Beyond Belief BBC Radio 4
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- Religion & Spirituality
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Series exploring the place and nature of faith in today's world
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Women in Charge?
What does female leadership in faith and religion look like today? Whilst more women than ever participated in the Pope’s recent Synod, (an assembly, or meeting) at the Vatican last year, we still seem a fair distance from women being able to offer a sacrament in the Catholic Church.
Aleem Maqbool meets Naima Khan, a Muslim and female imam and Director of the Inclusive Mosque Initiative. For ten years the mosque has been quietly pioneering, with women leading mixed-gender congregations in prayer. Naima tells Aleem why it was important for her to take on a level of spiritual leadership. What has the reaction been and what does her faith teach her about inclusivity and representation?
Jill Duff, the Bishop of Lancaster in the Church of England, Georgia Clarke, a youth leader in the Roman Catholic Church, and Mandeep Kaur MBE, Sikh Chaplain to the RAF and Ministry of Defence advisor on Sikh issues discuss what female leadership means to them. What progress has been made and where are the limits in their traditions to the roles women can play?
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: Ruth Purser -
Stem Cell Steaks and the Scriptures
Is cultured or cultivated meat, grown from animal stem cells, kosher or halal?
That's what some religious leaders and scholars are starting to consider as we search for more sustainable solutions to feeding the world. Didier Toubia is the CEO of Aleph Farms, one company in Israel that has sought religious approval for its steak, grown from the stem cells of a black angus cow. They have also submitted an application to the Food Standards Authority in the hopes of bringing their products to the UK.
A written ruling by the Chief Rabbi of Israel declared that their lab-grown meat could be considered Kosher. Aleem Maqbool has questions, and is joined by a panel of livestock farmers to discuss the relationship between faith, farming and the future of meat.
Dr Lutfi Radwan is from Willowbrook Farm in Oxfordshire, which claims to be the first halal and tayib farm in the UK, Bridget Down is a Methodist preacher and famer in Devon and Achyuta Masoumi is from Bhaktivendanta Manor near Watford, an estate and Hare Krishna temple which includes a cow sanctuary.
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: Ruth Purser -
Faith In The Psychedelic Renaissance
Aleem Maqbool meets Richard Butler, who describes a new-found connection with Jesus during an Ayahuasca retreat in Mexico, after discovering spirituality through meditation.
Some psychedelic drugs, like the plant-based DMT found in the ayahuasca drink, have been the subject of medical trials for their help with mental health conditions such as depression, with some successful results. But alongside their medical potential is, for some, a connection between their use and spirituality.
To discuss what might be going on, the potential and the dangers of the so-called psychedelic renaissance, Aleem is joined by a fascinating panel. Rev Rita Powell is an Episcopal Priest who has taken magic mushrooms as part of a University trial in the US, Dr Ben Sessa is a psychiatrist involved in psychedelic research here in the UK and Dr David Luke, Associate Professor at the University of Greenwich, explores spirituality, psychedelics and ‘exceptional human experiences’ in his work.
Opening Music: Ayahuasca Icaros - Medicine (Cures For All)
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: James Leesley -
Sacred Sounds
What makes music sacred?
A young, slightly lost university student wanders into York Minster on a Saturday afternoon, after football practice. The choral music he hears there will change his life.
Aleem Maqbool hears his story, and is joined by a panel of talented musicians and composers from the Christian, Sikh and Sufi Islamic traditions to explore what makes the music they perform and compose spiritual. Is music a way they are able to connect with the divine?
His guests include Abi Sampa and Rushil Ranjan from the Orchestral Qawwali Project, Indian classical musician Jasdeep Singh Degun and Elizabeth Stratford, organist and Master of the Choristers at Arundel Cathedral.
Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: James Leesley -
Witches, Druids and Pagans
The number of Pagans in the UK is on the rise. The 2021 Census saw 75,000 define themselves as Pagan, 13,000 as Wicca and there was also a huge increase in those defining as Shaman, up to 8000.
Aleem Maqbool speaks with modern day witch, Richard about his spirituality and the impact it has on his life sparking a discussion on Wicca, Paganism and Druidry the relationship between these spiritualities and other faiths.
Producer: Katharine Longworth
Editor: Tim Pemberton -
Behind Bars
In 1993 Michael Emmett was sentenced to 12 years in prison. It was there that he had a radical transformation. After a difficult night, alone in his cell, he opened the Bible and began to read.
Aleem Maqbool speaks to Michael Emmett about his conversion to Christianity leading to a discussion on how religious beliefs and practices can have an impact on people sentenced to prison and how different faiths respond to prisoners.
Aleem is joined by:
Venerable Ajahn Khemadhammo OBE - The Buddhist Adviser to HM Prison & Probation Service
Dr Sofia Buncy MBE – Founder and National Coordinator of the multi-award-winning Muslim Women in Prison programme
Dr Katie Hunt - Lecturer in Law at the University of Lincoln and author of "Non-religious Prisoners’ Unequal Access to Pastoral Care in International Journal of Law in Context.
Producer: Katharine Longworth
Editor: Tim Pemberton