Beyond Belief

Was William Shakespeare a closet Catholic? This year sees the 450th anniversary of his birth. He lived through a time of great turmoil, when Elizabeth the First tried to impose uniformity on the country's religious practice. How much is that reflected in his plays? How much did religion matter to Shakespeare? Did he have a particular religious agenda? And does he have a message for our contemporary religious - or irreligious - culture?

Ernie Rea discusses Shakespeare and Religion with Clare Asquith, author of Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Practice of William Shakespeare; Eric Mallin author of a book called "Godless Shakespeare:" and Helen Wilcox, Head of the School of English at Bangor University.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss Christian perspectives on Gender identity.

What is the purpose of an Islamic education? Faith Schools are popular with parents, but there is also considerable public disquiet about them - particularly when such schools are Islamic. The Al Madinah Free School in Derby has been forced to close its secondary wing on the grounds that it is "Chaotic, dysfunctional and inadequate." Now there are so called Trojan Horse allegations about five schools in Birmingham - none of them Faith Schools - which have been put into special measures because it is said not enough is being done to protect children from the potential risks of radicalisation and extremism.

Ernie's guests are are Rania Hafez, Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of Greenwich, Professor Dennis Hayes, Head of the Centre for Educational research at the University of Derby and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, columnist for the Independent newspaper and co-founder of British Muslims for Secular Democracy.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the meaning of Apostasy within Islam.

The case of Meriam Ibrahim, sentenced to death by a Sudanese court for abandoning Islam, has attracted world wide attention. In the West, the court decision has been almost universally condemned as a violation of a basic human right, that of religious freedom. About 20 Muslim countries in the world have laws against apostasy; What purpose do they fulfil and what is historical and theological reasoning that lies behind them?

Ernie Rea and guests discuss Last Rites in some of the world's major faiths.

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss mindfulness meditation. It has its roots in religious practice, but can it be adapted to a secular environment?

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the heady mix of football and religion in Brazil in the first of a new series of Beyond Belief.

For a month from the 12th June there will be a football match on television just about every evening during the World Cup. The host nation, Brazil, are among the favourites to win. Many of their players will be looking to a higher power to help their efforts on the field, because Brazil is an intensely religious country and some of its finest footballers are signed up "Ambassadors for Jesus."

Brazil has the largest population of Catholics in the world, but things have been changing as Brazilians migrate from rural areas to the cities and the country becomes a major player on the world economic stage.

Joining Ernie to discuss the Changing Face of Religion in Brazil are Daniel Clark, a Baptist minister and citizen of Brazil as well as Britain; Bettina Schmidt, Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religions at the University of Wales, Trinity St David ; and Andrew Dawson, Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University who has been researching Religion in Brazil since the early 1990s.

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

India is about to go to the polls. 788 million people are eligible to vote in the world's largest democracy. The role of regional, local and caste-based parties is important in Indian politics where Governments tend to rule by coalition, but this election is being represented as an epic struggle between the Indian National Congress party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by the controversial figure of Narendra Modi, a Hindu Nationalist.

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the role of religious nationalism in Indian politics are William Gould, Professor of Indian History at the University of Leeds, Atreyee Sen, lecturer in Contemporary Religion and Conflict at the University of Manchester, and Zoya Hasan formerly Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and currently National Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).

Producer: Amanda Hancox, Rosie Dawson.

A new word has entered into our common vocabulary recently. Fracking is the process whereby shale gas can be released from beneath the earth's surface. On the one hand, it's argued that fracking could give us enough gas to meet our short to medium term energy needs; on the other hand, there are those who fear it will do lasting environmental damage. How do you balance short term needs with long term environmental priorities? Western Christianity has been accused of promoting an exploitative relationship with the environment. Has Religion anything to contribute to the debate?

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

The Spring equinox falls on 20th March. A few dozen pagans and Druids will mark it with ceremonies inside the famous circle at Stonehenge. The summer solstice in June, on the other hand, will see thousands of people converge on the site. Why do they come? To connect with the ancestors? Celebrate nature? Rave? Does what they do bear any relationship to what happened at Stonehenge thousands of years ago, and can we ever know?