The question of what happens after we die is central to the world's faith traditions. How has the belief in an afterlife developed across the religions? And what does Heaven mean to people of faith today?
Ernie Rea discusses the concept of the afterlife with Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies; Dr Shuruq Naguib, lecturer in Islamic Studies at Lancaster University; and the writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford.
Producer: Amanda Hancox
Ernie Rae's studio guests asserted a great deal about stuff they couldn't possibly know, and as usual with this half-hour programme and several guests, nothing could be considered very deeply. Just enough time for someone to state that "studies have shown" that people who have a belief in an afterlife face death more peacefully than those who don't, plus the assumption that of course someone who believes in an afterlife will act more morally in their life before death.
There was also an inserted interview with resuscitation researcher Dr Sam Parnia who claimed that the scientific consensus was that the soul is something apart from the brain.
All far too superficial and unsatisfactory — I wonder why they bothered.
UPDATE 2015-01-04: Further comment by Stewart Lee at the Guardian here:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/03/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes-stewart-lee-nicky-morgan-religious-education
The mp3 audio of this programme can be downloaded here:
http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/http/vpid/p03csh25.mp3
UPDATE 2015-01-04: Further comment by Stewart Lee at the Guardian here:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/03/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes-stewart-lee-nicky-morgan-religious-education
The mp3 audio of this programme can be downloaded here:
http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/http/vpid/p03csh25.mp3
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