Summary: A self-proclaimed "freelance monotheist," Karen Armstrong is on a mission to bring compassion, the heart of religion, as she sees it, back into modern life. In this edition of the Journal, Bill Moyers sits down with Armstrong for a nuanced discussion of her Charter for Compassion initiative, a global call for all people-religious and non-religious alike-to apply the Golden Rule in their...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Martin Luther's most effective strike against the Church may have been his decision to marry. This program shows how Luther's radical choice and the Protestant movements of the 16th and 17th centuries transformed Western attitudes toward sex, love, marriage, gender roles, and family life. Viewers will learn about the contributions of several historical figures, including Thomas Cranmer's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: It has been called a gateway to eternal salvation and an incitement to holy war. It has unified peoples yet divided nations. Religion: would society be better off without it? That is the question in this Oxford Union-style debate as panelists make their case. Speakers for the motion underscore that rampant interfaith and intrafaith violence vastly outweighs any social benefits of religion and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: In this program, philosopher and theologian Conor Cunningham argues that only extremist viewpoints-Creationism and ultra-Darwinism-make evolution and religion mutually exclusive. Experts from across the gamut of opinions frame the debate and trace its origins, including Father Gregory Tatum of the Ecole Biblique; University of Oxford historian Pietro Corsi; Darwin scholar Nick Spencer, author...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: The separation of church and state represents one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy. While some contend that the United States needs to return to its roots as a "Christian nation," others point out that the Founding Fathers crafted a system specifically designed to guard against any form of state-sanctioned religion. After reviewing the substance of the debates that took...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: 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...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: In the 21st-century landscape of shopping malls and skyscrapers, capitalism appears irreligious-but beneath its secular veneer lie theological principles born in the 1500s. This program examines the rise of the Protestant work ethic and the religious foundations of Western industry; it also reveals a Protestant consciousness at the heart of social activism and the opposition to extreme...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: 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....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: The Amish rarely allow themselves to be photographed or filmed, yet several members of the isolated religious community agreed to appear in this eye-opening documentary. Filmed on location in Pennsylvania and Ohio Amish country, the program goes beyond stereotypes and common misconceptions, presenting a fully human portrait of a misunderstood people. Interviews with Amish men and women-some...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Whether viewed as a spiritual matter of immorality or a secular concern with maintaining family lineage, premarital and extramarital sex have caused consternation since ancient times. In this program, theologians Melissa Raphael and Gavin D'Costa, author Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood, and others explain what constitutes adultery and talk about how Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Is the human brain hardwired for religion? This program examines work in the emerging field of neurotheology, focusing on links between religious ecstasy and the brain's temporal lobes. Dr. Michael Persinger, who has spent much of his career pursuing such a connection, uses magnetic field resonance to test his theories on renowned atheist Richard Dawkins. Inversely, Dr. Andrew Newberg performs...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: An opaque veil, gloved hands, and long black flowing garments-these are among the images that Westerners most commonly associate with Iranian women. In this program, National Geographic photographer Alexandra Avakian sets out to dispel long-held stereotypes as she ventures behind the veils of women in Iran, ultimately discovering a tough and spirited female community. The New York City native...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: This program examines religious guidelines designed to regulate and add meaning to the sex lives of married couples of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh faiths. Topics include when intercourse is permissible and when it should be avoided, whether it is sinful for men and women to use contraception, what type of genital contact is allowable, whether marital sex for non-procreative...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Since the 1965 Immigration Act, the United States has emerged as the world's most religiously diverse country. The stories, perspectives, interviews, and images featured in this program culled from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly offer an opportunity for informed dialogue about encountering these religions, both ancient and new, and appreciating their complexity. In-depth segments filmed at...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: In 2005, a handful of Danish cartoons sparked a worldwide debate over freedom of expression-and the freedom to express religious outrage. Was a violent Islamic backlash against caricatures of the prophet Mohammed justified? Can democracy and fundamentalism coexist in the global community? This program travels to Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Qatar, and Turkey, as well as to France and Denmark, in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Is there a crisis of childhood caused by the consumer society and the mass media? "There is impatience in our culture for letting children be children," says Archbishop Rowan Williams, who cites lack of in-depth conversations between parents and children as the main cause for their vulnerability to advertising tactics. In this intriguing program, Archbishop Williams argues with children's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: This program captures the increasingly political nature of Hinduism and its volatile relationship with Islam-India's leading minority religion. It argues that this volatility results from their past history, when large parts of India were dominated by the Muslim rulers, the Mughals. Today, many Hindus demand greater recognition of Hinduism in governmental affairs and oppose what they feel is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Fundamentalism may be on the rise, but the American interfaith movement is also alive and well. This Emmy-nominated documentary follows seven women-all leaders in Chicago's Christian, Jewish, or Muslim communities-who have gathered to share views, express fears and concerns about the post-9/11 world, and build bridges of peace between their faiths. Participants include the Rev. Willie T....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: This straight-talking program seeks to understand if religious belief can be reconciled with the changing values of modern life. Archbishop Rowan Williams argues that religion must suit a modern audience by changing the way it communicates its message-a point disputed by conservative historian Jonathan Clark, who believes the forces of modernity should be resisted. Reformist Muslim Shaykh Hamza...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: The capacity for awe in the face of the transcendent: that is how Paul Woodruff, one of America's foremost interpreters of Plato and other venerable thinkers of ancient Greece, defines reverence. In this program, Bill Moyers and the author of Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue examine this crucial yet frequently misunderstood and misapplied concept and its implications for the world today....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: This program addresses accusations of the Christian right's distorting influence on America's place in the world. President George W. Bush has actively promoted the idea of faith-based initiatives-government's assistance in combating welfare and social deprivation-prompting charges of First Amendment violations from Democrats and liberals. But President Bush has had to force these initiatives...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: This program considers the debt Western civilization owes to paganism, Christianity, and Islam, showing how each religion has influenced the other and how the art of all three continues to exert an effect on the world. Highlighting the lifelike sculptures of ancient Greece that celebrate what it is to be human; the primitive daubs in Roman catacombs, shimmering Byzantine mosaics, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The path Steven Rockefeller has taken on his intellectual and spiritual journey would very likely surprise his great-grandfather, the tycoon John D. Rockefeller, Sr. A convert to Buddhism, Steven Rockefeller has been teaching Religion at Middlebury College in Vermont for almost 20 years. Centering on what he calls "the democratic reconstruction of religion," Rockefeller has steeped himself in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: Some democratic governments have considered allowing Muslim communities to conduct their own courts of law, or Shari'ah courts. Westerners who oppose such measures cite reports of amputation and stoning wherever Shari'ah has taken hold. This program travels to Nigeria, where Shari'ah law functions alongside the secular court system. Spotlighting an outspoken judge determined to convey the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008