 26, 2013

S16 E34 / 25m 38s

Fifty years ago, hundreds of children faced down Bull Connor's police dogs and fire hoses to protest segregation. We go to Birmingham, Alabama to talk with participants in the 1963 Children's March. And we visit NYU President John Sexton in New York City to talk about his book on baseball as a road to God.

April 12, 2013

S16 E32 / 26m 42s

We visit a priest in Chicago who is urging churches to take more action against domestic violence, and we report on a devout Catholic doctor in upstate New York who specializes in working with severely disabled patients.

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