Am I Normal? - Spirituality (BBC2)

The third episode of BBC2's four-part "Am I Normal?" series was broadcast on 28 April, entitled "Spirituality."

From the Radio Times listing:

Britain is statistically a more secular nation than ever before, but while some have lost faith with traditional organised religion, many of us still foster some belief in spiritual or supernatural forces. But is there any way that empirical science can validate or debunk issues of pure faith? Here, psychologist Dr Tanya Byron explores the scientific analysis of religious phenomena such as faith healing and speaking in tongues.

The presenter interviews political commentator Matthew Parris (an atheist) and journalist Jeremy Vine (a Christian), amongst others. She visits a Carmelite convent to talk to the Mother Superior and to one of the youngest nuns, and also watches a DVD of faith-healing by Benny Hinn. There's discussion of the phenomenon of "hearing voices" and a bizarre encounter with a psychologist who claims to release spirits trapped in the wrong body.

Although it's now too late for this hour-long programme to be available on the BBC iPlayer, it can be streamed in six parts from YouTube:

Part 1/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qidh2aC2yIo


Part 2/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQIRZte5AQk
Part 3/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OFVGHms9dE
Part 4/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVUFfEu2YHg
Part 5/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbvJxZfoE_Y
Part 6/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxT3V7VdNXE

This was a fairly dispassionate view of various (though not all) forms of "spirituality", and I'm glad we're getting more of these kinds of programmes now. But are we actually getting more sceptical assessments now, or could it be that I'm simply more on the look-out for such programmes than I was previously?

Journey to the Other Side - Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson

In this BBC Radio 4 half-hour documentary, ex-Take That pop star Robbie Williams goes to a UFO conference in Nevada to talk to alien abductees.

RealPlayer stream available via 'listen again':*
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/shows/rpms/radio4/robbiewilliams_jonronson.ram


Download RealPlayer here

From the BBC website:
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/robbieandjonjourney.shtml)

Robbie Williams is taking time out from being a pop star and wants to get out and have adventures in the world of the paranormal.

He has a genuine interest in UFOs and has been researching sightings, abductees and the possibility of extra terrestrial life.

During the course of the day, Robbie and Jon meet a doctor who claims to have 15 metallic objects which are not earthly, as well as a British woman, Ann Andrews, who believes that her youngest son Jason is an 'indigo child' - a child abducted by extra terrestrials while in the womb and sent back to Earth to save the planet.

The documentary was recorded on location over 3 days in LA and Nevada. The programme is a radical departure from the usual pop star interview and Jon Ronson brings his own incisive take on proceedings with Robbie at the UFO conference.

I can't decide whether this is a send-up or intended to be taken seriously. But the tenor of the show was effectively summed up early on, when Robbie Williams says, "Don't show me any debunking stuff, you know, because I want to believe."

*UPDATE:

The 'listen again' link above has expired. Get the mp3 from RapidShare here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/226461720/Journey_to_the_Other_Side.mp3

Could I stop being a Muslim?

Another from Radio 4's religion-fest a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/misc/stopbeingmuslim.shtml

Could I stop being a Muslim?

Former Muslim radical Shiraz Maher spent his student days campaigning for an Islamic caliphate in which execution for renouncing Islam would be written into the constitution.

Now Shiraz is calling for moderation and greater Muslim integration into British life, a stance which has meant he himself is now labelled an apostate by some Muslim radicals, for which the penalty is death.

He asks whether such an extreme punishment is really justified by the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

Converts from Muslim backgrounds share their stories with Shiraz.

Ziya Meral gew up in Turkey and now lives in the UK. His parents disowned him when he converted from Islam to Christianity.

"They told people I died in an accident rather than having the shame of their son leaving Islam."

'Sophia' was living in East London when she converted to Christianity. She ran away from home, but her mother tracked her down and turned up to disrupt her baptism.

"My brother was really angry. He reacted and phoned me on my mobile and just said: 'I'm coming down to burn that church.'"

Read more in this BBC News article:

"When Muslims become Christians" - BBC News Magazine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7355515.stm

The audio of the 36 minute radio programme can be streamed (RealPlayer) from the 'listen again' service:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/realmedia/religions/islam/stopbeingmuslim.ram


Download RealPlayer here

The programme appears to be an honest attempt, by an insider, to discover the truth about Islam's penalty for apostasy.

