Beyond Belief

On the 11th November at 11am it will be exactly 100 years since the end of the First World War.

There will be the usual Ceremony of Remembrance at the Cenotaph on Whitehall when the nation honours those who lost their lives in two world wars and more recent military conflicts. Is this the best way for us to remember war? Do acts of Remembrance have any relevance today and should religion play a part in these ceremonies? To take a look at these questions, Mark Dowd is joined by a panel of experts and pupils from Loreto Sixth Form College in Manchester.

Producer: Catherine Earlam

The issue of why a loving God would create a world full of suffering has exercised the minds of the world's greatest thinkers. How can you reconcile a loving God with dreadful illnesses for which there is no known cure? For millions who live with disability it is no mere academic question. If they are men and women of faith, they have to wrestle with this question on a daily basis. Developments in science now allow expectant parents to make informed choices based on scientific evidence about whether to allow a severely disabled baby to come to full term. Is this a good thing? Or are we heading down a morally slippery slope? How can religion and disability make sense of each other? Ernie Rea discusses these questions with three guests who all live with a disability: Amoghavajra, who is ordained in the Triratna Buddhist Order; Rev Zoe Heming, a Church of England priest and the broadcast journalist Ahmad Bostan.

When Pope Francis visited Mexico in 2016, he paid his respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe, a dark skinned Madonna who is said to have appeared to a peasant man in 1531. Then, standing at the Mexican border, he turned his attention to the migrant crisis, "No more death, no more exploitation," he declared.

When it comes to religion, what is an acceptable target? God surely must enjoy a joke. Why else would he have created mankind? But are those who worship him fair game for comedians? Undoubtedly certain religions have been the source of much humour. Jewish comics such as Joan Rivers, Woody Allen and Groucho Marx have always been willing to make fun of their culture but should they also poke fun at their religion and how do you disentangle culture from religion? If you enjoy laughing at the culture and beliefs of your own community, is it acceptable to make jokes about a culture and religion to which you do not belong? Where should we draw the line between freedom of speech and the need to respect the beliefs of others? Taking a look at religion and humour a multi-faith panel of comedian discuss the question: How far can you go?

The panel:

Tez Ilyas

Producer: Helen Lee.

Early one morning in July 1918, the Russian Imperial Family was led into a basement and murdered. Nicholas the Second was only 26 when he became Tsar of All the Russians. He was ill equipped for the job and faced challenges which would have tested a more gifted man. But Nicolas was deeply religious and had a profound sense of his duty to God to uphold autocracy and defend the Church. Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the last of the Romanovs is Andrew Phillips, Archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church; the historian Janet Ashton, and authors Helen Rappaport and Martin Sixsmith.

Producer: Amanda Hancox.

Today's special edition of Beyond Belief comes from the library in the Bronte Parsonage Museum at Haworth on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. It was here that Charlotte Bronte conceived the plot of her best known work, 'Jane Eyre'.

Religion features large in this novel - which isn't surprising as Charlotte was the daughter of Irish priest Patrick Bronte, the curate for many years of St Michael and All Angel's Church in Haworth. What is surprising though, is that some critics at the time described 'Jane Eyre' as an anti-religious work. Queen Victoria begged to differ and described it as "A really wonderful book with fine religious feeling."

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the religious content of Jane Eyre are Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool, John Bowen, Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature at the University of York and Rosemary Mitchell, Professor of Victorian Studies at Leeds Trinity University.

Producer: Helen Lee

The annual Met Gala - which takes place in New York tonight - is often described as "fashion's biggest night out". It is a fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art that welcomes celebrities from all walks of life and fashion industry paragons alike. It also signifies the opening of the NY Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibition which this year has the title 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination'.

Religion has had an impact on the way we dress for many centuries. Clothing is mentioned in the Bible and some might argue that Eve's fig leaf was the earliest fashion statement. But the fashion world is not just influenced by the Catholic Church. Muslim fashion - and the popularity of the 'cool hijab' - is very important today as is a growing demand for modest fashion.

Joining Professor Robert Beckford to discuss religion and fashion are Professor Reina Lewis from London School of Fashion UAL, the Rev Sally Hitchiner and New York based fashion journalist Michelle Honig who is a modern Orthodox Jew. Robert also talks to Simon Ward - former Chief Operating Officer for the British Fashion Council - about important ethical questions facing the fashion industry at the moment.

Producer: Helen Lee

There is a certain way of saying the word 'spinster' that gives it implications of disapproval or even pity; as if for a woman, not being married is an inferior state. Why does it sound so unpleasant? And why is it more acceptable to be a bachelor than a spinster? Could part of the blame lie in religious traditions with their stress on the centrality of the family? Today women are forging careers and putting off marriage and babies. Is there a positive role for single women in religious structures which lay great stress on producing children? Is spinsterhood a holy state? Is it better for a woman with strong religious convictions to remain unmarried rather than being, what St Paul called, "unequally yoked together."

In an attempt to find answers to these questions, Ernie Rea is joined by Shelina Janmohamed - an author and commentator on Muslim social and religious trends - Jewish journalist Angela Epstein and former MP Ann Widdecombe, who is a Christian.

Ernie also talks to Dr Fauzia Ahmad. She is an unmarried Muslim woman whose own experience has informed 25 years of research into why young Muslim women are finding it increasingly difficult to meet suitable Muslim husbands.

Producer: Helen Lee

Most people have a sacred space, a place which is special to them. It could be a beach, a mountain top, a building, even a sports ground - but why have they become 'sacred'? Many of the grandest sacred spaces have been created by the world's religions but what were their creators trying to achieve? Are there certain characteristics which define a sacred space and if so, are they still valid today To discuss sacred spaces, Professor Robert Beckford is joined by Ben Quash (Professor of Christianity and the Arts at King's College London), Karsan Vaghani (a Hindu Chaplain at Cardiff University) and Jon Cannon (author of 'The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces'). Robert also interviews Simon Jenkins (author of 'England's Cathedrals' and 'England's Thousand Best Churches').

Producer: Amanda Hancox.

For many years, transgender people have remained silent. But today they are affirming publicly that they have a rightful place in society and religious groups are now grappling with transgender issues. The Church of England General Synod recently debated a motion to draw up a prayer to welcome people who have transitioned from one sex to another. The House of Bishops turned it down.

The Bible asserts that God made mankind in his own image; so what's the problem? Presumably he made people whose gender does not sit comfortably with the sex they were assigned at birth? But debate still rages within the church because the Bible also says that "male and female, God created them" which suggests that there should be no ambiguity when it comes to a person's gender.

The issues are complex and they can multiply if a trans person is living a religious life within a religious community. What is the attitude of religious traditions towards transgender people? Are the problems more cultural than religious?

Joining Ernie Rea are Kamalanandi, and Philippa Whittaker, A Buddhist and a Christian who have both transitioned. With them in discussion is the academic Dr Susannah Cornwall whose work concentrates on contextual theologies, particularly those relating to sex gender and sexuality.

Ernie also talks to Indian transgender activist Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli about the role that the Hijra play within the Hindu community in India. The Hijra are transgender people who are invited to bless new born babies and married couples but they find themselves outcast within Indian society despite a change in the law in 2014 which recognises their right to be who they are.

Producer: Helen Lee