The singer Leonard Cohen, who died five years ago, tells the story that a friend once told him: "You never met a religion you didn't like". Listen in to our investigation of his spiritual life and we're fairly confident you'll never hear a Cohen song in quite the same way again. Though he fell out with the Montreal Jewish community he grew up in, his music fuses Judaism and Christianity as well as ideas from Zen Buddism. We hear Cohen's own views on faith from the BBC archive, talk to Harry Freedman author of Leonard Cohen: The mystical roots of genius and of course, hear those songs alongside their inspirations from the Talmud, the Kabbalah and the Bible.Is faith central to the debate about caring for the environment? This week the UK's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said religious leaders were left to "scramble around" for the chance to make their voices heard at COP 26, the UN summit aimed at bringing climate change under control. As the conference enters a second week Edward Stourton talks to faith leaders about their experiences, what exactly they have to add to the debate and how they're going to make themselves heard in week two.Also in the programme: the young German Catholics attempting to get the church to spell God with a gender star. They say that the image of a male, white God is putting many young people off religion. And where's Cuthbert? This week York Minster replaced a window dedicated to the influential St Cuthbert. Its one of the largest surviving narrative windows in Europe and the only one telling the story of the saint who was a Medieval superstar. Edward finds out what the window tells us of the hermit and how to pick out Cuthbert himself from a window that is celebrated as a "Lancastrian who's who's".
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Folge vom 07.11.2021Leonard Cohen's Spirituality; Is Faith Being Left Out Of COP 26?; St Cuthbert
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Folge vom 31.10.2021Black Muslims, COP26, Divali“I feel like you almost need to perform to prove you are a Muslim” says makeup artist Zainab Hassan as a survey by Muzmatch confirms the discrimination many Black Muslims feel within some Muslim communities. Imam Rakin Niass and Imam Qari Asim discuss how to tackle this.19 out of 20 of the most popular Christian American pages on Facebook were fake. Karen Hao tells Edward about the troll farms set up to exploit Facebook communities in the run up to last year’s Presidential election.As COP26 begins young activists Lucy Gillingham, Harjot Singh and Priya Koria discuss their hopes and fears for the climate change conference.Bhavik Depala talks of his joy as the Neasden Hindu Temple in London opens its doors to celebrate Divali for the first time since lockdown.The never ending cycle of prayer and music – Vishva Samani looks at the Benedictine tradition of the Divine Office.Producers: Amanda Hancox and Jill Collins Editor: Helen Grady
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Folge vom 24.10.2021Last rites as an 'emergency service', Lebanon crisis, 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'The Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury has called for greater recognition of the last rites as an “emergency service”, following concerns that a priest was unable to reach Sir David Amess, a Catholic, at the scene where he was attacked. Meanwhile in Parliament this week, there was talk of this being reflected in a so-called "Amess amendment" to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Ed Stourton explores the implications.Sectarian violence on the streets of Beirut last week was the deadliest there for more than a decade. Residents are already living through Lebanon’s worst economic crisis for more than three decades and rebuilding their city after last year's port blast. We examine the religious roots of the crisis.Dune, the latest sci-fi blockbuster, is an adaptation of a 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, in which religion, Islam in particular, looms large. We look at how the film deals with the Islamic themes. (Credit: Warner Bros. UK & Ireland; directed by Denis Villeneuve)As part of Black History Month, we reflect on the origins and controversy of the song, 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot', with a descendent of the enslaved people who are credited with writing it.Producers: Dan Tierney Louise Clarke-RowbothamEditor: Helen GradyPicture: Fisk Jubilee Singers Credit: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis
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Folge vom 17.10.2021Church crawls, Religious toys, Jewish Fringe FestivalOn this weekend’s Sunday programme, we continue to explore the future of religious worship, post-pandemic. Our reporter Nalini Sivasthasan looks into the renewed calls to make some Mosques more inclusive spaces for Muslim Women. And our Presenter Emily Buchanan speaks to the Imam and Scholar, Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra. Amidst the growing calls for the restitution of treasures looted from Africa during the colonial era, there sits in the British Museum a contested collection of Sacred Plaques known as Tabots. Campaigners argue that there is no legal impediment to them being restored to their homeland. Father Abate Gobena, a serving Priest and member of the Parish Council at St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church in London, explains why these Tabots are so precious to Ethiopians. Author Peter Stanford takes us on ‘church crawl’ across the UK with his latest book ‘If These Stones Could Talk, The History Of Christianity In Britain and Ireland Through Twenty Buildings’. Is a cuddly Deity the best way to help children understand faith and culture? In the run up to Diwali, soft toys of Deities like Ganesha are on offer at Hindu gatherings. Now the range is expanding to include all major faiths as our Reporter Vishva Samani explains. ‘Tsitsit’ is a pun on the Hebrew word for ritual fringes and it’s also the title of a Jewish themed Fringe Festival of comedy, theatre and music, currently on tour around the country. Emily speaks to the Festival’s Director Alastair Falk and Rachel Creeger, the only Orthodox Jewish woman on the British comedy circuit and co-host of the podcast 'Jew Talkin’ to Me’. Picture Credit: 2021 The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Producers: Jill Collins and Louise Clarke-RowbothamEditor: Helen Grady