The Theology of Embryology

This half-hour radio documentary presented by Ernie Rae aired 21 April 2008 on BBC Radio 4:

Beyond Belief Special: The Theology of Embryology

From the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/beyond_belief/):

Each week on the Sony Award winning series Beyond Belief, Ernie Rea is joined by three guests who discuss how their particular religious tradition affects their values and way of looking at the world, often revealing hidden and contradictory truths.

Ernie is joined by Professor David Jones from St Mary's University, Professor Mary Seller from King's College, London), and Omar Sultan Haque from Harvard Medical School.

The audio is available in the 'listen again' service (RealPlayer) at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/realmedia/beyond_belief/beyond_20080421.ram


Download RealPlayer here

Some eminently sensible talk here, and some not so sensible. Beyond Belief is a religious programme, so the faith-based slant is to be expected.

The problem of faith: fundamentalism and theology

The majority of the godly are not fundamentalists. Nor are they esoteric theologians whose belief is so amorphous it can't be defined.

No, the majority of the godly are moderates whose faith is something they wear like an occasional accessory. It doesn't rule their lives, but it's comforting to have it there for times of need, or celebration, or rites of passage. This kind of faith is a quaint tradition that serves to identify groups and foster a sense of belonging. The tribal loyalty thus engendered should be commended, up to the point that it becomes unreasonable.

The point of unreasonableness is reached when the tribe seeks to impose its dogma on the rest of us. It doesn't happen often, because this particular tribe is more interested in the loyalty than the dogma.

It's not the moderates who are the problem (at least in the UK), but the two extremes - fundamentalism, and vacuous theology - which speak with disproportionately loud voices. The rantings of fundamentalists on the one hand - be they creationists, Islamic extremists or whatever - get far too much media attention simply because they shout loudest (it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease). Theologians, on the other hand, are afforded way too much influence in British public life, to the extent of automatic membership of the House of Lords if they happen to be Anglican bishops.

I've no quarrel with the moderates, as long as they stay moderates and leave me alone. But unfortunately religious moderates who take their religion seriously tend to become less moderate, veering towards either fundamentalism or vacuous theology. Indeed 'taking religion seriously' pretty much requires a degree of extremism - a 'serious' religious belief cannot help having repercussions throughout every aspect of a person's life.

A cursory survey of religious moderates is likely to suggest that there isn't much of a problem at all. But it's the vast majority of moderates who constitute the umbrella of normality and harmlessness under which the fundamentalists and theologians shelter.

Fundamentalism should be challenged at every opportunity, not because such challenges have any chance of swaying dogmatic fundamentalists - they haven't - but because public challenging of fundamentalism highlights its absurdity and shows the moderates why they should remain moderate.

Theologians should also be challenged, because despite theology's lack of validity, theologians occupy influential positions in society, where what they have to say is afforded undeserved respect. Such challenges need to be direct and uncompromising. It's no good attacking a theologian on his home territory - theology is a cloudy, indistinct field of contemplation that isn't susceptible to rational discussion, and any attempt to meet it half way is likely to lead to confusion and frustration. Worse, it will appear to give a theological argument some basis as an intellectually valid standpoint, when it clearly has none. By 'direct challenge' I mean a challenge to the first principle on which all theological discussions appear to be based - that God exists. Without that premise, all of theology crumbles.

Theological wisdom: Rowan Williams on debt

It's been suggested[1] that theology isn't actually a subject at all. But if that's the case it has a huge advantage over many other disciplines: being qualified in theology gives you the authority to speak out on subjects that have nothing whatever to do with the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.

On Friday's Today Programme, Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke to John Humphrys about debt. The audio is available on the BBC's listen again service here.


Download RealPlayer here

The muddle-headed cleric was interviewed for about eight minutes in advance of a debate in the House of Lords. The essence (indeed the whole) of his thesis was "something must be done."

I've nothing against people having opinions, but when they appear on national media to speak on a particular topic, I expect them to have some established expertise, authority or at least relevant experience that will add to the debate. But just because Dr. Williams is a nice chap with a posh voice - that's not a good enough reason to put his views on the nation's premier morning news radio programme. If you listen to what he said in those eight minutes, you'll find he said nothing new or useful.

1. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (London: Bantam Press, 2006), 57

Blazing a trail for Podiobook authors: Scott Sigler & Seth Harwood (repost from other blog)

Look what just arrived!



A package from Amazon.com outside my door yesterday evening contained these two new releases:

• Infected by Scott Sigler, (hardcover) published by Crown
• Jack Wakes Up by Seth Harwood (paperback) published by Breakneck Books

Congrats to both of them, and thanks for drawing the mainstream spotlight onto new media - both of these titles were originally released as free podcast novels.