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: 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: 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
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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: 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: 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: 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: Zaki al-Arsuzi School is a girls-only secondary school. Jaramana School is a boys-only middle school. Focusing on two new students-Du'aa, a teenage Muslim girl who has transferred to secular Zaki al-Arsuzi from a Sharia school, and Yusif, a teenage Christian boy from Iraq who is attending Jaramana as a war refugee-this program maps their experiences against the broader picture of Syrian...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: As the controversy over intelligent design and science education heats up, open-minded discussion about the issue can be in short supply. This ABC News program sorts through arguments on both sides, examines the debate in the context of America's larger political climate, and explores its fundamental questions: Are evolution and I.D. incompatible? Is exposure to both ideas harmful or beneficial...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Can the future be seen in the dregs of a teacup? For some, the past and the future are an open book-and what was once an underground sisterhood is now mainstream. In this program, devotees of Wicca and practitioners of tarot, astrology, palmistry, and other arcane arts explain their gifts of divination and healing while reflecting on their efforts to reconcile their unorthodox callings with...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In the U.S., Islam is prospering as never before-but some Americans are beginning to fear the burgeoning power of that group, currently 8 million strong. This program traces the rapid expansion of Islam in New York City, where it sustains and brings hope to Muslim citizens, recent Muslim immigrants, and converts drawn primarily from the downtrodden sectors of society. The program also features...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: It is no irony that Victor Zorkaltsev, a Communist, is also the head of the religious committee of the Russian parliament, the Duma. It is also not an accident that the Russian government paid for an extraordinary replica of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour that is maintained by local businessmen. And if more than 80 percent of Russians describe themselves as Orthodox Christians, why do only...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Until recently, Brazil was the world's most populous Catholic nation-until the Pentecostal Protestants began a televangelical campaign that has resulted in a national identity crisis. This program examines the TV ratings war between the Pentecostals and the Catholics, whose Charismatics are countering with television programming of their own. Additional insights are offered by Liberation...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Filmed over the course of three years, this documentary offers viewers unprecedented access to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his inner circle as they work together to convince the Chinese government of the need for a negotiated settlement on the future of Tibet. The result is a truly unique portrait of a widely revered world leader as he struggles to strike a balance between his spiritual...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Are advocates of the intelligent design theory really creationists in disguise? To what extent has the I.D. argument widened America's cultural divide? And if a clear winner emerges, who loses? This program thoroughly examines those questions, describing the theory's quasi-scientific origins and documenting the Pennsylvania court battle over teaching I.D. in biology classes. A historical...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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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: 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: 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